The American People Themselves Must Rise Up to Defend Democracy
October 17 National “No Kings”/Trump Out Now Day of Action:
Mobilize your school, workplace, community to defeat Trump’s fascist regime
- Build the national, independent, mass, militant “No Kings”/Trump Out Now movement!
- Defend democracy! Trump must go now by any means necessary!
- No more normalizing Trump! No more legitimizing fascism!
- Stop Trump’s racist ethnic cleansing of immigrants in America! Shut down Trump’s fascist police state! Abolish ICE!
- Victory to the Palestinian struggle! Defeat the U.S. and Israel’s campaign of war and ethnic cleansing of Palestine, Iran, and Lebanon!
- Build the international movement against fascism and war!
1. Fall 2026: Turning point in the defense of democracy in the U.S.
The writing is on the wall. Donald Trump is using the upcoming midterm elections to accelerate his attempts to solidify and institutionalize his fascist rule in the United States. Trump has openly been warning of “election fraud” to restrict the voting process of the midterm elections. Only a determined, independent, national, mass movement in the streets, fighting for real democracy and equality, not just the illusion of democracy and equality, can defeat fascism and prevent further catastrophic consequences for the people of the U.S. and around the world.
In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s second election, BAMN released the following assessment of the election result and the rise of American fascism:
In 2024 a layer of certain major billionaires—tyrants of capital—decided to adopt Trump and his authoritarian vision. They already commanded a monstrous concentration of economic power. Authoritarian, fascist governments… could rid them of any inconvenient governmental inspection or constraints, remove any significant threats of trade union struggle, eliminate the nuisance of the protection of local communities against corporate abuse, and gut once and for all the entire body of environmental regulations. To these would-be Caligulas and Neros of capital, a Trump dictatorship would be a Utopia for the most reckless and irresponsible (that is, Trump-like) narcissists among the rich and powerful—civil society turned into a permanent opportunity for an orgy of greed for the corporate Behemoths and Leviathans. Trump and his Billionaire Boys’ Club could command a tyrannical political power commensurate with the economic tyranny they already take for granted.
Excerpt from BAMN’s “An American Catastrophe: Fascism Comes to America,” November 2024
Over the past two years, we have watched this exact destructive dynamic unfold: a presidential term marked by scandal after scandal as a product of the ongoing orgy of capitalist greed. But this corrupt, chaotic, and unpredictable administration is not just an expression of the complete idiocy of especially stupid government officials, starting with the stupidity and insanity of Trump. It is the consequence of a conscious fascist policy of crony capitalism, where profit is around the corner for Trump or his family and cronies in the midst and in the aftermath of the latest economic or political government policy disaster or escalation of war.
Trump’s billionaire boys’ club has thrown out the shell of American democracy. Instead of wielding power in a veiled form or from the shadows by using their wealth to buy off parties and politicians; now under this free-for-all, they now dictate domestic and foreign policy directly.
When powerful capitalist allies or imperialist competition like China’s Xi Jinping visit the White House, it is not Trump, but the Elon Musks, Jensen Huangs, Sam Altmans, Mark Zuckerbergs, and Jeff Bezos that directly speak for the economic interests of American imperialism. These corporate Tyrants drunk on economic and political power continue to shape the world’s economy through their direct hand in Trump’s tyrannical regime.
Trump began his presidency by giving billionaire white supremacist Elon Musk free rein to eliminate any government constraints through his new DOGE department and grant himself billions of dollars in federal contracts.
But the billionaire boys’ club under Trump has not been the only political force shaping world politics these last two years. The same day that election results were being announced, thousands of people were already mobilizing to the streets, to express our opposition to fascism and vowing to defend democracy and each other. Two powers faced each other in opposition.
2. Our independent mass, militant actions in the streets are the highest democratic expression of true power in America
The purpose of fascism is more than creating unfettered opportunities for capitalist profit-making by eliminating government restrictions and giving corporations and billionaires direct control of foreign and domestic economic policy and government spending. To maximize the power of the tyrannical ruling class that it represents, fascism must thoroughly take hold of all the democratic state institutions. And finally and most importantly, the role of fascism is to eliminate any and all forms of the workers and oppressed’s ability to organize independently and break the chains of capitalist exploitation and state repression. On this task, so far, Trump has utterly failed.
