🏴 This Week in Fascism: September 13–19, 2025

By The Mayor of Funkytown — Political Writer, Resistance Organizer, and Chronicler of Creeping Authoritarianism

Welcome back to This Week in Fascism, where we shine a floodlight on the creeping—and sometimes sprinting—erosion of democracy. This week brought a sampler platter of authoritarian tactics: from Trump weaponizing terrorism designations, to universities turning over student data, to state legislatures targeting trans people, to Texas punishing speech, to the media bending under pressure.

Let’s break it down.

---

🏛️ Federal: Trump Targets Antifa as “Major Terrorist Organization”

President Trump declared this week that he intends to designate antifa as a “major terrorist organization.”

“Antifa is a sick, dangerous, radical left disaster, and we will treat them as terrorists from this day forward.”
— Donald Trump, White House remarks, Sept. 17, 2025

Legal experts point out that U.S. law doesn’t allow for designating domestic groups as terrorist organizations. What Trump is attempting is essentially criminalizing dissent itself.

Why it matters:
This isn’t about antifa. It’s about creating a precedent to brand any ideological opponent—environmentalists, student protestors, labor unions—as “terrorists.” Once that framework exists, the First Amendment protections collapse. It’s the playbook of authoritarian regimes everywhere: redefine dissent as criminal extremism.

---

🎓 Federal / Institutional: UC Berkeley Hands Over Student Data

UC Berkeley admitted this week it has provided the Trump administration with information on more than 160 students, staff, and faculty in connection with investigations into alleged antisemitism.

“This blurs the lines between protecting civil rights and enabling government surveillance of protest and dissent.”
— Civil liberties attorney quoted in Reuters, Sept. 13, 2025

Universities are supposed to safeguard academic freedom. Instead, Berkeley folded and became an arm of federal surveillance.

Why it matters:
When universities cooperate with authoritarian fishing expeditions, it signals to students and faculty that speaking out could land them on a government list. That chills activism, scholarship, and free inquiry. If elite institutions like Berkeley won’t stand up, smaller schools have no chance.

---

🚨 State: Michigan Republicans Propose Total Porn Ban (and Trans Erasure)

A new Michigan bill, the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act, proposes:

• A total ban on pornography.

• Criminalizing depictions of transgender people in any form—real, animated, written, or auditory.

• Forcing ISPs to block “immoral” content, with heavy fines for noncompliance.

“It’s not just censorship—it’s an erasure law.”
— LGBTQ+ rights advocate, quoted in Them, Sept. 16, 2025

This is theocratic authoritarianism dressed up as “public morals.”

Why it matters:
Authoritarians don’t just suppress speech—they control identity and culture. By banning trans representation, Michigan Republicans are attempting to legislate LGBTQ+ people out of existence. The sweeping censorship powers this bill creates would give the state unprecedented control over what people read, watch, and even imagine.

---

📚 State / Local: Texas Crackdown on Free Speech

Texas gave us two back-to-back examples of ideological suppression this week:

1. Professor Fired — Tom Alter, a history professor at Texas State, was fired after giving remarks at a socialist conference. He’s now suing, alleging blatant political retaliation.

2. Student Arrested — Camryn Booker, an 18-year-old at Texas Tech, was arrested for mocking Charlie Kirk’s death online. Governor Abbott publicly praised the punishment.

“Free speech in Texas is only free if you say what the governor wants to hear.”
— Civil rights attorney, quoted in Washington Post, Sept. 15, 2025

Why it matters:
When both professors and students face retaliation for speech, the message is clear: dissent will cost you your career, your reputation, maybe even your freedom. Texas is creating a two-tier speech system—MAGA voices amplified, opposition voices criminalized. That’s not democracy. That’s authoritarian social control.

---

📺 Local / Media: Jimmy Kimmel Suspension

ABC suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after his blistering remarks about MAGA culture in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing.

“We are witnessing the silencing of dissent in real time.”
— Media critic, quoted in The Guardian, Sept. 19, 2025

Networks don’t exist in a vacuum. The FCC has been exerting pressure, and Trump allies have openly threatened “hostile” media outlets.

Why it matters:
Democracies require adversarial media. When comedians and talk show hosts—who historically serve as cultural critics—are muzzled, it signals the chilling of free expression in popular culture. Media companies aren’t acting freely—they’re responding to government intimidation. That’s how state-aligned media ecosystems are born.

---

⚠️ The Pattern

This week’s mix of federal declarations, university capitulation, state censorship, and media suppression isn’t random. It’s coordinated authoritarian creep:

• Labeling political enemies as “terrorists.”

• Forcing institutions to surveil dissent.

• Legislating morality and erasing identities.

• Punishing speech with arrests, firings, and suspensions.

The throughline? Control the narrative. Control the opposition. Control the people.

---

✊ What You Can Do

• Stay informed: Authoritarians thrive on distraction. Share stories like these.

• Support civil liberties orgs: Groups like the ACLU, EFF, and FIRE are fighting on the frontlines.

• Show solidarity: When students, professors, or journalists are targeted, stand with them.

• Keep resisting: Fascism advances when resistance looks too costly. Let’s make it impossible to ignore.

---

🚨 We’re pushing hard to hit 1,000 subscribers by the end of the month. If you value this work, please subscribe and share. Every reader strengthens the resistance.

#️⃣ Hashtags: #ThisWeekInFascism #TheInsurgency #Resist #DemocracyUnderThreat