/r/50501 Mirror

People like Andrys, the gay barber from Venezuela, did not get "deported".

Deportation means that he got sent back to his own country. Which he didn't. He got extrajudicially exiled to prison without due process.

People are being black-bagged by Trump's Gestapo. It's time to call it what it is.

Originally Posted By u/TheArchitect_7 At 2025-03-31 07:03:41 PM | Source

We took to the streets to protest the US funded genocide in Palestine this weekend, with thousands marching in NYC to commemorate Land Day, which honors the rights of Palestinians to remain on the land.

US funded fascism in Israel will inevitably come back home - which we are already seeing with the disappearing of protesters, a common sight in the West Bank. The hysteria at home that is leading to is partially stirred up by pro Israel groups. US police units routinely train in militarized tactics in Israel.

We are organizing to join for the March on Washington for April 5 as well! Just know that we are allies in this fight and we are stronger together.

Originally Posted By u/brianscalabrainey At 2025-03-31 04:44:13 PM | Source

EDIT: adding the websites for additional info

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2025/03/31/confirmation-hearing-set-on-trumps-pick-for-joint-chiefs-chairman/

https://www.congress.gov/event/119th-congress/senate-event/336772

👇👇👇

The Senate votes to confirm Lt Gen Dan Caine, RETIRED, tomorrow, 1 Apr, as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS). CALL your Senators and tell them NO!!!! If this dude gets confirmed, it will be worse for the military and the rest of us.

A few points of note:

• Caine was an Air National Guard guy...every CJCS before him has come from Active Duty officers. This means he's split his time between military and civilian jobs, so has less experience compared to the list of QUALIFIED officers for this position.

• Caine is RETIRED. Again, all CJCS before him have been ACTIVE DUTY. This means he's returning from retirement just for this position. The only times people are recalled from military retirement is when there's a lack of expertise...and it tends to be in times of war.

• Caine retired as a 3-Star...he was never promoted to 4-Star. All CJCS before him have been selected from current Active Duty 4-STARS. This means that Trump is sending a message to all the current, QUALIFIED 4-Stars that they are not good enough to be the CJCS...which is ridiculous. They've all made it to 4-Star...Caine did NOT.

• Caine is a Trump LOYALIST. Enough said. We do NOT want him leading the military.

Please help spread the word on this!!

Originally Posted By u/GlobalNomad2020 At 2025-03-31 12:02:50 PM | Source

There is a thing called a dead man's switch. If god forbid you are disappeared, or held without access to an electronic device for a period of time that you specify, this site can send a series of emails and messages to whomever you want. It expects a periodic check in, and when you miss it it will fire off the emails. It has to be configured for your timings if you want swift response, but it's all configurable.

Use it to inform loved ones that you've likely gone missing, and that you were outspoken against this government. Use it to inform people that you recently attended a protest and did not make it back from said protest.

Take away their power to silence you.

Edit: Learned about in the comments a second site that has some of these functionalities:

https://www.snugsafe.com/

Edit2: Wow, this blew up. Thanks all. There is so much good discussion and tips in the comments, excellent thread. You all are awesome.

Originally Posted By u/Plaid_Piper At 2025-03-31 12:17:46 PM | Source

Originally Posted By u/9thStreet_Woman At 2025-03-31 06:24:07 PM | Source

Millennials don't believe protesting works.

I've seen a lot of discussion about why millennials aren't coming out. Yes, they work and have young children. They are taking care of their elderly parents. All of these things are true and valid.

But also millennials have gone to the Occupy Wall Street protests, which accomplished nothing. The BLM protests, which accomplished nothing. The Women's March, which lol. I protested during all of these things only for our country to slide even further into capitalistic greed and corruption. When Bernie was running, someone we could get excited about, he was undermined by his own party.

Many millennials don't even believe their vote matters anymore in the face of gerrymandering and the electoral college.

I still want to believe protesting can effect change. Or frankly that American citizens have any power at all anymore. I'll be protesting on the 5th, but man is it hard to keep hope alive when our generation has been crushed under the establishment for our entire lives. Combine that with how oppressive the 40+ hour work week is and can you blame people for not protesting? Millennials barely even have the energy to do their laundry.

I'm not sure how to energize people. I'm not even sure how to energize myself. The Democratic party offers no leadership or hope whatsoever.

Please offer your local millennial (and me!) some hope. Please tell me we aren't just screaming into a void.