From January to May Day 2025, America saw some of the largest protests in its history. Los Angeles, led by Latina/o and black youth, ignited the spark of militant walkouts from high schools and middle schools reminiscent of the historic immigrant rights mobilizations of 2006. Trump was forced to hold off his racist plan of sending an invading force of ICE agents to carry out mass raids and deportations until schools went on break for the summer. Inspired by the walkouts, protests of young and old against a fascist takeover of the federal government spread through the 50501 and “Hands Off” national calls to action. These protests prevented significant cuts to the federal workforce and government programs, and finally forced Musk to step down from his official government role in May 2025.
Through March and April 2024, while Biden was still President, the pro-Palestinian movement took center stage with university students taking the lead through the tactic of mass encampments and occupations of university campuses nationwide. The force of repression was swift and gross; “liberal” university administrations, encouraged by the Biden administration, brutally repressed their own students—in some instances, as at UCLA, coordinating attacks with fascists and pro-genocide Zionists against student protestors. The repression, instead of discouraging students, inspired an explosion of campus encampments and occupations in universities in the U.S. and abroad. Thousands of community supporters mobilized to show solidarity in action, through donations of food, snacks, medicine, and other needed supplies to keep the encampments going. People also showed up to protect the encampments from further fascist or university police attacks.
The continuation of the global pro-Palestinian movement would be one of the first tests of the Trump administration, which was eventually forced to start seeking some kind of ceasefire. Palestinian people in Gaza were also emboldened and energized to continue their struggle.
In June 2025, Trump attempted to carry out his plan of ethnic cleansing of Latino immigrant communities by mobilizing ICE thugs accompanied by other federal agencies—and ultimately the National Guard—to invade Los Angeles. The response was a militant uprising of the LA communities. The sleeping giant was re-awakened. BAMN’s tactic of community defense guards became the go-to tactic of Los Angeles communities. Integrated groups of community members, neighbors, young and old, came out of their houses, confronted and drove ICE thugs out of their neighborhoods, and shut down downtown LA in massive demonstrations that spilled onto the freeways for days on end.
“The LA Way” of independent, direct, mass, militant actions in the streets drove ICE and the National Guard out of the city and dealt Trump a major defeat in his racist program of mass deportations. In Los Angeles and other cities to come, Democratic Party politicians like LA mayor Karen Bass and California governor Gavin Newsom, spoke on television against Trump’s attacks on immigrants, but in action were quick to mobilize their own local and state police agencies to crack down on militant pro-immigrant protests and to protect ICE and federal agents. Despite the shameful complicity of the Democratic Party, an independent movement was very much alive. The LA Way was to be followed by militant communities all over the country.
The pro-Palestinian student movement, the LA high school and middle school student walkouts and the mass outpouring of LA communities to defeat ICE raids and deportations inspired millions of people all over the U.S. to come out to the streets. This growing wave of resistance culminated in the first “No Kings” protest in June 2025. The protests shut down entire cities and registered the biggest street demonstrations in American history. A second “No Kings” national protest occurred in October 2025. The protests became much more politically conscious. They expressed mass opposition to the federal government’s domestic policy of ethnic cleansing of Latina/o, Asian, and black immigrants. The demonstrations also increasingly expressed overwhelming opposition to the U.S./Israel genocide in Gaza and imperialist attempts to broaden the war to Iran and Lebanon. This signified a turning point in American history in opposition to Israel’s fascist policies and increased support for the cause of the Palestinian people.
3. The international protest movement
The September and October 2025 protests in the US coincided with ongoing international protests in Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East in support of Palestine and against imperialist support for the U.S./Israel’s genocide in Gaza and growing attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Dock workers in Italy, Greece, France, and Morocco took the international movement a step further by refusing to load/unload Israel-bound military shipments.
