Trump May Use DHS Stormtroopers To Stop People from Voting

[Nevilledog]

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/07/18/expect-trump-to-use-dhs-stormtroopers-to-stop-people-from-voting-and-plan-accordingly/

Last night I wrote about Trump’s use of ICE and Border Patrol stormtroopers under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security to detain and intimidate peaceful protesters. In that piece I speculated that Trump was not only testing the waters of creating his own personal paramilitary domestic security force and attempting to please the most sadistic elements of his base, but also that he was taking the natural actions an executive might take if he actually believed the dystopian propaganda about America’s cities being promulgated every day on Fox News.

But there is another deeply alarming possibility to consider. This November will be the first since the expiration of a 1982 consent decree in which the Republican National Committee will be freed to conduct voter suppression and intimidation en masse. As Andy Kroll recently explained at Rolling Stone:

The result of the suit was a 1982 consent decree between the Democratic and Republican parties. Even though the RNC refused to admit wrong-doing in New Jersey, the group agreed to stop harassing and intimidating voters of color, including by deputizing off-duty law-enforcement officers and equipping those officers with guns or badges. Over the next three decades, Democrats marshaled enough evidence of ongoing Republican voter suppression to maintain the consent decree until 2018, when a federal judge lifted the order.

The 2020 presidential election will be the first in nearly 40 years when the RNC isn’t bound by the terms of the 1982 decree. Clark, the Trump campaign lawyer, told the group of Republicans at the private meeting last November that the end of the consent decree was “a huge, huge, huge, huge deal,” freeing the RNC to directly coordinate with campaigns and political committees on so-called Election Day operations. The RNC is sending millions of dollars to state Republican parties to vastly expand these measures, which include recruiting 50,000 poll observers to deploy in key precincts.

*snip*

[appalachiablue]

1. K/R

[Celerity]

2. K & R for visibility

[Hoyt]

3. Not likely. But playing along for a moment, if it did, the election will be decided by

how many take to the streets.

I think the article is largely BS, made believable only because of the “perfect election/storm” in 2016 resulted in trump’s election. That ain’t gonna happen again, unless people believe this kind of junk.

[Nevilledog]

4. 2020 has taught me to never challenge the universe.

[uponit7771]

17. ... to persuade Pelosi and house not to certify election hopefully. That's the only recourse we have

... cause Barr Et al could care less if 4 trillion people took to the streets to protest, they're not interested in the democracy thing no more.

[marble falls]

5. How many million DHS mopes will that take?

[TDale313]

8. Actually, the way the system is set up..,

Probably way less than you’d think. Targeted voter intimidation tactics in certain parts of key battleground states. Cause the Electoral College sucks. Also, do not be surprised if their also used to quash protests of the inevitable election fraud that’s coming. We need to be prepared, They’re planning on stealing this thing. Again. We need a Blue Tsunami. We need it so overwhelming they can’t plausibly steal it... and then we need to be ready to fight like hell when the try to anyway.

[uponit7771]

18. +1

[Crunchy Frog]

6. If that happens and he "wins" I think that our side should consider the election null and void.

He should be treated as completely illegitimate.

I think my family will look at leaving the country.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

10. I can't leave

The country.

But the whole republican party should be treated as illegitimate. After all they're corrupt.

[C Moon]

13. You can't leave the country: no country will take us because of COVID-19.

[Grasswire2]

7. Could Congress defund DHS budget for this?

Must be costing a fortune.

Pelosi could just defund it.

[Alex4Martinez]

9. K&R (nt)

[budkin]

11. Man, November is gonna be a shitshow

We better vote in numbers that have never been seen.

[Gore1FL]

12. I fear violence.

Whether it be from these untrained and unprepared stormtroopers, or those taking exception to them.

The escalation can only lead to harm.

[Orrex]

14. If he does that, we will be obligated to stop him by any means necessary

When an entrenched and cancerous power eliminates all legal and nonviolent means of holding them accountable, then the people must find other ways of holding them accountable.

[Captain Zero]

15. yes. Accountability will come.

the arc may be long....

[yuiyoshida]

16. Which is why they hate VOTE BY MAIL... IF every state made that possible

Trump's presidency would be dead.