this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2026
524 points (99.2% liked)
politics
27262 readers
2702 users here now
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
By the middle of 2026, it will be the norm.
And there will still be people saying not to resist or they'll declare martial law.
ICE escalates
"Don't respond with violence or they'll escalate!"
ICE escalates regardless
rinse and repeat.
There's an alternative...
It's super easy, would require zero bloodshed.
Armed protest.
I've never seen a cop shoot a protester when other protestors were in eyeshot with rifles.
I've never even seen ICE where a protestor is visibly armed, because if they see that, they fucking leave.
The reason shit is so bad is because ICE knows they'll never be held accountable in court. Literally the only way they believe they could ever face any consequences is if someone shoots them in the moment. And rather than behave when they see armed protestors, they just go to where no one is armed.
So fuck it, this Merica. Carry a big scary fuck off rifle.
I guarantee ICE won't run up on you. And if everywhere they went people showed up with rifles, they'd stop going places all together.
how many times have you seen a cop shoot a protester otherwise?
This only works in open carry states. In states where it's not legal (which is a lot of them) armed protestors are just the pretext needed for some mass murder by the state.
Everywhere is different, but:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Minnesota
In Minnesota it's illegal to open carry a rifle, but only if you don't have a pistol carry permit. If you have a pistol carry permit, you can open carry a rifle because the rifle law isn't talking about people with pistol permits apparently.
It takes a form, up to 30 days to process, and lasts 5 years. And they can't even deny you for smoking weed:
https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/public-services-bca/firearms-information/permit-carry
Name the last time that happened then if that's the response.
If you're saying just trump will use it as an excuse, what the fuck makes you think he wouldnt just lie and say it happened anyways?
Guess you're just gonna have to comply your way into a mass grave then. No other option.
I'm not arguing for compliance. Just saying that in states like Maryland (where I live) there is almost no legal wiggle room for open carry and even the local cops (forget feds) will use it as an excuse to fuck you up.
Sad that the people of Maryland were compelled into forfeiting their rights. They've made their bed.
Not all of us
I think the opposite - in normal times I wouldn’t think cops would fire on armed protesters, but let’s face it - that’s ICE’s endgame. They’d love nothing more to claim “fear” and unleash the beast.
If that was true, then why is it so hard to find a picture/video of ice with a single visibly armed protester in view?
Like, by your logic they'd be looking for it, yet I've been trying and failing to find an example of them just existing with 100 yards of an armed protestor...
And I can't understand why people are shocked ICE agents shit and run when they see a gun.
Sooner than that, we're already familiar with unchecked police brutality, anti-protest tactics, corruption of accountability systems. Normalizing happens pretty damn fast when people already expect the behavior.
By the end of 2026 it will be considered quaint. The US is inching closer and closer to a Tiananmen Square incident. [Edit] I mean, with tanks and all deployed against the populace.