BAMN is proud to have been a part of and to have intervened in this historic turning point in the international movement for justice for Palestine. Members of BAMN/U.S. and its British sister organization the Movement for Justice participated in a historic gathering of dock workers in Genova, Italy. This gathering included dock workers’ union representatives from Germany, Cyprus, Slovenia, the Basque country, Greece, France, the U.S and Italy. BAMN leaders presented our international perspective to build the movement by a combination of independent dock workers’ strikes, supported by youth and community members to stop shipments of military aid to Israel.
While this gathering failed to agree on further coordinated actions, the people of Genova validated our perspective the night of September 27, 2025, after the meeting concluded. Dock workers sounded the alarm that a ZIM ship was on its way to dock at Genova with a load of weapons bound for Israel. Thousands of youth led by Genova university students, who were also holding an ongoing university occupation, mobilized young and old to the port and succeeded in preventing the ship from docking. Other Italian ports in Taranto and Ravenna followed our same example.
Within days, on October 3, 2025, millions shut down over 100 Italian cities in a nationwide strike in support of Palestine. These actions dealt a weakening blow to Italian fascism, forcing Italy’s fascist prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, to distance herself from Netanyahu and ultimately end a military supply agreement between Italy and Israel in April the following year.
But even more significant was the effect at the international level, since Trump and Netanyahu were forced to a weak but significant ceasefire on October 9, 2025. Although Israel has never fully honored any ceasefire, nonetheless, it was a major victory for the Palestinian people of Gaza and the pro-Palestine international movement.
4. From 2025-2026: The movement against Trump and the global rise of fascism spreads, grows, and deepens
The ceasefire and the Christmas break initially dampened the street actions worldwide, but did not stop them. The international struggles of 2025 made clear that the way to stop Trump’s fascist program at home and abroad was to unite the power of the independent immigrant rights and pro-Palestinian movements fighting in the streets.
In January of 2026, America and the world were once again shocked and outraged by the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE thugs invading Minneapolis, Minnesota. Massive mobilizations exploded nationwide once again. Minneapolis was shut down as part of a city-wide strike. ICE thugs were eventually forced out of Minneapolis by the mass movement in the streets, doing it the LA Way.
Despite the attempts of the Democratic Party to co-opt the national movement, trying to turn “No Kings” demonstrations into electoral campaign rallies, they have largely failed to shut down the movement.
5. Trump’s threat to American democracy: The continuation of Trump’s own dictatorial rule and the institutionalization of a fascist Republican Party after Trump
Trump has managed to make some gains in the institutionalization of his fascist brand by winning legal victories at the Supreme Court, which has “constitutionalized” most of his most authoritarian and racist policies. The U.S. Supreme Court has become an extension of Trump’s fascist regime. This entire process of institutionalizing fascism has only been possible because of the weakness and complicity of the Democratic Party in normalizing fascism and legitimizing Trump.
There is a high likelihood that, if Trump’s electoral sabotage, is prevented that the cyclical process in which the party in control of the presidential office loses the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives during the midterm elections will play out in November 2026. Even more, the rapidly escalating hatred and fear of Trump, and the mass perception of the failure, stupidity, and corrupt tendencies of his economic and international policies, make a landslide repudiation of the Republican Party likely.
However, even if this shift takes place, this does not mean that the process of fascist entrenchment in American government and society will be stopped. Even with the recent decision from the Supreme Court siding against Trump’s restrictions on mail voting, our independent mass movement is the only power that can stop his attempts to interfere in the midterm elections. And while the Democratic Party refuses to call Trump’s Republican Party a fascist party, Trump is openly threatening to restrict voting through a variety of dictatorial executive orders and schemes.
Trump is attempting to restrict mail votes and is threatening to mobilize his ICE gestapo forces and fascist thug supporters to intimidate black and Latina/o voters at the polls. His order attempts to put the U.S. Postal Service and the executive branch directly into the process of determining which ballots can be delivered. This amounts to an attempted transfer of authority over mail voting from states and Congress to the President and USPS.
