The Department of War - Coming Soon to a City Near You?

Federal agents rappeling from Black Hawk helicopters onto Chicago apartments. A U.S. citizen shot by Border Patrol. Military brass are humiliated at Quantico while being told to use American cities as "training grounds."

Robin discusses her thoughts Operation Midway Blitz's 800+ arrests, Portland's federal occupation, and the systematic removal of military accountability. Why are veteran lawmakers calling these actions "borderline fascist?"

Transcript

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Introduction 00:00:01 Sunny spaces, smiling faces, happy places. But every sunny space holds a shadow behind every smile. Our sharp teeth and every happy place. Has something sinister lurking just below the surface.

Robin 00:00:18 Welcome to We Saw the Devil, the podcast diving deep into the chilling realms of true crime. Join your host, Robyn, as she unravels mysteries that have left investigators baffled and armchair sleuths obsessed. Be forewarned, dear listener, we saw the devil is not for the faint of heart. Our unflinching exploration will take you to the darkest corners of the psyche, and through the unimaginable depths of human darkness, to unearth dark secrets to the harsh light of day. Nothing will be left untouched. Are you ready? Are you sure? We saw the devil?

Robin 00:00:59 Hello, everyone. You are listening to Red, White and Bruce, this is Robin. This is episode two and I'm going to be honest, I didn't plan on doing this series, but watching what's happening in this country, the chaos, the cruelty, the absolute batshit crazy that passes for leadership.

Robin 00:01:18 I hit a point where I just couldn't scroll by and do a podcast on things that, to me, seemingly a lot of the time, it just doesn't matter. I'm obviously not a politician. I'm obviously not an influencer. I'm just a heavily concerned citizen, someone who's shocked, appalled and over it. So this series is my way of processing all of it. The headlines, the startling hypocrisy, the gaslighting that we're seeing everywhere, the good, the bad, just every single week. This is my decompression. I believe in people, I believe in decency. And I want to make it explicitly clear right off the bat here Hear that? I am against violence. But silence. That's what God is here. So if you're tired of pretending everything's fine when it very clearly is not welcome. This is red, white and bruised. Episode two. Every single Sunday I'm going to drop an episode. The bullshit, the national nervous breakdown that we're all going through, all in hope of more or less finding something that still makes sense together.

Robin 00:02:22 So last week, one of the things that I mentioned that I was looking out for, I mentioned this in the previous episode, and it was really something that I wanted to look at. And that was when senior military leadership gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico for what was billed as a routine address. But what happened, guys, was anything but Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, if you saw in a rousing speech to generals announce sweeping changes, including the renaming of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, the elimination of oversight mechanisms, Innocence, also anonymous reporting, and he gave explicit authorization for military forces to physically engage with American civilians. So let's break down just a couple of these items here. First, the complete overhaul of accountability systems, y'all. Inspector general processes gutted. Equal opportunity complaints eliminated. Anonymous reporting gone. These aren't just bureaucratic niceties, folks. These are the mechanisms that prevent a meal massacre on American soil. Second, the new physical standards. If you saw Pete Hegseth went on a wonderfully misogynistic rant, basically discussing all the new standards that explicitly exclude women from combat roles by reverting to male only requirements not performance based standards, but male standards.

Robin 00:03:51 And then, as I previously mentioned, where it got truly concerning was the explicit authorization for military personnel to physically respond to civilian confrontation. Direct quote. They spit. We hit. And that's not metaphorical. That's military policy now toward American citizens. And in case you missed it. To me, the most alarming was the call to eliminate rules of engagement. And let me be crystal clear about this. Rules of engagement are the legal and ethical standards that define permissible conduct in combat. Right? They protect civilians. They maintain accountability. They preserve humanity. And whatever shred is there in warfare. Hegseth called them stupid and demanded their removal in plain language, in plain layman's English. Pete Hegseth was more or less calling for the legalization of war crimes. And to understand the gravity of this moment, we need to talk about who was in that room at Quantico. Representative Seth Moulton, who's a decorated Iraq War veteran, served four tours in the Marines, earned the Bronze Star for valor and the Navy and Marine Corps accommodation for a medal for valor.

