President Trump instructed federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., to seek the death penalty for murders in the capital, saying "we have no choice" and calling it a strong preventative. The move forms part of a broader push to create a federal arrest and detention system operating outside established norms, directed at everyday citizens and guided by presidential whims. The death penalty is one element of a strategy that places suppression of civil rights at its center, exploiting public anxiety about crime to justify repression. Historical examples show authoritarian regimes have used capital punishment and extrajudicial killings to silence dissent.
Trump's pronouncement is about much more than deterring killings, though. With speed and brazenness, Trump seems intent on creating a new, federal arrest and detention system outside of existing norms, aimed at everyday citizens and controlled by his whims. The death penalty is part of it, but stomping on civil rights is at the heart of it - ruthlessly exploiting anxiety about crime to aim repression at whatever displeases him, from immigration protesters to murderers.
The death penalty is part of it, but stomping on civil rights is at the heart of it - ruthlessly exploiting anxiety about crime to aim repression at whatever displeases him, from immigration protesters to murderers. This administration "is using the words of crime and criminals to get themselves a permission structure to erode civil rights and due processes across our criminal, legal and immigration systems in ways that I think should have everyone alarmed," Rena Karefa-Johnson told me.
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