The US Capitol riot risks supercharging a new age of political repression | Akin Olla

A new age of political repression is coming at a time in which we need protests the most, and it will be a bipartisan affair

Following the fascist riot at the US Capitol, progressives and liberals have begun to mimic the calls for law and order" of their conservative counterparts, even going as far as threatening to expand the war on terror". While this may be well-intentioned, it fits neatly within the trajectory of attacks against civil liberties over the last two decades. A Biden administration with a 50-50 Senate will seek unity and compromise wherever it can find it, and oppressing political dissidents will be the glue that holds together Biden's ability to govern.

A wide array of actors within the United States government have long predicted, and begun to prepare for, a new age of protests and political instability. In 2008 the Pentagon launched the Minerva Initiative, a research program aimed at understanding mass movements and how they spread. It included at least one project that conflated peaceful activists with supporters of political violence" and deemed that they were worth studying alongside active terrorist organizations.