Robin 00:05:06 He sits on the House Armed Services Committee. When someone with his credentials speaks, we should probably put one ear out and listen. Moulton called what happened at Quantico a, quote, borderline fascist political pep talk. He said the speeches were like a mix tape of fascist slogans, vanity and insults paid for by the US taxpayer. He called headset's insoles of inspectors general hogwash, and said that inspectors general protect honest and principled military leaders willing to call out wrongdoing, basically. Moulton described the gathering of top military leaders as being in, quote, violation of just about every security protocol imaginable. All for a borderline fascist political pep talk. Representative Jake Auchincloss, another veteran who served as a marine Corps officer in Afghanistan and Panama, put it more succinctly, quote, the bigger problem is that this president thinks Russia is the friend and Los Angeles is the enemy. And that quote is it just takes it all home. The bigger problem is that this president thinks Russia's the friend and Los Angeles is the enemy. Have you ever heard a more true statement? But let's talk about what happened in that room.

Robin 00:06:21 Our generals, people who have dedicated their entire lives to defending this nation and everyone who lives in it, were forced to sit in silence while Hegseth mocked fat generals and beards. Their commitment to constitutional oversight was called woke weakness. They were told their professionalism is cowardice, and they watched civilian leadership suggest American cities become military battlefields. Hegseth told them that he was liberating them from stupid rules of engagement policy as he deemed woke, or to politically correct barriers to harsher training tactics, including hazing and the entirety of the current inspectors general process. He declared that the era of politically correct, overly sensitive don't hurt anyone's feelings. Leadership ends right now at every level. And then he called on those who disagreed with him to resign. Then President Trump spoke. And here's where things took an even darker turn. Trump called Chicago an unsafe place. He plans to straighten out, saying, quote, this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That's a war, too. It's a war from within.

Robin 00:07:33 I told Pete we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military training grounds for our military. American cities actually sit with that for a moment. According to reports, most of the generals left in complete silence. These are leaders who spent careers balancing military necessity against ethical restraint, only to be told by our president that restraint is betrayal, and that loyalty now means turning weapons inward against Americans. This wasn't just disrespect. This meeting was a deliberate humiliation designed to break down resistance to unconstitutional orders. In my opinion, is it still legal for me to even have one? Now let's connect that to what's actually been going on in American streets as of late over the last week. Let's start in Chicago, because the scale of what's happening here is staggering. Since early September, a massive federal operation called Operation Midway Blitz has brought hundreds of immigration agents into Chicago. The numbers are jaw dropping, right? Over 800 people have been arrested by Ice and Border Patrol in just over three weeks across Illinois and Chicago.

Robin 00:08:51 But it's not just the numbers that people are concerned about. It's how these operations are being conducted at all. On September 30th, residents of a South Shore apartment building woke to what can only be described as a war zone. By all accounts, federal agents rappelled from Black Hawk helicopters onto residential building rooftops in an operation involving nearly 300 federal agents from Ice. The FBI and Border Patrol. You guys, they fucking rappelled out of a helicopter in Chicago on top of an apartment building. One witness, Doctor Ali Mohammed, described the scene. He discussed the building shaking from a Black Hawk helicopter hovering overhead in the pre-dawn hours. The federal agents using flashbang grenades to burst through the building, deploying drones and helicopters. One neighbor said it looked like hundreds of agents were outside of her door. The justification was that the operation itself targeted suspected members of a Venezuelan gang that authorities claim has been involved in drug trafficking, weapons crimes and other violence. In that South Shore raid. 37 people were arrested. And here's where it gets complicated.

Robin 00:10:05 67 year old Roger Johnson said that agents broke through his door and dragged him out and zip ties. They left him tied up outside for nearly 3.5 hours. When he asked why he was being held as an American citizen, when he asked for a warrant, when he asked for a lawyer. He said that they ignored him entirely and gave no answers. Another resident, a man named Jones, came home from work to find his apartment completely destroyed. All of his electronics and furniture were missing. His clothes and shoes had been thrown around on the floor, and he had no idea who took his belongings and could not get answers from the Chicago police because they didn't know. And perhaps most disturbing, neighbors reported witnessing federal agents forcibly removing unclothed children naked children, including toddlers, from apartments, during this raid. As of Saturday afternoon, a really poignant picture has come out that shows a very young, probably year old year and a half old black child. ZIP ties hands behind his back, zip tied like a literal toddler.

