Every American should read the haunting account by a political analyst from Minnesota of how our democracy may be unraveling under authoritarian abuses being carried out against peaceful communities there. The inescapable truth is that the current federal executive administration is inciting and defending legally baseless, unconstitutional acts of extreme violence against civilians.

The two most high profile are the use of obviously unwarranted lethal force to end the lives of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

• In the case of Good, the shooter violated every protocol for federal law enforcement in terms of engaging unarmed civilians, engaging motor vehicles in roadways, and the prohibition against firing into motor vehicles.
• In the case of Pretti, at least two agents shot an unarmed man ten times total, while he was kneeling or collapsed and motionless.

The second of the three shootings by federal agents against innocent civilians in Minneapolis resulted in injury but not death.

• That shooting also violated protocol, the law, and basic rights. Julio César Sosa Célis was shot from behind while entering his home.
• Two women who witnessed the shooting, called 911 and were victims because they lived in the home, were abducted by federal agents, separated from their toddler children, and sent to an extrajudicial prison camp in Texas, more than 1,000 miles away.
• No judge ever issued a warrant for their arrest, and they have not been granted a hearing before a judge, access to lawyers, or the right to challenge their accusers.
• While federal agents attempted to bar any protest or further information gathering by the public, after the shooting, they bombed an innocent family’s SUV with stun grenades and chemical weapons, nearly killing at least one child who stopped breathing.

None of these egregious crimes were included in the complaints that resulted in a federal judge barring ICE from detaining or menacing protesters and from dispersing chemical weapons recklessly against the civilian population. The violations of basic rights are numerous and egregious.

The article about unraveling leads with this alarming observation:

Donald Trump’s most profound break with American democracy, evident in his words and actions alike, is his view that the state’s relationship with its citizens is defined not by ideals or rules but rather by expressions of power, at the personal direction of the president.

This is problematic not only for the irreparable harm being caused to millions of Americans as a result, and to the nation, but because the President is as far from an absolute ruler as any national leader in the world. The legitimacy of government action under American law depends on this, and the Bill of Rights prohibits government from acting on the authoritarian view described.

The President is the administrative head of one of three branches of the federal government. Presidential authority is strictly limited and defined by written law, including the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and later amendments, and ratified treaties. Presidential actions are legitimate only if they strictly adhere to all relevant legal definitions and constraints.

Congress makes laws and sets spending authorizations. The President is not allowed to violate the laws that determine where money is spent and cannot invent new powers through executive orders. Any attempt to do is strictly illegal.

The President is not the sole official in charge of the military. Article I, Section 8, specifies that Congress must regulate the armed forces and determine what funding is appropriate. Only Congress can declare war. The President has no direct trade authority; Congress regulates foreign commerce and sets import duties (tariffs).

There are no unreviewable powers. Very few if any presidential decisions are “conclusive” or “preclusive”, except maybe the decision about what pen to use when signing legislation or when the time is right for a specific phone call or meeting. Even in the case of pardons, if there is clear evidence of an illegal scheme, which would render the President’s use of office unconstitutional, a judge could find that the pardon does not have the effect of Constitutional action.

And yet, the Bill of Rights clearly distributes power still more widely: the free press has a special role; states and local authorities hold real legal authority; power ultimately resides with the people. This is reinforced by the First Amendment, which grants special protection to civil society in general, including religious and advocacy organizations.

Self government is effectuated through all of these mechanisms and relationships. The President does not preside over the vast majority of them. His job is to make sure the executive branch of the federal government faithfully serves all people in the U.S., and American allies, faithfully and lawfully, with respect to all human rights, without prejudice and without fail.

There is no immunity for unlawful acts. Government action is legitimate only when it honors and honorably serves the human rights of all. American government is inherently anti-authoritarian. The people have both a right and a duty to use the levers of civil society and participatory civics to steer the ship of state and counter abuses.