🪖 From Defender to Oppressor: What Happens When We Turn Our Troops on Ourselves

What began as a show of force is leaving soldiers morally wounded and the public deeply divided.

The Gist
When U.S. troops are deployed into American cities, it’s not just the public who pays the price. The service members themselves—trained for war, not protest—are thrown into missions they aren’t equipped for, legally or emotionally. What begins as a show of strength often ends in moral injury, broken trust, and silence.

I’ve seen this story unfold before—from Kent State to Rodney King to now—and I’m using my voice to say: we can’t keep doing this.

They say it’s about keeping the peace. Protecting buildings. Maintaining order.

But when the helmets go on and the rifles come out—when American troops are lined up on American streets, facing civilians with signs and chants and grief—“peacekeeping” start…