Don Tzu
Week of March 28-April 2, 2026
Welcome to TRACKING THE CRISIS, a weekly round-up from The Democracy Collaborative tracking the administrative, legislative, and other actions of the Trump Administration as well as the many forms of legal and movement response from across a broad range of social, political, and economic actors. TDC is providing this service for collective informational purposes, as a tool for understanding the times during a period of disorientingly rapid flux and change in the U.S. political economy. This round-up is produced by humans, not by Artificial Intelligence. TDC should not be understood as endorsing or otherwise any of the specific content of the information round-up.
TRUMP TRACKER: Administration actions
Trump addresses nation, threatens to ‘bomb Iran back to the Stone Age’, explicitly targeting civilian infrastructure; Europe breaks away as U.S. hegemony crumbles. Future historians may point to the events of this week as a critical turning point in world events that signaled not only a clear break in the post-Bretton Woods international order, but a rupture in the edifice of U.S. political, military, and economic dominance that has undergirded that order for the last eight decades. Despite an intensive month-long bombing campaign from the United States and Israel that has destroyed thousands of buildings in Tehran and leveled infrastructure in southern Lebanon, displacing nearly 2 million people between the two fronts, the Iranian state has remained remarkably resilient, the IRGC has outmaneuvered the world’s most technologically advanced and expensive military with some of the world’s cheapest ballistic weaponry and crippling the U.S./Israeli radar systems key to the region’s missile defense; and most significantly, Iran has maintained its hold on a critical chokepoint in the Strait of Hormuz, bringing the world economy to its knees. Meanwhile, Trump has lost international support, even from ideologically-aligned governments such as Italy, the United States has lost all 13 of its military bases in the Middle East, and could likely suffer a humiliating strategic and military defeat – as the ‘dominant’ belligerent in an exceedingly skewed asymmetric war – at the hands of Iran. As of this writing, Iran has shot down three U.S. fighter jets, two of them within the last two days, and has taken its first American POW, escalating the stakes in the conflict. Military analysts and retired generals now think it may be impossible to achieve any of the major U.S. objectives for the war that Trump has articulated without deploying thousands of troops in a protracted ground war. Of course, what those objectives exactly are remains elusive; with each failure, Trump’s narratives are constantly shifting even as he maintains the pretense of intentionality about his pivots, as if following his own ‘Don Tzu’ Art of War: “You can’t lose if you don’t have a goal.”
This past weekend saw Yemen’s Houthis officially enter the conflict, as they carried out a ‘barrage of drones and missiles’ aimed at Israeli military sites. Israelis against the war rallied in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv amid a clampdown on online activity that reports on the extent of the damage done by Iranian cluster bombs capable of breaching Israel’s Iron Dome defense shield. Iran accused the United States and Israel of targeting two universities in an attempt to “demolish our cultural and scientific heritage.” The IDF killed three journalists in Lebanon and violently apprehended a CNN crew in the Occupied West Bank, which was labeled a war crime by Lebanon’s president. Despite Trump and Hegseth’s reassurances that Iran’s military capability had been ‘destroyed,’ intelligence reports released Sunday by Reuters indicated that only about one-third of Iran’s missile stockpile can be confirmed as destroyed. Oil prices surged again on Monday as Trump posted a new threat on Truth Social that the United States will strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including desalination plants key to drinking water supplies in the region if Iran did not pursue a ceasefire deal ‘shortly’. Iranian officials rejected the threats, characterizing Trump’s call for negotiation as ‘disingenuous’; citing U.S. unwillingness to continue talks on the third-party framework offered by Oman, they expressed skepticism as to the “sincerity of [U.S.] claims regarding negotiation and diplomacy.” More than 50,000 troops are now in the Mideast theater as the Pentagon prepares for potentially weeks of ground operations, weighing its chances to either seize Kharg Island and choke off Iran’s production and export of oil or find and confiscate Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. Iran responded to the threat Tuesday by launching a massive drone and missile barrage targeting U.S. and Israeli assets in the Gulf States, including striking a Kuwaiti oil tanker harbored in Dubai.
