Federal agents, acting without even the decency of a signed warrant, stormed into Judge Hannah Duganās courtroom on Friday morning and dragged her away like a common criminal. No warning. No legal process. No respect for the law she had spent a lifetime upholding.
But they made sure the cameras were there, so America could see what they were doing. Because this was not about justice. This was about terror.
This was a warning shot aimed directly at the beating heart of Americaās judiciary: āFall in line ā or youāre next.ā
In that moment, the worldās oldest democracy lurched closer to the edge of authoritarian rule. In that moment, America became a little less free ā and a lot more like the nightmare Vladimir Putin always hoped weād become.
The FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan last Friday without even having a legal arrest warrant; this is as outrageous and police-state illegal as an administration can get.
And Pam Bondiās performance Friday ā after her federal agents swarm-raided this county judge ā wasnāt staged for the general public.
The real audience was a very small, select group: Americaās judges.
Their message is very simple: āPiss us off, judges, and you could end up in prison, too.ā
Trump has already pacified the Article I branch of government ā Congress ā and now heās in the process of pacifying the Article III branch, the Judiciary.
There are only 3 branches to our government: cowing both Congress and the nationās Judiciary will leave only the president in charge of the entire country under all circumstances in all ways.
Nothing and nobody else will be able to stop him, short of a military coup (and heās already decapitated the senior leadership of the military) or unending demonstrations in the streets (demonstrators who may soon face live ammunition).
That is called dictatorship. Real dictatorship. Putin-style dictatorship where you are punished for the smallest deviation from orthodoxy and can find yourself in prison or sued into bankruptcy if you dare speak out in public.
It appears more and more every day that Putin is Trumpās mentor, if not his handler. Trump is doing everything he can, with help from a South African billionaire, to destroy the historic American infrastructure (which has been an example for the world for 250 years) and turn us into the newest member of the dictators club, joining Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Hungary, North Korea, and the rest of the fascist and authoritarian world.
To get there, now that theyāve pacified every single Republican member of Congress (most recently, Don Bacon criticized Trumpās schizophrenic tariffs; a day later he started talking about retiring), they only have to seize control of the Judiciary, and then nothing except We The People will stand in their way.
Nothing. Will. Stand. In. Trumpās. Way. Except We the People. And he knows it.
Look at the striking parallels between Putinās strategies and Trumpās actions:
From installing Trumpās loyalists in the military and the federal police agencies of the Department of Justice and FBI, to his open threats against freedom of the press, to the GOPās efforts to rig elections and purge voters, Trumpās subversion of US democracy looks eerily familiar.
Heās taking pages directly from the autocratās handbook.
Trump has openly quoted and praised autocrats like Putin and Hungarian strongman Viktor OrbĆ”n, who has presented his leadership in speeches to the GOP and CPAC as a model of an āilliberalā state.
Trumpās not hiding his admiration for dictators; heās flaunting it. And now heās putting the final stages of their script into action.
Trumpās movement toward authoritarianism follows āa known playbook. Itās unfolded in many other countries,ā as journalist Anne Applebaum notes. āThese are democratically elected leaders who characterize themselves or describe themselves as deserving of no opposition. So I am the true Hungarian, or I am the only real American.ā
In a mere matter of weeks into his presidency, Applebaum says, Trump and his allies āhave managed to push America into that space somewhere between (no longer) democracy and full-scale autocracy.ā
The speed is shocking, but it shouldnāt be surprising. It only took Hitler 53 days to completely end democracy in Germany. Others, like Lukashenko, OrbĆ”n, Putin, Mussolini, Duterte, El-Sisi, and ErdoÄan took longer (none longer than two years), but you could argue that Trump has been working at this project for 9 years now.
Harvard professor Steven Levitsky, who studies how democracies slip into authoritarianism, warns that weāre heading toward what experts call ācompetitive authoritarianismā: regimes that āconstitutionally continue to be democraciesā with regular elections and legal opposition, but where āsystematic abuse of power tilts the playing field against the opposition.ā
Make no mistake about whatās happening: Trump and his allies are methodically working through a four-step process to establish complete autocratic control, which will turn America into a one-man dictatorship.
1. Terrorize Congress: Trumpās already largely succeeded here. Republican lawmakers now march in lockstep with his agenda, afraid to oppose him even when their consciences scream otherwise. The V-Dem Institute already warns that Trumpās actions are āextremely worryingā for American democracy.
2. Terrorize the Media: Trump has, as The Washington Post writes, ārelentlessly attacked the free press, another pillar that allows democracies to stand above authoritarian regimes,ā as political scientists have noted. āHe has echoed the worst dictators in history, calling journalists the āenemy of the people.āā With help from Elon Musk and other billionaires, heās creating a media and social media environment where truth itself is under assault. And last week his administration threatened to arrest journalists and charge them with treason, an offense for which they could be executed.