Robin 00:11:11 This is America in 2025. Are we safer? Then fast forward to Saturday morning. Bright and Park, Chicago's southwest side. US Border Patrol shot a woman in what marks the second shooting involving federal agents in Chicago since Operation Midway Blitz began. According to the Department of Homeland Security. Border patrol agents were on routine patrol, and they claimed that they were rammed by ten cars and boxed in, then discovered one of the drivers was armed with a semiautomatic weapon, prompting them to fire defensive shots. Direct quote. Defensive shots. The woman, who is an unnamed US citizen, drove herself to the hospital. Sources there confirmed that she did in fact suffer multiple gunshot wounds and was hospitalized in critical condition. But the important context here is that the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ have not been able to independently verify the federal government's account of what happened. Also this evening, around 10:00, video started coming out of what happened, and it does not seem to reflect what the federal government is saying. What we do know is what happened next.

Robin 00:12:18 An angry crowd of about 100 protesters gathered and were met with pepper balls, tear gas, all deployed by, you guessed it, the federal agents. And that lasted mostly all Saturday afternoon. Chicago police records tell a revealing story, though a Border Patrol agent did in fact call in for assistance, reporting that roughly 30 agents had been, quote, surrounded by a large crowd of people. but police officials weren't sent to help. When police did respond, they came only to, quote, document the incident and maintain safety and traffic control. The Chicago police explicitly stated that they were not involved in the incident or its investigation. Guys, there is a very clear federal and local divide right now. Chicago Police Deputy Chief Gabriela Shamash told local protesters, we're here so that you can protest. And she made it clear that the department had nothing to do with the federal operations. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin added another layer to the story this afternoon. She's claiming that the woman had been named in an internal threat intelligence bulletin just last week for doxing law enforcement officers online.

Robin 00:13:31 Her statement got political really fast, she said, quote, comparing Ice day in and day out to the Nazi Gestapo. The secret police in slave patrols has consequences and complained that Chicago police refused to help secure the area after the shooting. Here's the thing, guys. Look at this. There's no video of this happening and transpiring. You have Border Patrol coming and saying, well, we called the police for backup and no one came. You have them claiming that ten cars boxed them in and they were forced to return fire. Except the video that came out this afternoon showing this entire incident doesn't show any of that. Then you have magically, when people were really questioning the narrative of Math Marathon, Trisha McLaughlin came out and said, oh, well, that the woman who magically was in the car, who supposedly had a weapon was on an internal threat intelligence bulletin. That information's mighty source. See? See where I'm going with it, though. But while Chicago was popping off to this weekend, let's go back to Portland, Oregon, where a parallel crisis is also unfolding.

Robin 00:14:33 Like I said in the previous episode, when I lived in Portland, I saw the protests and whatnot. What people need to understand, you guys, is that this is quite literally on one tiny street of one tiny block. Listen to me when I say this. With all the love in my heart, I know that Fox News and other conservative outlets have told you that Portland have treated it like a war zone and shown pictures that make it look like it's the whole city on fire. I promise you, I'm holding my I'm holding your hands as I say this. I promise you, it is outside one building in the entirety of Portland. That is it. And there are never hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people there. It is literally negligible. And if you've been watching live feeds or videos of what's been going on in Portland, and it's like I saw a guy in costumes, they were had they were, you know, had fishing poles with donuts hanging on the end of them. They were singing.

Robin 00:15:25 They were doing the cha cha slide, which that doesn't have my sign off. Please stop doing that, but I digress. The point still stands. On Friday, the Trump administration activated 200 National Guard troops. The internet is flush with memes right now. In Portland, my favorite one so far is a picture of. I don't even know where it was taken, but it's of from behind and it's in a coffee shop. And on the left is a goth chick. Like you got the big black boots, the short black skirt, black top, black hair, and then beside her, she's obviously with a guy who's in full military uniform, and it's like Portland's getting them. And I hope that is what happens. And I hope the new couples are very happy. But unfortunately, the citizens of Portland are not very happy right now because 200 National Guard troops were activated. Now, there has been Oregon state officials did file a lawsuit. They're waiting for the federal court ruling, which just came back tonight giving a ruling in their favor.