Originally Posted By u/duckhunt420 At 2025-03-31 11:47:11 AM | Source

Originally Posted By u/TotinosPizzaBoyz At 2025-03-31 04:15:02 PM | Source

Hey everyone! A friend of mine designed these after I mentioned that I wanted a veteran shirt to wear while protesting. I am not selling anything. We wanted to share the images with no background so you can take to your local shop to have printed if you liked the design.

Originally Posted By u/xmcchillinx1 At 2025-03-31 02:17:58 PM | Source

Nearly 400 people showed up in Richmond Virginia.

I made the Severance poster

Photo Dave Parrish Photography

Originally Posted By u/TerrainBrain At 2025-03-31 01:08:31 PM | Source

They’re trying to scare you out of participating on 4/5: don’t take the bait.

They might stack cans and bricks and whatever they can to encourage people to throw whatever they can get their hands on. They want to show we are violent so they can retaliate with violence: don’t take the bait (and if you see someone going for it, GTFO).

Be smart with what you’re wearing: no hoods, tie long hair up and back, no backpacks…basically minimize things people can grab.

There are WAY more of us than there are of them.

They’re scared.

Keep.GOING!

Edited to add since people keep asking: as far as packs go, yes you will need water and snacks. Dress in layers and bring a sling bag. Front carry the sling under your top layer. Also turn off location and biometric sign in if you need to have your phone.

Originally Posted By u/meliffy18 At 2025-03-31 01:37:31 PM | Source

I’ve never protested in my life for anything. On April 5 I’m gonna be attending a protest in my state. I’m autistic and have pretty bad social anxiety, so I know I’m gonna be scared. But fascist regimes are far scarier, so I’ll be out there no matter what. For those of you more experienced in protesting, what are some bits of advice you’d give to someone like me?

Originally Posted By u/Chronic_Alcoholism At 2025-03-31 03:40:34 PM | Source

Originally Posted By u/tacomaty At 2025-03-31 01:50:46 PM | Source

This is something that any motivated group of people can do. I am part of the flyer team in our local group and decided to try and get a billboard up as a proof of concept. We were in the process of getting a 501c set up so i used that for the "Paid for by ..." part that is required for billboards, individuals can also use their name and number. I started a GoFundMe to raise some money as well as some large donations from friends i have that were in on the project. I went with Lamar for the advertising company, i dont know if they are politically aligned but they are well known and are also running the Canadian billboard campaign against tariffs so thats good. Feel free to ask me questions about the process because i think crowdfunded digital billboard campaigns is a good tactic to get our message across to the public for a relatively affordable price.

Originally Posted By u/RaiseRuntimeError At 2025-03-31 10:57:36 AM | Source

https://joshweil.us/

https://gayforcongress.com/

Originally Posted By u/FivebyFive At 2025-03-31 09:10:16 AM | Source

Originally Posted By u/PolarDorsai At 2025-03-31 10:22:57 AM | Source

Originally Posted By u/rb3po At 2025-03-31 07:06:31 AM | Source

Originally Posted By u/Money_Star2489 At 2025-03-31 08:56:08 AM | Source

There were hundreds of protests Saturday at dealerships, thousands of people gathered in Dallas to protest this weekend, and it's literal crickets out there. There is coverage from international news organizations, US media and news should be ashamed of themselves.

If you are not attending April 5th protests, you can call up your local news, message NYTimes, LA Times etc etc. In fact, give them a call now, and ask them if the are covering the April 5th events, let them know you are not happy with their work, and will be unsubscribing/ unfollowing them if they continue.

Originally Posted By u/pause_polymerase At 2025-03-31 11:19:41 AM | Source

If you can get out and vote, or help get people out to vote, please make this a priority!
These elections are pivotal fighting back against dictatorship. We need to help Susan Crawford in Wisconsin. In Florida, we really need to support Gay Valimont and Joshua Weil.

Wisconsin:

State Supreme Court Election - Voters will choose between liberal candidate Susan Crawford and conservative candidate Brad Schimel for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. This election is particularly significant as it may influence abortion access in the state.

Constitutional Amendment - A ballot measure will ask voters whether to amend the state constitution to include the existing photo ID requirement for voting.

Florida:

1st Congressional District Special Election - Following the resignation of former Representative Matt Gaetz, a special election will be held to fill this seat. Republican candidate Jimmy Patronis and Democrat Gay Valimont are contesting the position. ​

6th Congressional District Special Election - This election aims to fill the vacancy left by former Representative Mike Waltz. Republican state lawmaker Randy Fine is running against Democrat Joshua Weil. The race has garnered attention due to its unexpected competitiveness. ​

Please get out there. Do what you can!

