We Must Hold

Senator Padilla removed from a press conference held by Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, June 12, 2025. Image Credit: Luke Johnson, LA Times

Today in history:

Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted for interfering with the arrest of an individual outside an ICE detention center, a facility she visited as part of her duties as a representative of the people.

Senator Alex Padilla was wrestled out of a press conference and handcuffed for asking a question. Not in a war zone. Not in a dictatorship. But at a press event with Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security.

And then there’s this: Noem, now overseeing DHS, said of the National Guard presence in Los Angeles,

“We’re going to stay here and build our operations until we make sure we liberate the city of Los Angeles.” (Brad Brooks and Luc Cohen, Reuters, June 12, 2025).

Occupation is not liberation.

There are red lines we must not cross. Many will say we crossed them long ago. But we have crossed them now, undeniably.

If you study any authoritarian regime, the pattern is the same: the slide is slow and steady, until it isn’t. Until it crashes into daily life: deputies of the state arresting the elected, silencing the press, sending soldiers into cities... and calling it “safety.” We are in the phase of normalization. Of propaganda rebranding repression as patriotism. Of silencing dissent with force.

We must not accept this.
We must hold.
We must hold the line.

Today, Senator Padilla, after being forcibly removed and handcuffed during Noem’s Los Angeles press conference, said:

“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they're doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day‑laborers throughout the LA community and throughout the country.” (Rebecca Shabd, Jacob Soboroff and Zoe Richards, NBC News, June 12, 2025)

This isn’t theater. It’s a warning. A glimpse of what power untethered looks like.

We must hold our representative of both parties accountable. Speaking is no longer enough. We need action. Civil courage. Public risk. Like what Senator Padilla displayed. And we must support those who take that risk.

What Resistance Looks Like

• Mass, peaceful protest: locked arm in arm. Yes, it’s frightening. But losing our democracy is more frightening.

• Mutual aid networks: caring for one another in times of hardship. (More on this in future posts.)

• Civic presence: town halls. School board meetings. Local forums.

• Refusal of silence: being “apolitical” isn’t neutral—it’s complicity.

• Disruption: We need to put pressure on decision-makers and the flow of money in politics. It involves taking some risk and disrupting (not violence) the status quo.

• Active citizenship: yes, jobs and families matter. But so does duty to democracy. It requires presence, persistence and some risk.

Authoritarianism doesn’t march in frontlines. This administration’s goal is to barrage us with authoritarian tactics until enough people, too weary or distracted, have stepped aside. We must make them feel their critical miscalculation, that instead of breaking our spirit, they’ve sparked a movement.

We can hold the line.

Not with weapons, but with presence, our principled, peaceful, persistent presence. Democracy isn’t automatic; it’s a commitment. A daily commitment.

We are at that moment where we must commit.

Hold.

 Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are my own (Corina Fiore) and do not represent the official positions or opinions of the Towamencin Township Democrats or any affiliated organization/candidate.