Robin 00:16:23 But this deployment came directly through Pete Hegseth. Remember, the same man who just a couple days prior, told military leaders that American cities should be training grounds for troops. So on Friday afternoon, white House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt decided to drop the news that Trump has directed his team to review federal aid to Portland to determine what can be cut. Claiming this move responds to, quote, left wing anarchy that has been destroying this great American city for years. Her statement and follow up from that her own was unequivocal quote we will not fund states that allow anarchy. And let's be clear about what this all means. Like other states, most of Oregon's federal aid goes to healthcare, education, and transportation infrastructure. This isn't about punishing rioters or protesters, y'all. It's about punishing an entire state's population because the president got his fee fees hurt, and doesn't like their politics. Did you see a couple days ago that that the map of states that Trump is planning to come down on with either National Guard claiming that there are rough cities and so forth, 16 states.

Robin 00:17:31 Guess what? All blue. All voted against him. Literally all voted against him in Oregon, Governor Tina Kotek pushed back pretty fucking forcefully. She did speak with Trump on the phone, and she said that she told him, in plain language that there is no insurrection going on. No threat to public safety. And certainly none of it necessitates military intervention in Portland or any other city in Oregon. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield went and framed it from a lawyer lawsuit's perspective, saying sending in 200 National Guard troops to guard a single building is not normal. And here's the thing, guys and I spoke about this last week when it was initially floated by Trump, by this administration on Twitter. Please stay peaceful, y'all. This is what they are asking for. Please, for the love of everything, either stay home. This is such a crucial time right now and please do not engage. Portland Police Chief Bob day made a pretty revealing comment about all of this, because he was asked about the political pressure his department faces.

Robin 00:18:29 He said the irony here is that we were condemned in 2020 for our approach towards the left, and now we're being condemned in 2025 for our approach to the right. If you recall Nick Salter, who is a conservative. Quote unquote journalist, I use that term very, very fucking lightly. He was charged with disorderly conduct at a protest in Portland the other day. And there's a video that showing him arguing with protesters before the arrest. And someone was burning a flag. And he goes and he, you know, roughly grabs it from them and takes off with it. A fight ensued. He got arrested for that. And now Trump is pissed. The white House seized on this arrest, and Leavitt announced that the Justice Department's civil Rights division was reviewing whether Nick Sawyer was a victim of, quote, viewpoint and viewpoint discrimination. So just to recap that we have a federal civil rights investigation into local Portland police because they arrested a conservative journalist during a melee while simultaneously threatening to cut federal funding to punish an entire state.

Robin 00:19:33 Does that seem normal to you? Does that seem normal to you? Regardless of party, is that normal? Here's the thing, guys. We were warned. We warned everybody else. Let's play this clip. Let's roll the clip.

Robin 00:19:46 He's talking about the enemy within Pennsylvania. He's talking about the enemy within our country, Pennsylvania. He's talking about that. He considers anyone who doesn't support him or who will not bend to his will. An enemy of our country. It's a serious issue. He's saying he is saying that he would use the military to go after them. Think about this. And and we know who he would target. And we know who he would target because he has attacked them before. Journalists journalist whose stories he doesn't like. Election officials who refuse to cheat by filling extra votes and finding extra votes for him.

Robin 00:20:45 Yeah. Kamala Harris, during her campaign, she said it many times. And then a lot of other talking heads and politicians. Most recently, Gavin Newsom came out this week and flat out said Trump is going to have military.

Robin 00:20:58 He's going to use the military. End goal is to basically cause chaos, cause infighting, a civil war and then suspend the next election. Gavin Newsom finally came out and said that I believe Hakeem Jeffries has already also come out and said that this is what people are thinking. Anybody else? And now we have his own words in Quantico suggesting that Chicago and New York again, Democratic cities with large minority populations should be used as, and I quote, training grounds for US forces. So over the last week, we have a woman who is arrested for assaulting a border patrol in Portland and then in Chicago. The raids continued across all Chicago neighborhoods, it seems. Border patrol agents wearing the tactical gear, you know, came down from the Black Hawk helicopter. All of this stuff has been happening there. And then Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said, quote, this is not making anybody safer. It's a show of intimidation. There was also a massive raid at Home Depot with more than 200 Border Patrol agents who descended upon one early morning on Thursday.