Trump’s rift with Europe also deepened this week after comments in an interview with the Telegraph were published Wednesday, in which Trump called the alliance a “paper tiger” and the U.S. ambassador to NATO said that Trump was ‘reevaluating’ U.S. participation in the alliance. The bipartisan Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued a statement responding to Trump’s remarks, saying Congress will not allow Trump to unilaterally withdraw from the alliance and reminding the executive branch of the law passed in 2023 – drafted by Marco Rubio – that gave Congress exclusive power over U.S. membership and participation in NATO. Spain, which has opposed the war since the beginning, closed its airspace to U.S. military aircraft on Monday after the United States began deliberately attacking Iran’s civilian infrastructure, which over 100 human rights experts warned could amount to war crimes. Italy followed Spain’s example shortly thereafter, France confirmed Tuesday it has closed its airspace to the United States after refusing to allow Israel to transport weapons through its territory over the weekend, Austria closed its access on Wednesday citing its neutrality clause; and while permitting attacking American bombers to fly from British bases, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, facing voter backlash in upcoming elections, said this week that he ‘stands by’ his decision not to be ‘dragged’ into the U.S./Israeli-initiated conflict. The UK leader had partially relented on his initial refusal, allowing the U.S. military to operate out of bases in Britain and Diego Garcia; but this week, Iran renewed its warning that it will strike British military bases and followed up with a strike on British oil facilities in Iraq. Trump mocked Starmer on social media, calling the PM ‘weak’ while panning its “old” aircraft and warships. Starmer called for the UK to develop closer ties with the EU this week in light of the instability caused by Trump’s war in the Middle East.
Trump announced he would address the nation on Wednesday night following days of speculation around whether the United States would seek an off-ramp to the war or launch a ground invasion to open the Strait of Hormuz by force. Ahead of the speech, Iranian President Pezeshkian released an open letter to the American people, urging them to ‘look beyond’ the ‘machinery of misinformation’ that portrayed Iran as a dark enemy; affirming that Iran “harbors no enmity toward the American people” and that its resolve in fighting back is a rational defensive response to military aggression after decades of encirclement by military bases. Indicating a savvy knowledge of how the war is fracturing Trump’s base at the moment, Pezeshkian recalled Israel’s involvement in pushing toward war and explicitly asked, “Is ‘America First’ truly among the priorities of the U.S. government today?” The timing of Pezeshkian’s question could not have been more prescient as Trump revealed the same day that he would request a record-breaking $1.5 trillion military budget for 2027, backing off of campaign promises to protect Medicare and child care funding from cuts; when questioned at an Easter luncheon for Christian leaders at the White House, Trump said, “We can’t take care of daycare” because “we’re fighting wars.” In addressing the nation Wednesday night, Trump told the public that the war would last another “two to three” weeks, but was close to an end, saying “we are going to finish the job, and we are going to do it very fast.” He repeated several inaccurate statements touting U.S. successes in the war, and vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks, saying “we’ll send them back to the Stone Age, where they belong.” He also downplayed inflationary concerns and all but gave up on the Strait of Hormuz, saying the U.S. ‘doesn’t need’ oil from the region and that countries that rely on Gulf oil should “take the lead” and go “grab it,” also saying that the strait should “open up naturally” once the war ends.
