CARTOON: The REAL Criminal Gang
"The crime of all crimes."
Cartoon and photo by Mark Taylor / DeMOCKracy.ink
See more ICE cartoons.
“There is much to be said about the political processes that deployed these men, and the chain of socioeconomic failures that placed our nation in the position we find ourselves. But there is another important thing to be said directly to the men who go to work every day and don the tactical vests and facemasks and act like the willing gestapo agents of our idiot political leader: You guys are fucking cowards.
“Tough guy? No. Straight up fucking coward, man. Pathetic. Jesus. Have some self-respect.”
— Hamilton Nolan, You're a Bunch of Cowards! (6/10/25)
By Mark Taylor
DeMOCKracy.ink (6/27/25)
With every day illegal and immoral acts of the United States Nazi Gestapo ICE, Border Patrol and some state and local law enforcement agencies destroys more innocent lives and communities. When a government turns on its own, the real terror gang is no longer some foreign drug cartel. Instead, it is found in those goons the government uses to destroy the rule of law, decency, free speech and the humanity of basic human rights.
While the Gestapo agents brutalizing the father of three US Marines or forcing a Purple Heart veteran with a history of combat-related PTSD to self deport may be masked, they are bare ass fascist cowards and traitors for all the world to see.
The glue of any society and its government is to be found in a basic relationship of trust; a belief that even though there are and will be differences and conflicts, that the government can ultimately be trusted to honor the good of society. Given the past two years, I must confess to feeling a bit of a naive fool writing that last sentence, but — really — that trust is supposed to be the bedrock of a society. But now we have masked, unidentified government goons snatching people off the streets, kicking in the doors of wrong homes and deporting seriously ill children without medical care.
At minimum, 75% of those illegally sent to the El Salvadoran concentration camp had absolutely no legal charges or history. Totally innocent yet sent off by masked goons to a concentration torture camp they may well never be released from.
While their masks, sunglasses and hats may hide their faces, their illegal actions expose these state bullies as the moral midgets and cowardly criminals they are. They are undeserving of any bit of trust or respect. They are the danger to our communities.
Think of it for a moment.
Imagine going to a bank to open a savings account or sign a mortgage and the banker behind the desk is wearing a mask and sunglasses and refuses to confirm he represents the bank. Or going to a hospital for a serious medical condition and the doctor walks into the exam room wearing a mask and sunglasses and refuses to give you his name. What would you think if you went to see an attorney to represent you in a legal case and she was wearing a mask and sunglasses and had no business card to give you.
Would you trust any of them?
Would there be any reason to trust them?
Of course not.
Same goes for masked cops.
Without basic trust and accountability there is no civil society and — of course — that is exactly what the corporate fascists want. Instead, it will be all top-down. They will tell you what is right and wrong and what you can and can’t do and if you don’t like it, they’ll sic masked goons on you.
Two truths
There are two things to understand in such a twisted society:
The first is for the government officials and their gangster goons:
Oppression through intimidation, fear and terror are not the same as respect and loyalty. Sooner or later, conditions change, tyrannies become sick and rickety and, eventually — in time — there is payback. The people never forget, and what can happen when they get a chance? Well, just look to the 1989 Romanian example of corrupt Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena. There were so many in the military unit that captured them who volunteered for the job that the three executioners had to win a lottery to do the dark deed.
The moment of the Ceausescu execution.
No one wants to see this country needlessly come to such an extreme, unnecessary point of violence. Legal inquiries, investigations, trials and prison are perfectly acceptable paths to justice and would have been a better destination for the Ceausescus and Romania.
The second truth is for citizens:
When we tolerate injustice for some it will ultimately, happen to all. In the world of fascism, the circle of the unaccepted grows ever wider and wider in order to tighten the dark grip of control . This is especially true — as we see now with Trump — as a regime loses more and more public trust and legitimacy. The weaker such rulers are the more they lash out in frantic desperation at their own people.
The answer is to forge solidarity wherever possible and always, in whatever way possible…
Resist
Persist
Don’t be complicit!
Time To Unmask Trump’s Detention & Deportation Squads
By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan
Democracy Now! (6/26/25)
With each passing day, the violence wielded by ICE, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, grows more intense and widespread. One grotesquely emblematic example of this was the recent violent arrest of 48-year-old Narciso Barranco in Santa Ana, California. Narciso, a hardworking immigrant laborer who came from Mexico over thirty years ago, is the father of three US Marines. While landscaping outside an IHOP restaurant on June 21st, he was assaulted by at least seven armed, masked men, who tackled him and repeatedly punched him in the head. They handcuffed him and shoved him into an unmarked SUV. The plainclothes agents wore face masks, bullet-proof vests and military-grade helmets. Some of the vests read, “Police–US Border Patrol” on the back, but to anyone confronted by these gangs, no identifying marks, names, or badges were visible.
