By David M. Alexander
On the first day of this year, I survived a near-miss gun violence incident in my own home. That moment didn’t just shake me—it clarified my purpose. I’ve stood in all areas of our community advocating for those whose voices have been silenced throughout South Carolina, organizing for health equity, food justice, attainable housing, and gun violence prevention. I’ve seen firsthand how communities rise in peace, not in chaos. So, when I hear the President of the United States refer to peaceful assembly as “civil disturbance,” I know we must speak plainly: this is not just rhetoric. It’s a rehearsal for repression.
In a recent address to military leaders, President Trump announced an executive order to train a “quick reaction force” to quell civil disturbances, calling it a response to “the enemy from within”. Let’s be clear: the “enemy” he’s referring to is us—citizens who gather in parks and on courthouse steps to demand justice, accountability, and change. It’s the grandmother holding a sign that says, “Feed Our Kids.” It’s the youth choir singing “Lift Every Voice.” It’s the legacy of Representative John Lewis and the call to make “Good Trouble.”
This framing is dangerous. It recasts nonviolent protests as a threat. It primes the public to accept military intervention as a reasonable response to dissent. And it lays the groundwork for the suspension of civilian government under the guise of national security, paving the
way for martial law.
We’ve seen this playbook before. From Selma to Standing Rock, peaceful protests have been met with batons, tear gas, and surveillance. But we’ve also seen what happens when communities refuse to be silenced. We build coalitions. We feed families. We vote. We testify. We heal.
I write this not to strike fear, but to ignite vigilance. If peaceful assembly is rebranded as disturbance, then silence becomes complicity. We must protect the sacred right to gather, to speak, to
resist not just for ourselves, but for every generation that will inherit the consequences of our courage—or our quiet.
Let us be loud. Let us be clear. Let us be unafraid.
“When peaceful protest is called ‘disturbance,’ democracy is already under siege.”
I will be honored to share my latest op-ed in Carolina Panorama, a call to protect our right to gather, resist, and heal. #GoodTrouble #SCAdvocacy #DemocracyInAction.
David M. Alexander is a Community Advocate, Survivor, and Organizer.