Trump made good on his threats on Thursday as U.S. airstrikes began hitting Iranian infrastructure targets, partially collapsing its tallest highway bridge, B1, that connects Tehran to Karaj and was still under construction. The “double-tap” type attack cut the bridge in half as debris rained down on civilians picnicking near the bridge for Nature Day, killing eight and injuring nearly 100 people. Trump celebrated the blast, touting how Iran’s biggest bridge “came tumbling down, never to be used again” and vowed “much more to follow” as he urged the “New Iranian Regime” to come forth with a deal. Foreign minister Araghchi responded on social media, saying that striking civilian infrastructure will “not compel Iranians to surrender” and “only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray,” adding that while Iran can rebuild, it is the “damage to America’s standing” that would “never recover.” Also responding to Trump’s threat to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age,” Araghchi asked Trump if he was sure he wanted to turn back the clock to a time when “there was no oil and gas being pumped out of the Middle East.” A leading public health institution, Iran’s Pasteur Institute, which leads the production and distribution of vaccines in the country, was also hit by strikes. U.S./Israeli forces also destroyed two petrochemical plants in the south and, according to Araghchi, attempted to strike the Bushehr nuclear power plant at least four times. Iran responded with attacks on Gulf refineries, launching at least 80 attacks against the UAE, which has been pushing the U.S. government for more military action. Iran’s successful takedown of two U.S. fighter planes included a direct hit on a Black Hawk helicopter attempting to extract the survivors but that managed to fly safely away from Iranian airspace, and complicates Trump’s wish for a clean exit, especially if a servicemember is taken captive by Iran. On Friday, Iran also released a target list of large U.S. tech corporations such as Oracle, Amazon, and others whose Middle East headquarters may become targets, and launched an online poll gauging public interest in Iran’s release of the names of prominent war financiers.
Global wave of energy rationing underway as societies brace themselves for an unprecedented energy supply shock and looming stagflation crisis; France, Russia and China gain passage through the ‘Tehran Tollbooth.’ The global energy shock precipitated by the war continues to reverberate across the globe, producing combined and uneven effects on societies in different parts of the world. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has declared the current crisis the largest energy shock that the world has faced in history, dwarfing the 1970s OPEC embargo and 2022 Russian oil crisis. The Financial Times came out with a report this week that oil futures prices have soared over 60% in the four weeks that the war, which has become a struggle over this small but impactful piece of geography, has been actively reshaping material and political dynamics on a world scale. The conflict has also laid bare how much of the modern world is built, and in what ways, on the resources of the Persian Gulf. Visual representations of world trade through the Strait reveal the extent of supply chain disruptions, various degrees of national resource dependence on Gulf resources, and industries affected as all manner of commodities – from plastics, textiles, and kidney dialysis to ramen noodles, semiconductors, and condoms – that will be heavily impacted by the absolute contraction in the supply of hydrocarbons as extraction and refining facilities increasingly become casualties of the war. Substack author Shanaka Anslem Perera provides an important historical geography of the Gulf region, setting the stage for how the interplay between material constraint, geopolitical rivalries, the transnational corporate complex that facilitates resource capture, and geographical peculiarities that bind the whole system to a single point of failure – the Strait of Hormuz – helps to explain the oversized global impact of this 24-mile-wide waterway. After one month of war, Iran’s control of the Strait is tighter than ever, and unlikely to wane in the near term.
Asian countries have been hit the hardest by the shock, where livelihoods and industries depend on Gulf oil and gas to a disproportionate degree. Governments have introduced rationing schemes, shorter workdays, and other measures to conserve energy through the crisis. Half of Thailand’s fishing industry has been shut down as boats pile up in local harbors, unable to obtain necessary fuel for operations, and India’s $147 billion textile industry has seen slowdowns and cuts of up to 40% due to the energy shortage. Some nations have seen the shock as a wake-up call to diversify their energy and raw materials toward sustainable sources; while it is prompting some nations like Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan to pivot more towards renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind, others like South Korea and India are turning towards Russia as an option for oil and naphtha, especially as it appears likely that Gulf facilities will continue to lag behind in capacity for some time after the war ends. In Europe, the crisis has precipitated some renewed calls to step up production of sustainable, locally-produced biofuels to replace the gap that LNG has left, which could lead to greater cost efficiencies. In absolute terms, however, it is food security that will be one of the biggest concerns in the months ahead, especially for nations in the Global South already constrained by conditions of scarcity such as land availability and climate-related weather anomalies; a strong El Niño is being predicted for the coming year, which generally brings drought to large parts of India, China, and northeast Brazil.