Originally Posted By u/Protect_Wild_Bees At 2025-03-31 09:28:54 AM | Source

A number of folks on 50501 and elsewhere have asked if it is safe to go out and protest. This is understandable. We live in scary times!

We all know that America’s twin wannabe kings, Trump and Musk, are employing intimidation as a weapon right now: Trump posted a nonsensical rant on twitter about protests and boycotts being “illegal.” He sent ICE to deport Mahmoud Khalil and other green-card/visa holders because of their history protesting for Palestine; a French scientist was denied entry to the U.S.; over two hundred people have been sold to an inhumane El Salvadoran prison; Germany has issued travel advisories for the U.S., etc.

You all know that I could go on!

But this is the time to fight. Things are not really getting any better!

You will never be safer than you are right now.

You will never be stronger than you are right now.

If we don't protest, trike, and boycott now, we will become further entrenched in authoritarianism.

Authoritarian governments are extremely dangerous for their citizens. Trump and Musk are trying to transform our liberal democracy into an authoritarian regime: this attempt presents us with wild uncertainty. On a scale of Hungary to Venezuela, Russia to 1930s Germany, how bad will it get?

We don’t know! Did anyone expect Trump to deport random people to El Salvador -- a country that they’re not even from?

But we do know that authoritarian governments disappear people for no reason. They jail people without trials. They destroy social safety nets. They punish any dissenters. Authoritarian governments often start wars, commit genocide, and may kill people en masse.

This is the safest you will ever be. This is the strongest you will ever be. That’s why our first response should be to fight. Always fight back first, as hard as you can, for as long as you can.

Remember Historian Timothy Snyder's first tenet for fighting back against authoritarians:

"Do not obey in advance.

Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do."

A weapon is bluff before it’s a tool. Call their bluffs; seize their tools.

Protest. Disrupt. Boycott. Strike.

(On a more personal note: I have attended protests every week for the last two months. Big protests of 5K+ in major cities. Small protests of 50-200 people in suburban towns. So far these have been objectively very tame protests. They have all been peaceful, friendly protests full of folks mostly 55+ carrying homemade signs. People have been passing out cookies! Very chill.)

Originally Posted By u/kccm06 At 2025-03-30 10:52:10 PM | Source

Musk is in that building right now, bribing local voters with money to cast their vote for Wisconsin Republican Supreme Court Justice candidate Brad Schimel. If Schimel wins the election on Tuesday, Republicans will have majority in the state court. VOTE SUSAN CRAWFORD APRIL 1ST IF YOU ARE A WISCONSIN RESIDENT!

Originally Posted By u/Hikari_No_Willpower At 2025-03-30 06:36:21 PM | Source

At the time I'm writing this, one of the top posts on r/Conservative is about Trump teasing a run for an unconstitutional third term. Every comment in that post I've read has completely blasted President Trump for being so brazen.

While us here at 50501 and the folks at r/Conservative disagree on much, we gotta give credit where credit is due. Thank you conservatives for sticking to constitutional principles!! I hope we can work together on other issues to prevent executive overreach. 🇺🇸

Here is the current top comment with 4,000 upvotes ⬆️:

No thank you, the 22nd Amendment exists for a reason. You're done after two, no matter what you accomplish or who you are. We have plenty of leaders who can step into the role in 2028.

Originally Posted By u/Beginning_Bee9935 At 2025-03-31 12:14:04 AM | Source

For context, I recently moved to LA from Austin, expecting to find a community with similar values. I quickly realized that wasn’t the case, and the protest I attended made it even more apparent. I anticipated seeing a diverse crowd of young people and POC, with a strong turnout. Instead, it was a small group of older white people. I (28M Biracial White/Indian) was by far the youngest and darkest person there.

What disturbed me even more was the reaction from the crowd. Most of the hecklers were young, Hispanic, and often first-generation like me. I was shocked. Engaging with them felt like talking to a brick wall. They repeated the same talking points, but when questioned, they couldn’t explain or justify their views. It was disheartening.

I used to believe the younger generation would be a driving force for change once they were old enough to vote, but that hope feels misplaced. While I’m sure parents and broader influences play a role in shaping these perspectives, I couldn’t be more disappointed as someone who moved across the country to be part of this community.

I know this was just one event, and I sincerely hope the rest of the country is doing better. But that experience left me feeling like there’s no hope.

To the mods - sorry if I posted this wrong, I'm new here and bad at following directions

Originally Posted By u/__Elessar At 2025-03-30 11:06:09 PM | Source