From the very beginning, President Donald Trump’s entire administration has been marked by a series of actions intended to undermine the rule of law. Now he has kicked it up a notch. Without requests from local or state authorities, he has deployed federal paramilitary forces to Portland, Ore., in camouflage without identification, who beat peaceful protesters and kidnap them into unmarked cars without ever declaring why they are being detained. This is Trump’s view of “law and order,” and he proudly plans to repeat these actions in other cities around the country that just happen to have large Black populations. Dictators who he admires around the world must be so proud of him. When will this administration’s endless slide into autocratic madness end?
Ira Rubinfeld, Salt Lake City