"Arrest These Slimeballs:" ICE Given Authroity to Crush Protests

By T‑Paine

Donald Trump has just ordered ICE and federal agents to arrest anyone protesting immigration raids—“using whatever means necessary.” That includes rock‑throwing, brick‑throwing, even spitting. Like always, his message is clear: protest = rebellion, and rebellion must be quashed.

Fox News parrots it. Right‑wing pundits see it as proof the country needs more force. But this is not a first—it’s history in the making.

Historical Precendent: When Protests were Criminalized

During the civil rights era, civil disobedience—sit‑ins, marches, boycotts—was met with police dogs, fire hoses, mass arrests, and official labeling as “insurrection.”
Today’s decree is framed the same way: protest isn’t just unruly—it’s an immediate threat to government authority.

In 1970, National Guard rifles opened fire on unarmed students at Kent State because protest was considered a rebellion against the state. Now Trump wants the tools and the legal cover to do it again—except this time without public outrage.

Let’s get something straight: labeling unarmed protestors as “slimeball rock-throwers” and giving ICE authority to arrest them “by whatever means necessary” isn’t about public safety. It’s about fear and control. It’s about criminalizing dissent.

Sound familiar?

In Nazi Germany, the regime passed sweeping laws under the guise of “public order.” Hitler’s police were given broad authority to arrest anyone who opposed the state — especially if they dared protest in the streets. Throw a rock? Paint graffiti? Distribute a leaflet? You were labeled an enemy of the Reich. The SS and Gestapo didn’t wait for due process.

Now fast forward to America’s own origin story. Remember the Boston Massacre? Colonists — future Americans — threw snowballs and rocks at British soldiers occupying their streets. Five died. That act of rebellion is considered sacred now. It’s even taught in textbooks as the first blood spilled in the Revolution.

So let’s be clear: if Trump had been King George, he would’ve called Sam Adams a “slimeball” and sent ICE to throw Paul Revere in a detention center.

This isn’t just a policy shift. It’s historical amnesia. It’s calling the tools of protest terrorism, while ignoring how this country was born from the very same acts.

The people throwing rocks today are no different from the rebels throwing tea, pamphlets, and snowballs yesterday. The only difference is who’s holding the power — and how scared they are of losing it.

The Trump Escalation

This latest directive builds on his June move to deploy National Guard troops in Los Angeles without a governor’s request—marking the first time since 1965 that a president did so. Now he’s arming ICE with the power to arrest non‑violent demonstrators in the name of “protecting federal functions.” That’s fascism by decree.

This isn't Trump’s first attempt to blur the line between protest and criminality — but it might be one of the most blatant. By issuing a statement that ICE has permission to arrest demonstrators “by whatever means necessary,” Trump is handing a domestic agency the kind of unchecked power usually reserved for war zones. This isn’t just dog-whistle politics — it’s an air-raid siren.

Trump’s language matters. When a former president (and leading candidate for 2024) refers to citizens expressing dissent as “slimeballs” and suggests violence is the proper response, he’s not just venting. He’s building a justification. He’s laying groundwork for future crackdowns, where any resistance can be rebranded as terrorism. And he’s giving federal agents a wink and a nod to escalate first, and answer questions never.

Why does this matter? Because the next time there’s a protest — in LA, in Columbus, in a rural Ohio township — ICE doesn’t have to wait for instructions. They’ve already been told: use force. Assume guilt. Silence opposition. That’s how democracies rot — not all at once, but by eroding the line between law enforcement and political vengeance until there’s nothing left but fear.

Why it Matters

This is a signpost: protest is no longer safe. It comes with heavy consequences. ICE, CBP, DHS—federal security forces once tasked with enforcing narrow mandates—are being repurposed as domestic enforcers of political will.

If they’re willing to arrest people for throwing rocks, what’s next? Sit‑ins, leafleting, even talking back to a cop on the street? We’ve already seen the penalties escalate for these “slimeballs.”

This isn’t about public order. It’s about moral terror. They don’t want resistance—they want obedience.

Expect raids to become theaters of intimidation. Expect protests to be met not with dialogue, but with guns and arrest authority. Expect it to spread—from Texas fields to Ohio towns—under the guise of “law and order.”

But we’ve seen this before. History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes—and Trump is reading from the fascist playbook.

Our next move? We don’t hide. We don’t kneel. We don’t retreat.
We resist. We document. We organize.