THIS IS HOW FASCISM SPREADS: THREE ATTACKS, ONE PLAYBOOK, AND A SYSTEM WORKING AS DESIGNED

From sexual assault to armed robbery to psychological warfare, violent actors across NC are weaponizing ICE's reign of terror. This is what happens when we treat any human dignity as negotiable.

LET’S TALK about the absolute horror show unfolding in North Carolina right now. In just the past week: A man in Raleigh got arrested for pretending to be an ICE officer to sexually assault a woman, threatening to deport her if she refused. In Greensboro, armed men posed as ICE agents to rob a Hispanic family, pointing guns at a five-month-old baby. In Durham, someone parked a fake ICE truck outside Hispanic grocery stores just to spread terror through the community.

Just . . . let that all sink in for a moment.

You know how in those crime shows there’s always that moment where they find out all the seemingly separate cases are connected? Yeah, well, welcome to real life, where every system of oppression is having a group chat and sharing tips on how to make people’s lives hell.

These attacks in North Carolina didn’t happen in a vacuum. Think about it: In one week, we’ve got sexual assault in Raleigh, armed robbery in Greensboro, and psychological terrorism in Durham — all using the same playbook. All weaponizing ICE’s reputation for terror. All knowing exactly how the system works.

These predators didn’t pull these ideas out of thin air. They looked around and saw a society that’s totally cool with dehumanizing and terrorizing immigrants, weaponizing state power, and treating certain humans as disposable. They saw the playbook and thought “neat, I can use that!”. And honestly? That’s exactly what happens when we normalize any form of dehumanization. It becomes a template for every other flavor of awful.

When a fake ICE truck outside a Hispanic grocery store can send an entire community into panic — when armed men can point guns at a baby while pretending to be federal agents — when sexual predators can use deportation threats as weapons — that’s not just about individual criminals. That’s about fucking fascism.

*Deep breath*

And you know what’s truly maddening about all this? About America right now? The way people in power — and supposed progressive *voters* supporting them — keep trying to convince us that we need to accept some oppression to prevent worse oppression. As if enabling any form of dehumanization doesn’t just create more opportunities for abuse. As if what happened in North Carolina isn’t the predictable result of treating any human beings as disposable.

Here’s the thing about human dignity — it’s not a pizza where you can pick which toppings you want. You can’t be like “I’ll fight for these rights but those ones are too politically complicated right now.”

That’s not how this works.
That’s not how any of this works.

Every time someone says “well, we have to be realistic” about human rights, a fascist gets their wings.

And that’s exactly how we ended up with a situation where some dickhead in Raleigh thought “Hey, I bet I can use ICE’s reputation for terror as a cover for sexual assault.” Because we’ve normalized the idea that some people’s humanity is negotiable.

Look, we can sit here and be mad (and trust me, I am), or we can actually build something better. When predators are coordinating attacks across an entire state we need to coordinate our defense just as widely. Here’s what actually protecting each other looks like:

• Support groups like Siembra NC that are doing the real work of defending immigrant rights AND building community power.

• Build rapid response networks (because ICE doesn’t make appointments, and neither do the criminals impersonating them).

• Create mutual aid systems so people don’t have to depend on institutions that want them dead — or on businesses where they might get terrorized just for buying groceries.

• Share “know your rights” info everywhere and in every language (yet this is the bare minimum, because frankly fascists could give a fuck about our ‘rights’ — but still not bad to know about).

• Train communities to identify real versus fake ICE agents — though seriously, what a dystopian thing to have to teach.

• Connect different communities because isolated communities are vulnerable communities. When fake ICE agents are hitting multiple cities in the same week, we need multiple communities standing together in response.

Right now, from Gaza to Sudan to Congo, and here at home where trans folks and immigrants are among those facing the most targeted daily terror, we’re watching the machinery of fascist oppression work overtime. And there’s only one way to fight back: By building an unbreakable circle of protection around EVERYONE under attack.

This means zero tolerance for dehumanizing ANYONE. It means treating an attack on any vulnerable group as an attack on humanity itself. It means building actual support systems instead of just tweeting about it. It means telling *selective solidarity* to go fuck itself.

No exceptions, no strategic compromises, no “but what about midterm elections?” Because if we’re not fighting for everyone’s liberation, we’re just managing the speed of our collective descent into fascism.

These violent incidents? This is what happens when we play footsie with oppression instead of stomping it out. We can’t keep choosing between shades of fascism, deciding whose humanity is negotiable, and calling it strategy. We need to build real alternatives, real protection, real power.

It’s time to move beyond the *vote blue no matter who* — the *strategic harm reduction* — the *pragmatic progressive* brain worms that trap us in false choices and keep us from building networks that can actually protect people.

Because partial liberation isn’t liberation — it’s just oppression with better PR.

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