Robin 00:21:59 This operation marks one of the largest federal deployments yet in the crackdown. Border control Commander Gregory Bovino told reporters he has conducted informal outreach with community members in Chicago, and he says that residents are happy to see federal agents. Quote. I'm speaking to residents in and around the downtown area and I am receiving excellent feedback. Residents are happy to see us in the area, and many have expressed frustration that we didn't get here sooner. But that narrative doesn't match what residents are actually saying in droves. On Friday, we had federal agents clashing with demonstrators outside of the Broadview facility. That clash came after DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino were seen on the Ice facility's roof just before 8 a.m.. You see, the Village of Broadview filed a lawsuit against Ice and DHS over the fencing surrounding the Ice detention facility. And then Friday night, with helmets and batons. A phalanx of Cook County sheriff's officers kept demonstrators from blocking the street in a tense standoff that capped off a whole day of protest. The Cook County Sheriff's Office said at least five people were arrested at Broadview, and they face charges like resisting obstruction and aggravated battery to a police officer.

Robin 00:23:15 And we've seen some shocking things, too. To me, the arrest of Alderman Jesse Fuentes. Did you guys see that? She was handcuffed by Ice agents while asking for a patient's warrant. And this happened at the Humboldt Park Hospital. There were two Ice agents there. One was mass, one was not. And she was just like I. Where's the warrant? Do you have a warrant? She wasn't screaming. She wasn't in their face. One of them violently snapped her around, put her hands behind her back and they arrested her and walked out. Charges have been dropped and nothing is going to happen to her, but what the fuck? And then also across Chicago, Ice has been deploying tear gas freely. Once they threw it out of their truck that they were in. If you've seen that video flying around, they were stuck in traffic and people were kind of like yelling, right? They were stuck in traffic, but no protesters. Then someone ends up blocking a car with a motorbike and they just deploy tear gas, tear gas in the middle of downtown.

Robin 00:24:08 A two year old girl was injured nearby because it got in her lungs, and an elementary school was out and had to take their students back in because we're just fucking launching tear gas anywhere now. But what's the pattern here? Escalation. Every single day, it seems federal forces are becoming more aggressive, more militarized, and more willing to confront civilians and local officials who question their authority at all. I've said this a million times on the podcast. Am I a liberal? Yes. Can we please stop calling everyone Nazi? I've said this many times to my friends, my family in general. I mentioned it on the law's last podcast as well. We need to stop calling everyone Nazis because it is not fair to the actual survivors of holocausts and genocides. But that being said, we can certainly not ignore parallels in the path that we are headed because the comparison to 1930s Germany with where we're at right now, y'all, isn't hyperbole anymore. If you know me, you know I love history as a poly sci and French double major in college, obsessed with history.

Robin 00:25:12 And what's so fascinating to me, especially, is when you take in, do you guys just ever think about old wars? Right. The Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War two, how they would have been fought today if we were to go in to say, World War II, right? Like, how would those engagements have looked different? And one of the main ways that we are different now in 2025 than we were different back in the 1930s, is technology clearly that starting back in the 1930s, authoritarian leaders, you know, they enlisted military and paramilitary forces not to defend against foreign attacks, but to terrorize their own citizens, to crush dissent, to get a stranglehold on the populace. And when military forces are authorized to view its own citizens as enemies, citizens become casualties. Kent State four dead Tiananmen Square. Hundreds, possibly thousands. The Gwangju Uprising similar numbers. But those incidents had something that our current situation lacks oversight mechanisms that at least documented what happened. And we are removing even that thin protection.

Robin 00:26:20 The Argentine Dirty War started with military units being given authority over subversives. 30,000 people disappeared. Chile under Pinochet began with the military, quote, restoring order. Thousands dead or vanished. In every case, it started with language identical. To what we are hearing right now. Enemies within. Cleaning up cities. Restoring order. So in the last episode, which is also the first episode, it was called F for fascism, and I went through the fascism checklist of how that's happening. But in case you're also wondering, okay, well, Robin, how do authoritarians decide to take over? Well, here you go. Six steps. And this is the mechanism of escalation. Step one is that the military is deployed to problematic areas. We're here right now. Step one checkmark. Step two. Civilian resistance to military presence creates confrontation. We are tap dancing on this one. Step two in progress. Step three the military responds with combat tactics. Well, it may not have yet fully happened as of yet.