3. Terrorize Judges and Lawyers: What we witnessed Friday with the raid on a county judge and the arrest of a retired judge earlier in the week is just the beginning. The final step in this process will be intimidating the Supreme Court, and if Trumpās minions can first terrorize the entire federal judiciary, it will be much easier to terrorize members of the Court itself, just like Putin and OrbĆ”n have done. This follows dangerous cracks in democracyās pillars that experts have been warning about.
4. Terrorize Citizens: Once the above institutions are captured and thereās no more Constitutional opposition to Trump, the final phase begins: crushing individual dissent through fear, persecution, and potentially violence. This is the playbook Malcolm Nance detailed in his work analyzing Putinās strategies to undermine American democracy and has already started against immigrants and student visa holders. If history tells us anything, American citizens will be next.
Most of this is already in place; time is running out fast.
Trump and his fellow fascists know their time is running out because elections are coming in a handful of months and their popularity is already crashing. They are at maximum power right now, and it is already beginning to decline.
This is another reason why they are pushing so hard to frighten judges, so they can implement the final destruction of any Constitutionally-based opposition to Trumpās one-man rule.
If Trump can consolidate authoritarian rule as quickly as some other historical dictators did, the complete (albeit hopefully temporary) end of American democracy could happen very rapidly, possibly even in the next few weeks or months. The window for action is closing fast.
But thereās still hope, because weāre still We The People. As long as our protest movement continues to grow and demand a stop to the damage Trump and Musk are doing to our democratic republic, we may be able to slow or even stop this anti-American cabal and reclaim our republic.
Our protesting in the streets and reaching out to legislators may encourage resistance within the media and courts, and might even inspire a handful of Republicans to stand against this wannabe dictator.
When democratic institutions fail, the last line of defense has always been citizens willing to take to the streets. Ukraine provides the most powerful recent example of how a determined populace can rescue democracy from Russian-inspired authoritarianism.
During Ukraineās Euromaidan protests in 2014, over half a million people joined demonstrations in Kyiv to defend democracy against creeping authoritarianism. Those protests ultimately ended Viktor Yanukovychās Russia-backed puppet regime (and kicked out its Russian-funded American advisor, Paul Manafort, who later became Trumpās 2016 campaign manager) and became known as the Revolution of Dignity.
Ukrainians stood firm in the streets despite violence and intimidation, and their courage changed history.
Ukraineās later Orange Revolution similarly empowered ordinary citizens to engage in mass protests, with some lasting continuously more than two weeks. This peaceful revolution successfully defended Ukraineās democratic aspirations against Russian influence and showed the world that people power can overcome autocratic manipulation.
Putin fears democracy, particularly at his doorstep like in Ukraine and the Baltic states. He knows that democracy is contagious, and any spread near Russia, he believes, poses an existential threat to his autocratic rule. Thatās why he invaded Ukraine, and thatās why he spent millions on social media trolls to support Trumpās election and his assault on our democratic institutions.
As Ukrainian historian Hanna Perekhoda warns, āIf we let Russian authoritarians win, it will mean that the authoritarian forces also in our countries, in the U.S., for example, will grow stronger.ā
If this assault on the Courts (and the implied intimidation of all judges including those on the Supreme Court) succeeds, and the media continues to bow down, the only thing left will be us in the streets.
People protest against Donald Trump, in Washington. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
The time for half-measures, āvery strong letters,ā and polite political disagreement has passed. We are watching in real-time as our 250-year experiment in democracy is being dismantled by a would-be dictator taking his cues from ā or, at least, modeling his presidency on ā Vladimir Putin.
This is not hyperbole. This is not partisan exaggeration. This is the stark reality facing our nation today. Fascism and dictatorship are at our doorstep.
Just last week, it was reported that Trump has now deported three American citizens, including a child taking cancer therapy.
Not content to just pull student visas and ask them to leave the country, Trumpās goons have been imprisoning students for writing OpEd articles for weeks. And now theyāre show-arresting judges.
The arrest of Judge Dugan is not an isolated incident; itās part a broader strategy to intimidate the judiciary and consolidate power.
When judges are arrested for upholding the principles of due process, the very foundation of democracy is at risk. This moment demands vigilance and action from all who value the rule of law.
The preservation of our democratic institutions depends on our collective response to such unprecedented challenges.
Buckle up, America. Democracy itself is on the line, and if the courts fall, weāll be its last defenders.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Abrego Garcia Family/Handout via REUTERS