Transcription
I don't know if you heard what happened to activist Aphini in Washington DC this week, but you're going to want to hear the story because it's relevant to every single person in this country right now.
Apheni is a well-known activist. I think she has like 60,000 followers on social media. I'm sure it's a lot more now. She and other activists have been doing what they call cop watches where they observe and document what law enforcement is doing in DC right now. Y'all, observing and documenting is a crucial part of resistance. It's crucial not only to protect people right now because anytime law enforcement is being filmed and they know it, they are less likely to brutalize somebody. It's amazing how much power there is in saying like, "Hey, bro, you're being filmed." But it's also important for all of us to document what's happening now because that will be evidence that is used in the future when the American people get justice for what is occurring right now.
Now, we know because a couple of teenagers beat up one of Elon Musk's Shitler youths named Big Balls that Trump and Janine Piro have intentionally been targeting youths in DC, specifically black youths, framing them as violent thugs and criminals, even though crime is at a 30-year low, and they're really focused on neighborhoods that don't have a lot of crime. Trump is trying to manufacture a crisis. He's trying to get people in DC to act in ways that he can then call it a rebellion and justify further revocation of their rights and implementation of his military dictator dreams. So activists have been particularly concerned about making sure that what's happening interactions between law enforcement and youth are documented.
According to W USA9 News in DC, Apheni and other members of this cop watch witnessed three young men being detained by Metrotransit police. The claim was these young folks were trying to avoid paying their fair and the activists tried to record the interaction and the Metroit police were not happy about it. And then this happened. [Music] [Applause] The police just used excessive force. Detained Aeni pepper spray her in the face. I want people to know that this is a fascist takeover of DC and that our youth are going to be directly impacted by this. Get out of the way. It doesn't [ __ ] matter about me. I will be fine. Our kids will not be. So ifie was taken into custody. You could see her there at the beginning after she'd been pepper-sprayed and they were hauling her off. Still advocating for the youth of DC. Like such courage for her to say, "Don't worry about me. Worry about the kids. Worry about what's happening to our city." What a demonstration of courage in the face of like outright police brutality and intimidation. Multiple DC council members said that what happened was deeply concerning and they would like to see an investigation into the incident. Yesterday, Saturday, Apheni was released. There were dozens of people waiting to greet her. [Applause]
So, how is this relevant to all of the rest of us in the US? How is what happened to Afeni relevant to Americans all over this country? There's a couple of things here. First of all, she is showing us exactly how to have courage in the face of fascism, exactly how to behave. She is speaking truth about what is happening. She's not minimizing the harm that the Trump regime is trying to do. She's also not being scared into submission. She understands her role as a community member is to protect the most vulnerable. And she sees that role as defending youth in DC who are specifically being targeted by law enforcement, by Donald Trump, by the regime. We all should be emulating her outlook, her courage, and her behavior. She is a model to the rest of us. And just like she is showing up for the youth of DC, other folks are showing up for her. This is how we resist fascism. We are all in it together. None of us are free unless we're all free. We must start by defending the most vulnerable and refusing to seed that line to the fascists. We refuse to normalize the way that they are targeting the most vulnerable all across America. Immigrants, black youths, homeless folks, trans folks.
And then I think there's something else really important here. When I saw the original video where Apheni had been arrested for filming what transit police were doing, they were pissed off that she was filming. So, she got allegedly pepper-sprayed and then arrested. I immediately thought about the ACLU's know your rights training. It's worth everybody going and reading through your rights as a protester, your rights if you interact with the police, your rights if you're an immigrant. Just a reminder that you have a constitutional right to take photos and videos of law enforcement officers performing their duty in public. This includes police, FBI, National Guard troops, ICE agents, and any other government officials. That's that's from the ACLU. On a good day before all of this nonsense, the cops didn't know the law. They didn't know your rights. But now more than ever, it is crucially important that we understand what our rights are and that we continue to exercise them. We do not let them intimidate us. We do not let them move the needle on what is normal. We don't let them normalize taking away our rights. We have a right to document what they're doing. We have a right to ask them questions. We can film. We can take photographs. They don't want us to because they don't want what they're doing to be documented because they definitely don't want it being used against them in a court of law. They don't want to be held accountable for their actions.
Now, but Trump is a failing dictator. His days are numbered. The end of this regime will come sooner rather than later. Americans all over the country are rising up. Folks in Washington DC are showing us how it's done. What I hope you take away from what happened to Apheni is that Donald Trump wants to be a dictator. Right? That's the playbook that he's using. But just because he's trying to do something, that doesn't mean he's going to be successful. It doesn't mean the American people are going to lay down and let him do it. Aphini and other activists are showing the way to resist is to continue to engage in practicing your rights. Continue to defend the most vulnerable, those that are targeted by the regime. That we all have to have each other's backs right now. That while we are out and about living our lives, we need to look for moments to defend democracy, to defend our neighbors, to push back against fascism and say we will never ever take this lying down. The fascists cannot win as long as we keep fighting. We will not let them move the needle on what is normal. The cops in this moment in history are emboldened to violate our rights. The mechanisms that previously would have held them accountable no longer exist. So it is crucially important that we the people, we exercise our power. We document. We use public pressure to make sure that our rights are upheld. The moment when an authoritarian is really desperate, he can sense that things are falling apart. He is going to crack down extra hard as a last-ditch desperate effort to get people to give up and advance because he knows he can't win unless the people on their own let the psychological tactics of the regime work on them and they decide to lay down. And we're seeing that Washington DC is not doing that. They are demonstrating to all of us. Aphini, these activists, regular everyday folks in DC are demonstrating to all of us this moment how to effectively resist fascism in this moment. how to not allow any of this to be normalized. Trump is going to fail in DC the same way he failed in LA. But he's gonna keep trying to do this in other cities until we stop him because the only tactic he has is intimidation. Y'all, he doesn't know what else to do other than to put on a big display and try and scare you. And we don't have to accept that. We cannot accept it. We cannot be scared into submission.
As Muriel Bowser, DC's mayor, said the other day on Twitter, "Policing American citizens on American soil is unamerican. We do not accept this. We do not allow this to become normalized. And as long as we refuse to obey, as long as we refuse to give in to fascism, Trump can't win. He will grow increasingly desperate." I hope you draw courage from what Afeni went through. Yeah, the regime is going to try and do bad things. They're going to try and violate your rights, but they will take those rights away whole cloth. They will rescend all of them unless we keep standing up to this. If we hand over our rights to the fascists, then there's nothing for them to violate. They will be able to do whatever they want to us with complete impunity. And we're not we're not going to let that happen. Now is the time to find your courage. Now is the time to understand that Trump is increasingly desperate. Desperate men do desperate things as they feel their grasp on power slipping. We have to have that sustained consistent push back and he'll chicken out just like he did in LA because dictators, narcissists are weak. They're weak. And if you refuse to give up, they can't.