Robin 00:27:33 Depending on who you ask. But yes, this has now been explicitly authorized. Step four casualties create greater unrest justifying expanded military authority. This is why I have been begging people to stay at home and be peaceful. Be peaceful because this is what they are trying to do. They are trying to goad and instigate and have people do heinous things, or act out in violence in order to expand control. Please do not give that to them. Step five emergency powers suspend normal legal processes. This is what people are saying is the end result of this is martial law and election being suspended. And the thing about it is that never in my life did I think this would be a possibility. Back during the first election, his first term, I remember thinking when he announced he was running. Oh my God, what a joke. This will never happen. Oh, how I ate those words. But that is what a lot of people are stating now is the likely end goal here. So if that happens, we're at step five.

Robin 00:28:34 And then step six. Military tribunals replaced civilian courts for an expanding definition of threats. And we have already seen that in the most recent directive where he said that the threats are radical left Antifa. Anyone who is anti your extreme on is the language that they use extreme on traditional American values. You know right to life, all politics, all of that. Step six. We obviously do not have military tribunals currently, but there has been a vastly upgraded definition of what this administration considers a threat. So as it stands right now, we are currently between steps one and two and rapidly tap dancing on three. But I did mention a moment ago, too, that technology is something that is different about where we are in 2025, because the technological capability for surveillance right now, that control didn't exist in historical precedents. Every single phone has a tracker. Every post is, you know, potential evidence. Every association that you have with any person in communications is map imaginable. I mean, you can get a VPN and do all of these little, you know, quick hacks that IT specialists or intelligence people tell you to online.

Robin 00:29:49 But it doesn't matter, guys, because we're never going to be off grid. Everything we do everywhere we go is covered. That's just kind of a living in the daily life sort of thing at this point, with cameras, drone surveillance, our phones, the websites we go to. But something that I can't quite shake is this explicit psychological preparation of troops. You could see from the Hegseth and Trump's speech that there is an active attempt. Now, this warrior ethos, if you apply that to American streets, you have combat mindset of soldiers for civilian interactions. And if you really think about it, guys, this language and I'm not trying to harp on this, but it is deathly serious, is soldiers are trained to eliminate threats. Our soldiers are incredible. And these people are going to be told to eliminate threats that are American soldiers trained for combat, are being deployed for crowd control. Soldiers trained to follow orders are being placed under commanders selected for political loyalty and not and not constitutional fidelity. And I would like to remind everyone here that the generals in that room and that speech swore an oath not to a man, not to a party, but to the Constitution itself.

Robin 00:30:59 And their duty is to protect all Americans, not to divide them into factions. When you remove every mechanism for refusing illegal orders while simultaneously defining opposition as enemy action, you're creating a force that will fire on civilians, not might will. And when does immigration enforcement cross the line into occupation? When federal agents repel from a military helicopter in the middle of the third largest city in this country, when U.S. citizens are detained without warrants, when elementary school children are removed from homes, when they are rushed back into their schools from the smell of tear gas. Are we still talking about law enforcement here? And what precedent is this setting today at Chicago and Portland? Tomorrow it could be any city whose politics he or he disapproves of. If we accept federal troops being deployed against the will of state governments, if we accept the withholding of health care and education funding as political punishment, what constraints at that point remain on presidential power? I so I'm going to make a prediction, and I hope more than anything I am wrong.

Robin 00:32:10 I hope that our country somehow, somewhere the madness ends, everything is happy and hunky dory, and we all go holding hands and singing Kumbaya. Out into a field full of sunflowers. But my actual what I truly think is far different. I think that in the next 30 days, we are going to see the expansion of military deployments to additional cities. I think the likeliest targets are going to be New York, LA, Philly and possibly Boston. I think the justification is going to be what we've seen thus far, which is crime statistics or vague threat assessments from DHS. And again, if you guys actually look at the cities that Trump has, either threatened or sent National Guard to, the crime rate was already actually trending way down in all the cities, like per the FBI's own statistics, so appears to be pure political theater and strong arming. I think within the next 90 days, we're probably going to see the suspension of habeas corpus and operational zones. I think that what happened in Chicago, in terms of them going through an apartment building, I mean, what they basically did was rappelled onto the roof like a military.

