When Brutality Replaces Protection — Why Our Communities Must Build Resilience Now

Protester being pepper sprayed by ICE Agents

There is a moral line that should never be crossed. A line between enforcing laws and inflicting harm on human beings — especially on families, children, and civilians who are not engaging in violence. And yet, in cities across this country, that line is being trampled under the boots of federal immigration agents, leaving in its wake fear, trauma, and a fractured sense of trust in institutions that are supposed to protect us all.

Recent federal actions — from lethal force against peaceful observers to the use of pepper spray and chemical irritants against protesters and bystanders alike — are nothing short of horrendous. A federal appeals court has allowed ICE to arrest and use pepper spray against peaceful demonstrators in Minnesota, overturning an earlier judicial curb on what a judge called violations of First Amendment rights.

This is not about fringe incidents. This is about government agents deploying chemical weapons on public streets and in public spaces — often without clear, immediate threat — and in the very same environments where children, old people, and families are living their everyday lives.

Medical experts have made clear that tear gas, pepper spray pellets, and other so-called “less-lethal” weapons can cause grievous harm: blindness, lung damage, disorientation, and long-term respiratory injury. These effects are especially severe for infants and young children.

Imagine for a moment: a toddler watching their parent being dragged away. A one-year-old struggling to open their eyes after being sprayed. A daycare parking lot turned into a battlefield of flying irritants. There are credible accounts of families — adults and children — being struck in the face with chemical sprays fired by federal agents, with distressing results.

Understand this: what we are witnessing isn’t simply aggressive policing. It’s a daily assault on community stability.

And the consequences extend far beyond physical injuries:

• Children are terrified to leave their homes.

• Parents are afraid to go to work or pick up groceries.

• Neighbors no longer feel safe walking down their own streets.
  All because federal agents — with overwhelming firepower and little accountability — treat entire communities as battlegrounds.

This is not safety.

This is intimidation.

This is the erosion of the social fabric that holds us all together.

Community resilience — the capacity of neighbors, families, and local organizations to support one another in times of crisis — is not a luxury. It is a necessity. It is the very foundation of our collective survival.

Because when state power is wielded without restraint, it magnifies every vulnerability:

• Economic fragility becomes a crisis when workers are too afraid to leave home.

• Mental health is strained when children lose their sense of security.

• Civic participation falters when people fear reprisal for raising their voices.

We have seen communities respond with extraordinary courage — from mass protests and economic blackouts to legal challenges and mutual aid networks. People are standing up not out of anger alone, but out of love for their families, neighbors, and the values this nation claims to uphold.

But mere resistance isn’t enough.

We must build resilience.

We must invest in grassroots networks that ensure everyone has access to support — from legal aid to mental health resources. We must protect schools, parks, and public spaces so children can grow up knowing community safety comes before confrontation. We must demand accountability at every level, so that government power serves the people — not terrorizes them.

To survive and thrive, communities must be stronger than the systems that seek to intimidate them.

And that strength starts with us: informed, united, and unyielding in our commitment to human dignity.

This blog post is a call to action — not just in words, but in principle. Because when families live in fear, societies fracture. And when communities come together grounded in resilience, no amount of force can break them.

We owe that to every child who deserves to play without fear.
We owe that to every parent trying to provide with hope.
We owe that to every human being who deserves to be treated with dignity.

Let’s build resilience — and let’s build it now.