Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

People ask me all the time, “Kamau, things are so bad, what do we do, what do we do? Things are so bad!” First of all, there’s a lot of things you can do. But the very first thing you can do is Call it Fascism. Don’t say “Trump’s gone too far.” Don’t say “he’s overstepping.” Don’t say “we’ve never seen this before.” Nope, it’s fascism. Call it fascism.” – Comedian W. Kamau Bell

Chicago is now ground zero in the Trump fascist regime’s assault on democracy, the rule of law, social justice, decency, and the common good. Recent events here (I am writing from the Loop) include a horrifying militarized ICE, FBI, and Border Patrol attack on an apartment complex in the predominantly Black South Side neighborhood of South Shore. Last week, just after 2 a.m., military Black Hawk Attack Helicopters descended on an apartment complex in the Black South Side Chicago neighborhood of South Shore:

“Federal agents rappelled onto the roof while U-Hauls and Budget rental vans unloaded hundreds of gendarmes in combat gear. They carried military-grade rifles fitted with mounted flashlights designed to disorient enemy combatants. They kicked in doors, shattered windows, and ransacked apartments. Inside were Black Chicagoans, Latino migrants, U.S. citizens, elders, and terrified children. Everyone, including a naked baby, was dragged into the night. Residents described being zip-tied and herded into vans where they were detained for hours while agents checked IDs, citizenship status, and for arrest-warrants. ‘They just treated us like we were nothing,’ said resident Pertissue Fisher, speaking to CBS News.”

Following this terrifying event, the so-called Department of Homeland Security sent out a slick action video celebrating the savage racist attack.

That’s just the most graphic and terrible example of the racist terror the Trump regime and its masked gendarmes are unleashing across the Chicago area. Other recent incidents:

The shooting of a woman by ICE in the Southwest Side neighborhood of Brighton Park, followed by a protest that ICE attacked with tear gas and tactical military vehicles.

The unprovoked tear-gassing of residents in the North Side neighborhood of Logan Square, sending a two-year-old child to the hospital in respiratory distress.

The brutal handcuffing of 26th Ward Chicago alderperson Jessie Fuentes after she asked to see a warrant for the arrest of a hospitalized man injured by ICE agents

The ongoing violent ICE and Border Patrol attacks on protesters at ICE’s immigrant “processing” (really detention and torture) center in the........

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