One of Narciso’s sons, Alejandro Barranco, a US Marine Corps veteran, was able to visit his father in jail. Narciso was still wearing the same work clothes that were bloodied in the assault.
“He looked beat up, he looked rough, he looked defeated, he was sad,” Alejandro said on the Democracy Now! news hour. “Anybody would be scared if they see these guys come up to them, masked, not in uniform, guns out.”
Unfolding police violence
City of Santa Ana councilmember Jonathan Hernandez, also on Democracy Now!, added, “We are watching violence unfold, racial profiling increase in cities like Santa Ana, where 41% of our residents are migrants, 70% are of Latino descent…agents come into our community, and they’re refusing to identify themselves, they don’t have judicial warrants and these ICE raids are an example of the government’s overreach.”
In mid-June, President Trump briefly paused immigration raids on farms, hotels and restaurants, ostensibly to ensure these key industries that have supported him in the past continue to do so. “Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” Trump wrote.
Crippling our economy
Soon after, he reversed himself. The short pause revealed a fundamental truth about undocumented immigrants: the US economy doesn’t function without them. Nevertheless, urged on by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, ICE, Homeland Security and Border agents are snatching and deporting the very workers on whom our economy depends.
There are some sectors of the economy that are thriving amidst the mass deportations. GEO Group, the private prison corporation, has seen its stock rise by over 50% since Trump’s election. Palantir, the tech and AI firm co-founded by Trump backer, billionaire Peter Thiel, has seen its stock rise over 500% in the past year. It was recently reported that Palantir is building tools to allow near real-time tracking of immigrants in the US. The Program on Government Oversight, POGO, reported that Stephen Miller’s financial disclosure reveals he owns up to $250,000 in Palantir stock.
Meanwhile, the Republican majority on the US Supreme Court has handed Trump a deportation-related victory. Several immigrants sued the government to stop or reverse deportations to Guatemala, South Sudan and Libya. A federal judge in Massachusetts issued an injunction against these so-called “third party nation removals.” This week, the Supreme Court’s six conservative justices overturned that injunction, without comment. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, writing that the Trump administration’s “flagrantly unlawful conduct,” backed by the Supreme Court, is “exposing thousands to the risk of torture or death.”
Resistance is active, growing and making a difference. Grassroots pressure and legal battles have won the release of international students targeted for their solidarity with Palestinians, among them Rümeysa Öztürk, Mohsen Mahdawi, and the first such student arrested and threatened with deportation, Mahmoud Khalil.
Likewise, grassroots, legal and Congressional pressure forced the Trump administration to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States. The Maryland father received asylum during Trump’s first term, in 2019, based on credible threats from an El Salvador gang. Then, this past March 12th, he was snatched from a parking lot and sent, against a court order, to El Salvador.
Under enormous legal and grassroots pressure, the federal government finally returned Abrego Garcia to the US. Despite that victory, upon his return the federal government promptly rearrested him, charging him with human trafficking for allegedly driving undocumented immigrants several years ago. He remains in federal custody in Tennessee, and, if released, ICE will likely attempt to deport him.
Meanwhile, Narciso Barranco sits in ICE detention, with his two sons still on active duty in the US Marines not far away, at Fort Pendleton. It is past time to unmask the violent agents targeting people like Narciso, and halt Trump’s racist, xenophobic mass detentions and deportations.
Link to story and 7-minute audio
Who Is That Man Behind The Mask?!
“All of this comes down, folks, to a real question about what kind of society you want to have and if you want to be governed by people who feel like they are not accountable to the law, who ignore court orders who hide their identities. Who hide themselves in public and yet use the power of the state and the power of force against people both discriminately and indiscriminately. You're not living in the America that you think you are.”
By Rick Wilson
Elephant In The Room / The Linclon Project (6/20/25)
This week, Rick’s Elephant in the Room touches on the lack of accountability when those who are sworn to “protect and serve” do neither by concealing their own identities. A construct of every major dictatorship, secret military forces such as the Nazis’ SS and Russia’s KGB have always been a lynchpin in the descent into autocracy. Let’s face it, we do not need Seal Team 6 — or as these agents are called “Meal Team 6” — to tackle grandmothers and high school students. These losers are just living out their favorite video games and do not comprehend that power goes both ways. If they are going to continue this abuse of power, then it’s the public’s responsibility to call 911 and report masked men on the street. With great power comes great responsibility, and these douchebags “serve” all of us.
