The time has come to take the resistance to a new level

On Saturday, an even more-atrocious-than-usual Trump social media post pushed the fascist envelope further wide open, creating heightened alarm and urgency.

“I love the smell of deportations in the morning,” taunted the text above an AI image ripped from Apocalypse Now, superimposing US President Donald Trump’s face on a warzone scene from the classic film. In the background, the Chicago skyline is filled with army helicopters and orange hellfire.

Yet more ominously, Trump’s post went on, “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”

Yes — Trump is now directly and openly declaring war on American cities.

Sickeningly, the Trump “White House” (using quotes here to emphasize how utterly surreal and beyond-the-pale they are) reposted the open threat with helicopter emojis.

As Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council noted, with this post Trump “drops all pretense and openly admits the mass raids in Chicago are about ICE raids and deportations (not crime), and essentially declares that he’s going to war with the city.”

The blatant, in-your-face nakedness, vicious meanness, and fearmongering are all the point — a central aspect of fascism is its normalization, the forceful imposing of a new normal. Trump’s ghoulish post this Saturday took this to new heights and depths and cannot be ignored or diminished.

Trump’s rapidly intensifying fascism is on daily display, everywhere: the military takeover of Washington, D.C., and soon Chicago and other cities, violating both federal law and local will; unmarked vans with the masked, unidentified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents rounding people up and detaining and deporting them without any due process; his constant declarations that he can do whatever he wishes because he is president, such as violating court orders, profiting directly off the presidency, and endlessly, relentlessly more.

The time has come to take the resistance to a new level. Everyone who is outraged, upset, scared, anxious, and sickened by Trump’s rapidly intensifying fascism must unite in coordinated mass resistance. If we do not rise up in unprecedented, unified, coordinated resistance now, it will very soon be too late. If you are outraged and sickened by what this administration is doing, do not wait — the longer we wait, the worse and more irreversible Trump’s fascism will be.

Saturday's massive “We Are All D.C.” protest in Washington, D.C. could pave the way forward. A diverse, steadily growing, and loud crowd of many thousands took to the Capitol’s streets, marching near the White House and other sites of power, with shouts of “Shut it down” and “Trump must go now.” On Oct. 18, an array of groups will hold a nationally coordinated “No Kings” protest. The last “No Kings Day” drew record crowds and marked a potential turning point in the growing movement against Trump’s fascism and bigotry.

The anti-Trump resistance movement is steadily growing and congealing. The question now is, when and how will this burgeoning uprising go beyond protests and mobilize coordinated actions that create concrete impacts? When do we coordinate a national General Strike, or similar effort that shuts things down for a time? When will we all go to Washington, D.C. and simply sit down, sit in, refuse to leave, and prevent this fascist administration from creating further harm?

Actions like these must be done thoughtfully, carefully, and strategically. This is not a time for whimsy or flippancy. We must create real infrastructure, systems of solidarity, support, and mutual aid, to sustain nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience, including a General Strike. Such efforts must include organized labor and other diverse major movements.

This is not a criticism of the current protests — I have been to and supported all the marches I can muster, while supporting online, signing petitions, and making phone calls daily. This is an urging in solidarity. Now is the time for a new level of national mobilization and resistance action that goes beyond marches and rallies.

Building on Saturday’s inspiring turnout in D.C., we need to coordinate and organize a truly massive, nationwide “STOP FASCISM NOW” protest in Washington — one that people can plan for and that unites and coordinates the many uprisings across the country. The next mass protest action in Washington should be 1 million strong. Yes, 1million.

It’s time to aim higher and dig deeper. All of us. The time to UNITE, COORDINATE, and MOBILIZE a MILLION people in D.C. is NOW.

Of course, many can’t make the trip, and cities across the nation will continue their own protests — but mobilizing 1 million people in D.C. for a national day (or week) of action and, potentially, a General Strike Against Fascism, would be dramatic, powerful, and impactful.

One million against fascism and for democracy, diversity, love, solidarity, and a future that is equitable, inclusive, and sustainable. One million against fascism and for our shared futures.

Maybe we call it simply: The National Mobilization Against Fascism. The General Strike Against Fascism.

It’s time to imagine it, build it, and make it happen. Our country, our communities, and our future are on the line, and there is truly no time to lose. The time is now.

• Christopher D. Cook is an author and award-winning journalist who has written for Harper's, The Atlantic, The Economist, The Guardian, Mother Jones, the Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and many other national publications. He is the author of Diet for a Dead Planet: Big Business and the Coming Food Crisis. Contact him through christopherdcook.com