By shifting control of elections to the federal executive branch, Trump is attempting to both restrict the democratic voting rights of American citizens, while simultaneously consolidating his authoritarian fascist regime. Trump seeks to permanently institutionalize fascism by turning the Republican Party into his fascist Republican Party, which will become a permanent choice in the American two-party system beyond his presidential term, whether he attempts to prolong it or not.
American elections are already limited by the farce of the Electoral College, the two-party system, gerrymandered district maps, attacks on The Voting Rights Act and other systematic disenfranchisement of non-white voters, and are ultimately controlled by gangs of capitalist tyrants and their obscene effective economic ownership of American politics. It is through this limited democratic process and the broken democratic institutions of the nation that Trump sees the ideal “legal” or “legitimate” and “constitutional” path to institutionalize his fascist party, cementing his legacy by becoming America’s der Führer. This has, after all, been the historical process of the ascensions of the fascist regimes of Mussolini and Hitler.
6. The Counterposed Power of the Mass Anti-Trump/ Anti-Fascist Movement
Trump’s fascist regime has not yet succeeded in taking complete control of the state democratic institutions, let alone succeed in defeating our national anti-fascist, pro-democratic movement.
Millions of people have successfully mobilized to the streets to prevent Trump’s overreaches time and time again. These mobilizations have stood as a model to the world of the power of a mass movement fighting to defend democracy and to keep alive the ideals of freedom and equality associated by most Americans with the US Constitution. Any pro-Trump, mainly white cult rallies, parades, or demonstrations have pathetically paled in comparison to our massive, national, racially integrated, and militant protests. We have shut down entire cities for days at a time and driven ICE thugs and federal agents from hunting our immigrant brothers and sisters. We have taken control of universities and ignited worldwide protests for victory to the Palestinian struggle. And we alone, not the capitalists, not the politicians, will decide whether this nation can truly live up to the words inscribed in the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the three Reconstruction Amendments or allow another dark chapter in human history.
In 2020, after the May 25 police murder of George Floyd, in the midst of the most militant struggle since the Civil Rights and Anti-War Movements of the 60’s and 70’s, millions of people came out in major cities and rural communities alike, to stand up against racist police murder and tyranny, to demand Justice for George Floyd. BAMN released the following statement:
…We have marched for science and democracy. In each instance, we have felt our power in the streets as the only real democratic expression of power in this nation. Our movement must not allow itself to be distracted and belittled into any politician’s electoral campaign. It is time to stop letting politicians co-opt our movement who simply see us as cheerleaders to build their individual fame and fail us time and time again.
Excerpt from “Program of Action for the New Civil Rights Movement: Justice for George Floyd,” 2020
That movement succeeded in defeating Trump and drove him out of office. But our movement was once again co-opted by the Democratic Party that urged us to get off the streets and mobilize to the ballot box. We must look back at our recent history of struggle and see where real democratic power lies in America. It is not with the politicians, the courts, or government institutions, but in our independent mass militant struggle in the streets.
Five years ago, in response to Trump’s failed January 6, 2021 coup attempt to overthrow the US Congress to prevent the confirmation of his decisive defeat by Joe Biden in the November 2020 election, BAMN released the following statement on the movement’s task to defend democracy and defeat fascism, which we still endorse today:
Democracy is not a law, or an institution, or even a voting process. Democracy is the power of the great mass of the population, governing society in its own interests, free from the despotism of a wealthy and powerful elite who would seek to rule over them. Some of the greatest expressions of democracy in history, such as the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King, Jr., were made by people who could not vote. And some of the worst examples of tyranny, including Mussolini and Hitler, ascended to power through a legal, constitutional process. It is impossible to understand that history when viewing it through the narrow lens of constitutional law and institutional grandeur…
To defend democracy, that new civil rights movement must mobilize in the streets again.
Excerpt from BAMN’s statement “No Union with Fascism” 2021
More than ever before, in order to defend these democratic principles: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: THAT ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE CREATED EQUAL, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the American People themselves must rise up!
-October 13, 2026
Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights & Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN)
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