In Trump\u2019s America, when you fight to defend your neighbors, when you stand up for justice and truth, you become a target. You might get murdered in your home, fired without explanation, handcuffed by unidentified agents, or sent to a foreign gulag. I\u2019m no stranger to this pattern of intimidation.<\/p>\n
I received my first death threat long before I ever got elected. For over a decade prior to running for the state Senate, I organized Coloradans to advance immigrant rights, economic justice, and racial equity. In 2018, I asked my community for the privilege and honor to serve them in the state legislature, a position that offers the comforts of access, influence, and power.<\/p>\n
It also carries the weight of additional visibility, both to those who believe in what I\u2019m doing and to folks who hate and despise me for it. My loved ones gently encourage me to take precautions. Well-meaning friends suggest that maybe I shouldn\u2019t be so loud, so direct.<\/p>\n
Except, that\u2019s the point: oligarchs, tyrants, and their supporters want our voices to shake. Fear is an exceptionally effective motivator, and the intentional intimidation of anyone who challenges them is designed to weaken our commitment to each other. The assassinations of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark<\/a>, the shooting of another Democratic legislator, Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette \u2013 are meant to terrify and shock us all into silence and submission.<\/p>\n On Friday, unidentified “security” members handcuffed Alex Padilla, a son of immigrants and United States Senator from California, bringing him to his knees in a room full of reporters. His crime: the audacity to ask a question about the coldly brutal arrests of his constituents and the unprecedented military invasion of Los Angeles. The fact that they\u2019re now openly cuffing U.S. Senators<\/a> is a bitter reminder of the vicious treatment endured by so many and too often uncaptured by cameras.<\/p>\n