Friends, the news gets more chilling every day. On the one hand, there are good signs that Trump’s coalition is fracturing; on the other hand, he is getting more and more brazen in his statements and in his actions, aided and abetted by the Project 2025 fanatics in his orbit. Here is my communication today to my Congressional representatives. I know that symbolic action has its limits, but right now we are not even getting that from our elected leaders.

I am writing as a terrified American.

Ten years ago, House representatives led by John Lewis held a sit-in on the floor of the House of Representatives to push for a gun-control bill following the Pulse Nightclub massacre (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_United_States_House_of_Representatives_sit-in).

That sit-in was legislatively unsuccessful, but it was symbolically galvanizing.

WE ARE NOW IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION THAT JOHN LEWIS WOULD RECOGNIZE WITH HIS TYPICAL MORAL CLARITY.

• ICE has shot to death a young mother, Renée Nicole Good, in Minneapolis. The shooter said “f*ing bitch” after the shooting. At a minimum, this was unprofessional behavior of an extreme nature, and the officer should be immediately fired; at worst, and more likely, it was murder and he should be immediately prosecuted. Meanwhile, another agent, when a woman identified herself as Good’s spouse, said on video, “Did you have intercourse?” He should be fired immediately. So far no action has been taken. The Administration has engaged in a series of lies about the event, even though all Americans can see the truth from the videos. Now hundreds or additional ICE agents are being sent to Minneapolis. ICE is out of control and essentially acting as an ill-trained, racist and misogynistic vigilante force on behalf of trump’s efforts to control American citizens. This is just the beginning.
• After an illegal action to invade Venezuela and capture its president, Trump has declared that we — or rather “he” — will control Venezuela indefinitely and will serve as its “acting president,” all in violation of international law and our own laws.
• Trump has indicated that “we will get Greenland” and refused to rule out military force, even if that destroys NATO. He is threatening Cuba and Columbia. He is intent on overturning the current world order based on his own interests, his own ego, and the fantasies that constitute Project 2025, which his minions like Stephen Miller and Russell Vought are using to drive a new, Christian-Nationalist, white-supremicist America.
• Trump has stated to the New York Times that the only check on his action is his “own morality.” This is the declaration of a tyrant.
• Trump said that the Civil Rights Movement and the Civil Rights Act were “bad for white Americans,” further fueling white resentment and laying the ground for more racist action.
• Trump has expressed his regret at not seizing voting machines, laying the groundwork for undercutting the 2026 midterm elections.
• This is, as I am sure you know, a short list.

Trump continues to get away with things just because he has learned he can do them without immediate and strong adverse consequences.

I understand that the major culprits here are the Congressional Republicans. But when I look at the Democrats, I see almost nothing but temporizing, when what we need is a five-alarm fire.

Take a lesson from John Lewis. Hold a sit-in on the house floor to draw attention to the crisis. Show that you are present and standing up for the American people, just as hundreds of thousands did in protests this past weekend.

This feels like a tipping point for our nation. The cornered animal will stop at nothing. Don’t wait and later regret your inaction.

We the people need to know that you are leading.

Please.

Thank you for your service in this difficult time,