Robin 00:33:16 Think of in the Middle East and war rappelled down out of a helicopter onto the roof of a building and then clear it. I think that we're going to see more things like that. And in that instance, they zip tied, broke into apartments, broke down doors, carried every zip zip, tied everyone and got them outside. Over half of our American citizens. I think that we are going to see a lot more of that. And I think that we are going to be seeing full on American citizens detained. I think that that is coming if you're out loud, outspoken guys, we're already seeing YouTubers and Facebook people being visited by the Secret Service and FBI just for explaining an opinion. And I will concede anyone who's advocating violence. I hope they do have people show up at their doors, and I hope they are visited by these people, because this climate has no place for that kind of language. But even just regular people who are just giving their thoughts and opinions are not inflammatory. I think we're going to be seeing a lot of that in the next 90 days, and I think it's going to get worse within the next six months.

Robin 00:34:15 I think that we're going to see a major domestic incident, I think based on patterns, again, solely on historical patterns. I think it's going to involve a significant civilian casualties, and the event is going to be justified as a response to, you know, resistance or insurgent activity or domestic terrorism. And I hope, hope, hope, hope that I am wrong about that. I'm again, just going based off of historical markers. And within the next year, if unchecked, I think you will see the complete subordination of civilian authority like state and local governments basically to military command in major population centers. So you'll see, like New York, Boston, Chicago, LA, largely run by military. And I think everyone's main question is, honestly, do you think and I see the comments all the time on Reddit and everywhere else, if someone's like, Democrats need to get out, make sure you vote. I always see someone post and comment. You know how naive or how cute of you to think that we're going to actually have elections again.

Robin 00:35:13 I that to me that to me has always been the. Oh my God. Y'all are being so paranoid. Stop. Like stop it. Like I was back in 2014 2015. Like stop it, you guys. That was kind of my line of you guys sound batshit. Stop. Like, let's not be the the scared, paranoid side, right? Oh, no. I'm. I have one foot over in that so far. Like I have one foot. Overthinking. Are we though are we going to be able to vote. I guess we will see. And I've said it before and I'm going to say it again really quick. This is not about politics. This is about principles. And listen carefully here because I'm going to speak directly at you. This is not about Republican versus Democrat. It's for those of us who believe in constitutional governance versus it being destroyed. I know Republicans who are horrified by this some fucking how Marjorie Taylor Greene is even coming out about all of this. Ted Cruz has come out about this like it's actually wild how many people are concerned about what's actually going on? Although big props to Ted Cruz's faux pas this week of where he said that we should stop, you know, talking about pedophiles, which are, I know, independents who are seeing exactly where all of this leads.

Robin 00:36:27 My point being is that we're all pissed. We're all scared. You know, a lot of us are. Most importantly, I know veterans from every imaginable political background who are watching their oath to the Constitution literally being perverted into something super fucked up. So speaking to you, my wonderful conservative listeners. You did not vote for military occupation of American cities. You voted for law and order, not martial law. You voted for strong borders, not military checkpoints between states. You voted for constitutional governance, not military tribunals for American citizens. The constitution that you guys love to talk about and pull out with your pocket constitutions and all of that. The Second Amendment that you defend, the limited government you advocate for. You know, like all those beliefs, guess what? Cupcakes. All of that dies when military force replaces civil law. You're not going to have any of that at all if you don't get what the program and realize what is happening to my progressive listeners. Your fears were not unfounded. We all knew.

Robin 00:37:37 We all knew this first term after we joked about it when he started, he run the first time. Then we saw the hate speech immediately. The vitriol. Don't forget the fights outside the rallies and all of this. Remember how in his rallies they had even people with signs and T-shirts and stickers of hanging, of executing Obama and all of this horrible shit? I don't know how everybody fucking forgot magically about how much racism and violence was present there, but but my point being is that this cannot be the time for I told you so's. This is the time to. Somehow we have to reach across to conservative neighbors who are in fact, just as alarmed as we are. I know I'm saying it. I know that there's a big thing about doing emotional labor, and they knew if they voted for Trump, they're a bad person. All of that shit. Guys, we're gonna have to put that aside. They need to know that you're not their enemy because they're hearing a lot right now on Fox News and Newsmax and all of that, that we are the enemy.