Trump attempted to downplay the impact of the blockade through his remarks on Wednesday night, saying that as a net oil exporter, the United States “doesn’t need” Gulf oil resources. However, given the scale of the crisis and the diversity of products that rely on petrochemicals, experts say that U.S. “energy independence” is more aspirational than anything else, belying the real embeddedness of U.S. industries in a globalized system as both the hegemon and consumer endpoint for many international supply chains. The national average cost of gas at the pump is currently $4.10 and rising, constraining travel and other fuel-dependent activities; and several reports came out this week that U.S. farmers, many of whom are still trying to recover from the Trump tariff shock, are bracing for price shocks in fuel and fertilizer whose compounded impacts will necessarily be passed on to consumers in the form of rising prices at the grocery store. Experts warn that each day the crisis persists, and especially if the war lasts another month or more, the chance of a global food catastrophe rises exponentially.
As Trump washed his hands of the imperative created by his war to break Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, and pushed the EU and Gulf oil-dependent countries to “take the lead” to get the oil themselves, Oil futures prices nearly went vertical after the speech, soaring above $115 a barrel; GCC nations, particularly the United Arab Emirates, began to ‘panic’ as the United States left them hanging out to dry; accusing Iran of ‘economic terrorism,’ they appealed to the UN, EU and other blocs to help provide military cover to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper convened a ‘virtual summit’ of world leaders from over 40 countries on Thursday to discuss ‘every possible measure’, both diplomatic and military, for reopening the Strait. French president Macron expressed skepticism at the efficacy of continued military action, citing the history of U.S. intervention in the Middle East. Iran reminded other nations that ships still pass through the Strait daily as long as countries negotiate with Iran on their terms, and Russia said that the Strait is open to them, signaling that there may be other ways to resolve the seemingly implacable crisis. At an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, Macron joined Russia and China in blocking the GCC countries’ request for an international military intervention in the Strait, advocating instead for a “deconfliction mechanism” with Iran to explore diplomatic or bilateral solutions. GCC countries reportedly fear this outcome as it would give Iran more power over regional trade than that to which the GCC had previously been entitled through their alignment with the United States. Many western military planners now fear that Iran may emerge from the war as a stronger geopolitical player than it was at any time before the conflict.
On Thursday, a French-owned ship became the first Western vessel to pass successfully through the Strait of Hormuz, along with a Japanese ship carrying natural gas and three Omani tankers. Rumors about how the ships are able to negotiate with Iran, including paying fees through intermediaries in yuan, cryptocurrency, or other non-dollar-denominated currencies, is generating a buzz throughout financial markets. Central banks began dumping Treasuries en masse this week, tanking U.S. dollar reserves to their lowest share of global foreign currency reserves since 2000 and forcing the Treasury into a $15 billion buyback, the largest in history. China, which has been the only country to consistently ship oil out of the Gulf since the war began, is reportedly gaining global market share for manufactured exports due to its resilience in the oil market, and is settling increasing numbers of oil transactions in yuan, limiting exposure to U.S. oversight. What is becoming apparent now is that the norm of the petrodollar – of United States’ default dominance over oil transactions for several decades and the basis by which the dollar is the world’s reserve currency – is very quickly being eroded through the mechanism of Iran’s ‘tollbooth’ in the Strait of Hormuz, and in a way that reflects the parallel geopolitical shift to a multipolar order. On Friday, Russian news agency TASS reported that Iran announced on state media that it is ready to conclude agreements with European, Asian, and Arab countries on the use of the Strait of Hormuz. Saying Iran “fully controls the Strait of Hormuz while Trump is talking nonsense,” the regime issued an invitation for countries to begin formal negotiations, including and especially the EU. Iran is also moving towards taking permanent control of the Strait of Hormuz, working with Oman to draft protocols for monitoring and regulating traffic through the waterway. The BBC confirmed Friday that EU countries are beginning to bypass Trump completely to negotiate directly with Iran for safe passage, Philippine vessels are now passing the Strait after high-level talks between Iran and President Marcos, and Qatar has reportedly begun negotiations to trade safe passage for the release of $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
