Be prepared to face the consequences

ICE (this police force that Trumpism has transformed into death squads, with carte blanche to kill and kidnap civilians with virtually no explanation) is commanded by a character named Greg Bovino, an idiot who likes to dress up as a Nazi (he walks around in a coat that imitates those worn by Boss officers, and with a military-style haircut). Starting with his surname, so tempting, Bovino could be a kind of unintentional self-caricature, a histrionic character who, more than a fascist, seems like a caricature of one: physically, he even resembles Lockjaw, Sean Penn's character in One battle after anotherBut Bovino is dangerous, to the point of becoming the public face of one of the most disturbing aspects of Trumpism: its civil war impulse.

This weekend we saw ICE agents execute another citizen, Alex Pretti, a nurse, in the street. We already witnessed the cold-blooded murder of Renee Nicole Good, which Trumpism attempted to justify by defaming the 37-year-old poet and mother of three as a supposed terrorist. The death of Alex Pretti (also recorded in several videos, which clearly show the execution of a defenseless man) adds even more tension to the city of Minneapolis, literally occupied by federal government hired killers. It is a siege against cities and states that Trumpism considers disaffected or enemies: after the death of Renee Good, the mayor of Minneapolis, Democrat Jacob Frey, addressed ICE with harsh words ("Get the fuck out"," "go to hell," he told them). Pretti's murder should be understood as ICE's response to Mayor Frey.

In a statement, Bovino has finally made explicit his motivations and the modus operandi He unequivocally called the police officers he commands fascists. He literally said that Alex Pretti died because he "chose to listen to politicians and so-called journalists who debase law enforcement," following the death of Renee Good. And then, in case there was any doubt, he added that "what we choose has consequences." Your choices, citizens, have consequences. And depending on the journalists you choose to listen to and the politicians you decide to support, you could end up dead in the street.

It's the classic dilemma of totalitarianism: either you're on my side, or you're an enemy of the nation, and therefore deserve to have the State use its force against you. You deserve to die. If you don't do what's expected of you, face the consequences. The civil servant (a police officer is one) loses their democratic status as a public servant and acquires that of a repressive agent at the service of the state. It's the brute force of a new fascism that is beginning to reveal itself without masks. There's no need to doubt for a moment that if Trumpism does this in the US, and succeeds, its admirers and imitators will want to replicate it in Spain as soon as they have the chance.