If we have people in our society who can exercise violence, who can exercise the powers of arrest who can wield life and death and you don't know who they are, then your country is gone.”
10-minute video
Supreme Court Goons’ Decree DOOMS Immigrants To Concentration Camps & SLAVERY
“It's a fascist country that's what it is and these are fascist decisions and anybody who supports it — yes — they're fascist. There's no way around it. It's that simple.”
— Kyle Kulinski
Secular Talk (6/26/25)
9-minute video
HEY, ICE AGENTS: Nazi's Son Speaks Out On His Father's Legacy — “I despise him.” / In this time of fascistic abuse and betrayal, we all need to consider our legacy. The question for all of us is: Where were you in this time of government abuse and betrayal. ICE agents have miserably failed the question. … Link to story
CARTOON: BLOB BULLIES -- Faceless Federal Agents Wage War On Americans. / Arrest photos posted to social media by federal law enforcement portray even the backs of cowardly officers heads blurred! … Link to story
BIG TOUGH GANGSTA’ COP SHOWS WHAT HE’S MADE OF
Handcuffing a child!? What a piece of…
1-minute video
Today’s Calls to Action
Click here to send a letter to your Member of Congress and tell them to co-sponsor and champion the NO SECRET POLICE ACT. This bill would require that DHS officers: Are prohibited from wearing face coverings or any item that conceals their face during detentions or arrests. Wear or display official insignia or uniforms in a manner clearly visible to others.
Call your Member of Congress today at (202) 224-3121 and demand they support the NO SECRET POLICE Act. Tell them:
ICE agents should never hide behind face coverings.
They must wear clearly identifiable uniforms.
No one should fear being snatched off the street by masked, unidentified agents.
Click here to Denounce Islamophobic Attacks on Zohran Mamdani
Click here: Don't Let Republicans Take Food From Kids
Click here to Stop Trump's Attempt to Mine the Ocean Floor
Click here to take the Freedom over Fascism pledge
Next Week In Britain Sharing This Video Could Get You 14 Years In Prison
This new law is designed to SILENCE us all.
[Editor’s Note: While journalist George Monbiot is talking about the hypocritical British government’s crackdown on the courageous genocide protest group Palestine Action, make no mistake, the same thing is coming here to America. It’s through such abusive degrees illegitimate empires declares they are rattled and weak. — M. Taylor]
Double Down News (6/27/25)
“You can blow the limbs off a child, fine. You can directly and deliberately target journalists and academics. You can blow up entire families. You can target people who are queuing for food aid. You can do what the hell you like and you will not be condemned by this government. But spray a bit of paint on some war planes or some weapons of war and that paint, that becomes the true weapon of war. That becomes the true aggression.”
—George Monbiot
15-minute video
Free Speech Target Or Terrorist Gang? The Inside Story Of ‘Palestine Action’ – And The Campaign To Ban It
By Haroon Siddique
the Guardian (6/28/25)
f this interview had taken place in a week’s time, Huda Ammori might have been arrested. If this interview had been published in a week’s time, the Guardian might also have been breaking the law.
Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action, said she was finding it “very hard to absorb the reality of what’s happening here”. She said: “I don’t have a single conviction but if this goes through I would have co-founded what will be a terrorist organisation.”
By “this” she means the UK government’s hugely controversial proposal to ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws, placing it alongside the likes of Islamic State and National Action – the first time a direct action group would be classified in this way.
If the group is proscribed next week, as is expected, being a member of or inviting support for Palestine Action will carry a maximum penalty of 14 years. Wearing clothing or publishing a logo that arouses reasonable suspicion that someone supports Palestine Action will carry a sentence of up to six months. …
“If the Iranians were smart they should name their next facility ‘The Trump Uranium Enrichment Facility’.”
— @jeffsmith7369
I support Palestine Action.
Starmer and Cooper can fuck right off.
Come and get me you friggin’ despots.
"GEO Group, the private prison corporation, has seen its stock rise by over 50% since Trump’s election. Palantir, the tech and AI firm co-founded by Trump backer, billionaire Peter Thiel, has seen its stock rise over 500% in the past year. It was recently reported that Palantir is building tools to allow near real-time tracking of immigrants in the US. "
And there you have it--it's all about profits, profiting off the misery of others. Our civil rights and the Bill of Rights become moot when you put sociopathic capitalists in charge of the government.