Hegseth ousts several high-ranking military officials, including two generals and the Army Chief of Staff, as Iran war prospects turn for the worse and the Pentagon covers up true casualty counts. Defense officials and experts are reportedly ‘stunned’ at the actions of ‘War Secretary’ Pete Hegseth this week, who fired several top-ranking military officials in the middle of an active military conflict with Iran. Defense experts described Hegseth’s move to fire three of the Army’s top brass – Army Chief of Staff General Randy George, General David Hodne, head of the Army’s Training and Transformation Command, and Major General William Green Jr., chief of Army chaplains – during a condition of wartime as “insane.” The Pentagon has not yet offered an explanation for the high-level firings, although the current state of the U.S. military as it flounders in its campaign against Iran have made certain circumstances around the firings rather apparent. Several theories abound as to the reasons for the unusual firings of commanding officers in wartime, and there is some speculation that the officers were fired for refusing to deploy ground troops in Iran; Senator Chris Murphy, who has vehemently opposed the war in Iran, notes that Hegseth is “firing a ton of experienced generals right now” and mused that experienced officers are likely “telling Hegseth his Iran war plans are unworkable, disastrous, and deadly.” Senior Army officers voiced frustration to the New York Times over Hegseth’s purge of leaders that are specifically experienced in Middle East campaigns, especially at a time when misunderstanding of the region has led to dangerous missteps in Iran. Others speculate that on the heels of the recent firings of Cabinet members Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi, Hegseth is acting out of “paranoia” in a bid to save his own job as losses mount in Iran and the United States is losing military, economic and political clout on the world stage. Last week, Trump attempted to throw Hegseth under the bus when questioned by reporters, suggesting that Hegseth was the “first one to say” that the war was a good idea.At least seven U.S. fighter jets, a total of 25 military aircraft and the much-vaunted U.S./Israeli missile defense radar warning system, produced at a total cost of nearly $5 billion, have been destroyed by Iranian drones likely worth a total of around $150,000. Officially, thirteen U.S. servicemembers have been killed in the war, 232 have been injured, and (at the time of writing) one was missing after being shot down over Iran, although those figures are likely much higher given that the Pentagon has dropped a veil of secrecy around casualties after the first week of the Iran war. Defense officials have informed the Intercept that the Pentagon is currently engaged in a massive “cover-up”, offering low-ball and outdated figures to the public to hide the true casualty cost of the war. The Intercept’s analysis of available CENTCOM data estimates the real number at closer to 750 killed or wounded, not counting private contractors. Military experts and officers have also voiced fierce objections to Trump’s plan to take over Kharg Island “just for fun” to knock out Iran’s oil production capacity; most experienced military analysts believe that the operation would put U.S. troops at great risk for very little reward, with even greater economic fallout as a consequence; some experts have even characterized it as a “suicide mission.”
The New York Times reports that Hegseth’s purge of top brass comes after months of battles with senior military staff over “long-running grievances with the Army, battles over personnel and his troubled relationship with Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll.”The firing of the three generals follows a lengthy string of firings and demotions in the military ranks over the last several months, and the blocking of dozens of promotions for Black and/or women officers, two demographic groups Hegseth has considered to be ‘unfit for combat’. Most recently, Hegseth blocked the promotion of two Black and two female Army officers to the rank of one-star general, a move actively opposed by General George and Army Secretary Driscoll, who refused to take the officers off the promotion list; General George also voiced concerns as recently as two weeks ago that the Secretary of Defense had been unusually and unnecessarily interfering in personnel decisions. One Administration official told the Washington Post that since Hegseth can’t fire Driscoll, who is close friends with Vice President JD Vance, he can “make [Driscoll’s] life hell” by firing his top-ranking allies. In a farewell letter published shortly after his ouster, General George said that “our soldiers deserve… courageous leaders of character,”which many believe to be a comment on Hegseth’s conduct. As a combat leader, General George had been lauded for pulling troops out of “bloody and pointless” battles in Afghanistan and refocusing missions on more effective targets that spared civilian suffering. Republican lawmakers responded to the firing with an outpouring of support for General George, who was considered to be a “brilliant mind” and was confirmed in 2023 by a vote of 96-1 in the Senate; he was also one of the last top military officials from the Biden Administration to remain in leadership under Trump. CBS News reports that Hegseth wants someone in the role “who will implement President Trump and Hegseth’s vision for the Army.”
