This time eight years ago, I was in Washington to protest the inauguration of President Donald Trump. I had no plans to attend the vast Women’s March scheduled for the following day; this was no time, I thought, for a defanged liberal feminism, for kitschy pink accoutrements and pussy puns.

I was there to take part in J20 — January 20 — the antifascist black bloc protest. We aimed to inaugurate Trump’s presidency with disruptive antagonism in the streets. Non-specific calls to “shut it down” carried a renewed sense of urgency then, in the wake of Trump’s 2016 election victory and the threat of ascendant fascist rule.

Shut it down, we did not. The protest wrought minor property damage, primarily against bank and chain-store windows.

Hours before Trump was sworn in, delivering his sinister vision of “American carnage” on the inaugural stage, our march was overwhelmed by riot police. Over 200 protesters were detained and most arrestees went on to face felony charges carrying a potential decade-plus in prison — charges that were eventually dropped, but only after 18 agonizing months for the defendants.

Extreme prosecutorial overreach against left-wing, anti-racist protesters remained a constant under Trump’s first presidency, and under President Joe Biden too.

Eight years later, the start of a second Trump term augurs an authoritarianism more studied and honed. I am........

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