Opinion

Ivan Star Comes Out: Fascist police resurface at Standing Rock

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

On the #NoDAPL front line in North Dakota on November 24, 2016. Photo by Rob Wilson [GoFundMe]

Fascism in the form of ‘Storm Troopers’ has resurfaced in America
By Ivan F. Star Comes Out
Native Sun News Today Columnist
nativesunnews.today

I’ve been viewing some very disturbing images on social media of a very militarized police on the Standing Rock Reservation. The “law” was in full riot gear, including body armor, assault weapons, military combat vehicles, helicopter surveillance and small airplanes spraying unknown chemicals over the camp filled with thousands of peaceful, prayerful civilians.

I actually saw a few officers elatedly sneering as they did their callous deeds to unarmed people. I could see them shooting people at point blank range with “less than lethal” rubber bullets and bean bags, tear gas, and spraying them with water in 29 degree temperature. My stomach and my emotions churned watching the videos.

Oddly, the term “storm trooper” stood out in my mind. Since I did not fully comprehend that term, I searched for answers. I was surprised to find an individual from Toronto, Ontario, making the very same inquiry. This person was looking for a definition to help him to understand the increasing militarization of police in the United States.

I found this term is synonymous with Nazism, fascism, and a science fiction movie called Star Wars. Also, the last names of the state officials stood out and I wondered if they all owned silk or rayon pillow sacks with eye holes cut out to wear over their heads.

Anyway, the term Storm Trooper is a military innovation of WWI predating the rise of Nazism in Germany. Their high-quality training and skills accounted for the name. In the last years of the war, Stobtruppen (“Shocktroops” or Stormtroopers”) were trained with “infiltration tactics,” part of Germany’s new method of attacking enemy trenches.