Pam Bondi fired as U.S. Attorney General in purge of high-level Trump Administration officials, with more rumored to be on the chopping block. On Thursday, April 2, Trump announced that Pam Bondi will be leaving her position as United States Attorney General. According to recent reports, Trump had become dissatisfied that she was not “executing on his vision” in the way he wanted; in other words, she had not been as effective at bringing retribution upon Trump’s enemies as he had hoped. While Bondi remained unswervingly loyal to Trump by all accounts, actually carrying out his wishes proved to be more difficult; as the Atlantic put it, “Her problem turned out to be that it remains very difficult to convict Americans of a crime they did not commit, even more so when those targets have competent lawyers.” Bondi’s poor performance regarding the Epstein files also reportedly sealed her fate. Having hyped up Trump’s campaign promises to fully prosecute the Epstein case and hold his co-conspirators accountable, to the point of even saying the client list was on her desk, her missteps at handling the pivot when Trump changed his direction regarding transparency, including her humiliating performance in front of the House Judiciary Committee in February, generated problems for the Administration. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles essentially confirmed as much in her interview with Vanity Fair last month when she mentioned Bondi “completely whiffed” on the Epstein files. Bondi’s reputation and efficiency deteriorated even more in regards to the Epstein case as more evidence emerged implicating Trump and more congressional Republicans broke ranks to pursue inquiries into the DOJ’s mishandling of the files. Bondi apparently tried to make face-saving moves before her firing, including futile attempts at bringing charges against former Trump officials from the first administration. Trump reportedly informed Bondi of his decision during a limousine ride on the way to the Supreme Court hearing on birthright citizenship earlier in the week, saying to her, “I think it’s time.” Bondi’s ouster was reportedly celebrated by many legacy staff members within the Justice Department; a leaked photo went viral on social media shortly after the announcement that showed her portrait had been taken down and thrown in a trash bin. Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, released a pointed statement on the occasion, panning her “legacy of failure” and saying she “never acted as anything but Donald Trump’s personal criminal defense and personal injury attorney, transforming the people’s Department of Justice into the President’s private instrument of vengeance.” Legal experts warn that the damage done to the Justice Department during Bondi’s short tenure, including and especially the destruction of the traditional firewall between the DOJ and the executive branch, the weaponization of the Department into a personal arm of lawfare for the president and the subsequent loss of public trust in the justice system, may be long-lasting and difficult to unwind. Her own purge of career prosecutors early in the Administration has also left the Department with a deficit of competence that legal experts say will take years to repair. Trump reportedly maintains good personal relations with Bondi, and announced on Truth Social that she “will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector.” Bondi will have the distinction of having the shortest tenure for a confirmed Attorney General in 60 years; Deputy AG Todd Blanche has been named as her interim replacement, while other sources report Trump is also considering EPA head Lee Zeldin or former FOX News host Jeannine Pirro for the job.
Insiders have warned that Bondi’s firing is just the start of a wider purge within the Trump Administration as Trump grows increasingly frustrated with the course of the Iran war, his freefalling approval ratings, and Republicans’ dwindling prospects in the midterm elections. Trump is reportedly weighing a broader ‘cabinet shake-up’ in the weeks ahead; Politico reports that the president is “very angry” with the status of his Administration and is considering “moving people around” as a result. Current names coming out of the rumor mill include National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, HHS head Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Others suspect ‘War Secretary’ Pete Hegseth, currently on the cusp of a humiliating military defeat against Iran, could also be on the chopping block, which could explain the aggressiveness of his purge of top military leaders as a way of “scapegoating them before he becomes the scapegoat.” Senior officials also told Politico that the purge may be focused on Cabinet members who have “underperformed or who have generated too much negative attention.” Iranian embassy accounts on social media have begun trolling the Trump Administration with posts pointing out that the ‘regime change’ touted by Trump and Hegseth has actually taken place in the United States, not Iran.
