Federal Lawlessness in American Cities

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The violent events unfolding in communities across America have created unease and concerns about the state of America’s democracy. 

Following is a reaction from NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) President & CEO Manish Bapna: 

"People across the United States have watched with shame, horror, and growing anger as their own federal government sends swarms of heavily armed masked agents into our communities. While the agents’ ostensible purpose is to enforce the law, they have been found repeatedly to violate it.

"U.S. citizens are being arrested without cause, and undocumented immigrants are being violently swept away. Children are being torn from their homes in the dead of night. People are being harassed, brutalized, and even killed because of others’ disdain for the color of their skin—or because they dared to speak out in protest. Legal status is being weaponized as a pretext for cruelty, not justice. We must trust our own eyes, trust the firsthand accounts of people on the ground, and trust what our conscience is telling us.

"It is time for us to speak together, in one voice: The unlawful and violent use of federal force to intimidate, silence, and punish communities for exercising their rights must end.

"Some may ask why a group like ours would weigh in at this moment. While we have all witnessed the chaos unfolding in our communities across the country, we at NRDC are also deeply concerned by how it impacts every aspect of civil society, including our work to protect the environment.

"For more than 55 years, NRDC has advocated in the United States for a healthier, more sustainable, more resilient future by mobilizing the power of science, law, economics, and the voices of our three million members and supporters. But our work in this country depends on the United States having a functioning democracy, respect for First Amendment rights, and a faith that, when Congress makes the law or the courts interpret it, federal officials will carry that law out. After all, it is the president's emphatic constitutional duty not to impose his own will on the public but to 'take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.'

"That foundational commitment is now being openly—and dangerously—violated. President Trump recently appeared to label people who connect extreme weather to climate change as “environmental insurrectionists”—perhaps implying that the heavy hammer of federal 'law' enforcement could fall on those who tell the truth about climate disasters. Statements like this—and the federal government’s new playbook of retaliation and harassment—can have a real, chilling effect on people’s willingness to exercise their constitutionally protected rights to advocate for health and the environment. 

"Many are scared. And they are scared of their own government.

"NRDC will not submit to fear and intimidation. We will instead sue the federal government when it unlawfully endangers people’s health or the environment, as we have sued every administration for the past 50 years. We will speak out—candidly, precisely, and forcefully—as we have always done. And our three million members and activists will continue to remind our elected representatives that they work for the people of the United States, not for a bullying executive branch.

"We urge all Americans to stand up for democracy and the rule of law. The liberties that many Americans have taken for granted for nearly 250 years are now being threatened. How the American republic fares—in all its imperfection and occasional glory—is up to us."

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law, and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health, and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd). Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.