Robin 00:38:37 And you need to know that they are not yours. Hopefully. And yes, I get it. We may not agree on some of the issues that we find like our lifeblood, right? Important human rights, things like that. Right. All of that shit has to be placed aside right now. And furthermore, to my liberals, stop the fucking purity test with your candidates I love. I don't know why. Maybe it's the fact that, you know, Democrats have we have a lot of, we have a lot of privilege on our side as well. And I and I feel like a lot of these privileged white people, especially when it comes to Gaza, I feel like I know so many people. And if you're one of them, I mean this with my whole chest because I'm not apologizing for what I'm about to say. I feel like if you're a person who normally would conservatives, you can sit this one out. I feel like Democrats, if you're one of those people who vote blue no matter who, and you're a big sticking point in this last election, was the fact that they weren't stringent enough on Gaza or something like that and didn't vote at all that seriously.

Robin 00:39:43 Like you're getting married and you go to get your dress, and the dress that you're ordering is 99.9% exactly it, but there's like one extra button and inside it, instead of being instead of just dealing with a one button, you decide to burn the whole store down. That's pretty much what you did. So stop with the purity test, because we don't really have that luxury anymore at all and we never really have. Truth be told, into both sides. And a reminder. And I'm going to do this reminder in every single episode. The algorithm is built for clickbait rage bait into divide us. We are all living in echo chambers. My Instagram algorithm is not going to be somebody else's algorithm. Okay, I'm going to be honest for a moment. My Instagram algorithm is all German Shorthair pointer stuff because obviously obsessed. And then also, you know that annoying girl who looks like the Keebler elf. And I really don't mean that to be mean, and I'm only saying it because she's totally picked it up as like, you know, an identity kind of brand for her.

Robin 00:40:43 And she goes to the grocery store and is like, this is toxic. Here are clean ingredients and all that shit. There is an Instagram account that is her, but it just overlays farting as she dances. And I don't know why, but that comes up all the time for me on Instagram. My point being here is that everyone's algorithm is different and we all live in an echo chamber. So like what I get on TikTok and Instagram is reinforcing my own belief system, right? Like I get liberal TikTokers for the most part. So conservatives, you guys are going to get conservative TikTokers with their own opinions and thoughts and so forth, right? Our friends that we in company that we keep typically are within the same level of social or moral values, right? Like a lot of people keep the same birds of a feather. Right. But it's echo chamber. So closing up here, you guys, what can you do? Well, again, I'm anti-violence, so none of that. But please document everything and do it together.

Robin 00:41:36 Make sure your Republican neighbors, whether it's your your Republican or Democrat, make sure you guys are documenting things together. Make sure reality is established in terms of what is going on on the ground. Form neighborhood committees, not partisan groups. American groups include everyone the Trump, the Trump voter next door, the Bernie Sanders supporter across the street, the creepy libertarian down the block. I'll say it every time, but contact your representatives. Not like it seems like it matters at this juncture, at this juncture because no one's doing anything. Support judges who are standing up for constitutional principles, regardless of who appointed them. And I'm not trying to sound preppy here at all, right? Like, I'm not trying to sound like a proper here at all, guys. But just in case something happens, make sure you have safe networks, ways to communicate, things like that. We are all just doing our very best to get through life. You guys. My point being is that we can disagree on taxes, on health care, on immigration policy, on a thousand different issues.

Robin 00:42:30 But we must all agree on this. The military should not be used against American citizens. The military should never be used against American citizens. Period. So this is it for today, guys. In closing, I want to be wrong about this, you guys. I want next week's episode to be about how I overreacted, how the systems are great. Cooler heads prevailed, and we're all hunky dory. But hope isn't a strategy and denial isn't protection. The question isn't whether we're on a dangerous path. We are. The question is whether enough Americans will recognize it in time. Where are the checks and balances? When a decorated military veteran like Seth Moulton calls a Pentagon speech borderline fascist? When state governors file lawsuits to stop federal troop deployments when local police refuse to assist federal operations. These are warning signs of a system under severe stress. I don't have answers to these questions, and I suspect that many of you listening don't either. But I think that we have a duty and responsibility to ask them to think carefully about them.

Robin 00:43:29 And we need to realize that the choices that are being made around us are going to define America for generations. The question is, though, is do we still agree on what un-American means? But anyway, you guys, thank you for listening. This is episode two of Red, White and Bruised. Next episode will be available next week. In the meantime, you can follow the podcast as a whole at We Saw the Devil podcast on Instagram. Go to we saw the double or just we saw the double across Facebook and Twitter as well. Stay informed and stay peaceful.