MOVEMENT TRACKER
Third ‘No Kings’ protest draws 8 million into U.S. streets as activists and movements speculate on how to push resistance forward. The third No Kings Day protest took place Saturday, with organizers estimating around 8 million participants worldwide. Protests took place in every U.S. state, along with Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Washington, D.C., as well as internationally and on all seven continents, with a viral image even reportedly showing a protest on Antarctica’s Defiance Island. Organizers note that about half of the over 3,100 events registered with the coalition took place in Republican and/or battleground states, which they interpret as a bellwether for the midterm elections. Many midterm candidates also attended protests, hoping to gain protestors’ favor, recognizing the mass of protestors as an influential factor in their political prospects. Protests were mostly peaceful with a few exceptions, including in Los Angeles, where mass arrests took place as police suppressed a large group that had surrounded the ICE detention center downtown. Three people were arrested in Portland after police said a large group outside the South Portland ICE facility failed to disperse and a gate was reportedly damaged in the resulting ‘clashes.’ Around 1,400 people marched toward an ICE detention center in Las Vegas, where six were arrested on various charges, including ‘battery against protestors’ and ‘pedestrian in roadway.’ The Proud Boys confronted protestors in Florida with dueling Mar-A-Lago protests, where clashes were mostly verbal and no arrests were made.Bruce Springsteen and Bernie Sanders headlined the Minneapolis demonstration that brought 200,000 people to the State Capitol, with both condemning the war on Iran. Before performing his signature protest song “Streets of Minneapolis,” Springsteen paid tribute to Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and expressed his admiration for the people of Minneapolis, saying: “The power and the solidarity of the people of Minneapolis, of Minnesota, was an inspiration to the entire country… Your strength and your commitment told us that this is still America. This reactionary nightmare and these invasions of American cities will not stand. You gave us hope. You gave us courage.” Again, Springsteen’s words seemed to touch a nerve with Trump, who reacted angrily on Truth Social by calling Springsteen a “dried-up prune” with a “horrible and incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome” and encouraged MAGA to boycott his concerts.
Reporters and organizers observed that many of the protestors who attended Saturday’s protest tended to be younger than usual, with many saying that the war in Iran brought them to the streets; and even though the war is at the forefront of national attention, resistance to ICE and Trump’s mass deportation program is still a priority for most who came out to protest. Lively debates surfaced online after the protests as people asking the question ”what happens next?” engaged in online discussions questioning whether protesting in the streets or voting in midterms would be enough to change the political trajectory in the country; indicating that many new activists in the rank-and-file, especially after the Minneapolis experience, recognize that protests like No Kings are necessary but not sufficient and are beginning to question liberal models of performativity, as well as actively contemplating questions of how to escalate mass action. Indivisible groups are joining the May Day Coalition in calling for a general strike to take place on May 1st.
Hundreds of musicians and actors join unions and advocacy groups to call for an end to family detentions, closure of infamous Dilley ICE detention center. Over 200 musicians, actors, artists, activists, and influencers have signed an open letter published on Change.org calling for the closure of the infamous Dilley Immigration Processing Center facility in south Texas. Education influencers Ms Rachel (Rachel Accurso) and Mychal the Librarian (Mychal Threets) launched the “Read Them Home” campaign on Thursday, in collaboration with the 10 Steps Campaign, the National Domestic Workers’ Alliance and several other unions and advocacy groups. The campaign includes a 30 day virtual reading challenge “inviting parents, children, librarians, childcare workers, educators, community leaders and other supporters to read their favorite children’s books and share direct messages to the families – including young children – being indefinitely held in the South Texas Family Residential Center (better known as the Dilley ICE Detention Center). They are lifting up a clear demand: “End family detention.” Public pressure against Dilley and family detention has already seen some results, with the recently reported releases of two children and their respective families whose experiences Accurso had shared through her instagram channel, as well as the famous “boy in the blue hat” Liam Ramos. The federal government has recently pivoted on Ramos’s case and is now in the process of appealing the court order that led to the release of Ramos and his father.
