A group of left-wing radicals has posted a guide intended to show like-minded cohorts how to react should President Donald Trump refuse to leave office in the event of a close or contested election. Calling themselves ShutDownDC, the group intends to cause nationwide chaos should Trump win or otherwise refuse to leave office after the election.
Founded as a result of the 2019 youth climate striker’s “call to action,” the group’s website says that they’re planning “to rise up to confront the Trump administration’s attacks on democracy.” Organizers refer to a possible Trump reelection — especially a close one — as a “coup.” Their strategy is to cause as much disruption of life for everyday Americans as possible by engaging in strikes, work stoppages, boycotts, and street actions. In their words, they look to disrupt the “pillars of power.”
From the guide: “In the context of a coup or highly contested election we need to be clear that our actions must directly affect the structures and pillars of power. Our largest asset in this regard utilises the ideas of non-compliance through massive, broad based direct action. Where we can, we need to be in the streets, on the highways, or at the sites of power and power holders. In our jobs and lives we must refuse to allow those taking control the legitimacy of the power they seek through strikes, slowdowns, and boycotts, and public refusal to accept an illegitimate ruling party.”
The group’s signal to begin the chaos will be if Trump claims victory on election night or if a news organization such as Fox calls the election for Trump. One of the group’s demands is “that no winner should be announced until every vote is counted,” which, with increased mail-in voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, could take months.
“Trump may try to declare himself the victor before the votes are counted, or Fox News might call the race. Those who can should be prepared to take action against those who are feeding into the stolen election narrative, including social media companies that are letting falsehoods or incitements to violence spread.”
According to the guide, the group also plans to “physically protect the vote count from counter-protesters, federal agents or white supremacist militias.”
Facebook has removed access to ShutDownDC’s guide on its platform for going against its standards on voter and census interference, although the group’s page remains up as of this writing. The group is likewise active on Twitter and Instagram.
Similar to the Transition Integrity Project — which claimed that only a landslide victory for Biden would assure peace in the streets — ShutDownDC imagines a wide range of post-election scenarios, such as Attorney General William Barr confiscating ballots in order to disallow them. The group also envisions a scenario where states with Republican legislatures and Democrat governors might send dueling groups of electors to Washington when the Electoral College meets on December 14.
“There are three important swing states with Democratic Governors and Republican Legislatures: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. If the vote count in any state is still being contested when the electoral college meets, it’s entirely possible that the Governor and the Legislatures could send separate (and opposite) results to Washington.”
Although the group claims that they are “not a group of Biden supporters,” they clearly have an intense hatred for the current occupant of the White House.
“Donald Trump must go, it’s as simple as that,” the group’s website states. “For four years, Trump has used hate, state violence, unprecedented corruption, and executive overreach to force his agenda on and cause untold harm to people in the United States and around the world. His racist rhetoric has fueled the murder of Black and Brown people in our communities; his failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths; and his support of the fossil fuel economy has accelerated the climate crisis. From his attacks on mail-in ballots and the U.S. Postal Service to the GOP’s longtime voter suppression strategy, Trump has shown that he will stop at nothing to maintain his grip on power. Trump will not leave office without mass mobilization and direct action.”
ShutDownDC claims that it is committed to non-violent tactics. “We do not want to reproduce the same violences we are committed to dismantling; thus we are committed to anti-oppressive principles, transformative justice, and sustainable organizing.”
But if other groups (Antifa, Black Lives Matter, etc.) choose to use such violence, ShutDownDC promises not to “make value judgments about the tactical approaches other people and organizations may choose to embrace.”
