'Quite literally unthinkable': Historian condemns Trump's 'jarring' arrests of Democrats

In recent weeks, President Donald Trump's administration has carried out several arrests of high-profile Democratic elected officials and candidates. But one recent report suggests any effort to cow the opposition by arresting its politicians may be backfiring.

The Washington Post reported Friday that some Democrats are viewing the administration's heavy-handed treatment of its political opponents as an opportunity. California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) even called on the administration to arrest him, as immigration advisor Tom Homan hinted he may do should Newsom attempt to interfere with Trump's immigration raids in Los Angeles. And some Democrats are arguing that arrest may be necessary in order to counter the administration's overreaches.

"In this moment of time, we have to find our political courage," said Rep. Lamonica McIver (D-N.J.), who is currently being prosecuted after being arrested outside of an immigrant detention center in Newark. "If we let this get so out of control and let so much space for what this president is doing with no resistance, we are going to find ourselves in a place that we will not even be able to recognize this country anymore."

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Regardless of the political strategy behind Democrats putting themselves at risk of being arrested and prosecuted, one presidential historian remarked that the founders of the United States likely couldn't have ever conceived that such a moment would come in the nation they established. Russell Riley — a scholar at the University of Virginia's Miller Center — told the Post that the new arrests of Democrats mark a "terribly unhealthy" deviation from previous norms.

“This kind of treatment of the membership was quite literally unthinkable for the framers of the Constitution,” Riley said. “What’s happening today would have been as jarring to their imaginations as this is to our own.”

Riley's warning comes roughly a week after Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was tackled to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents during a press conference that Homeland Security Kristi Noem held in Los Angeles. Despite Padilla identifying himself as a U.S. senator and wearing a polo shirt with the Senate logo, he was violently detained by FBI agents while Noem did nothing to interfere.

Earlier this week, federal agents also arrested New York City comptroller Brad Lander, who is running in the Democratic primary in this year's mayoral race. Lander was in the process of escorting an immigrant to a hearing when he was detained by masked federal agents, and was released several hours later.

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