I just watched a video of ICE running over a man’s legs.

Slowly.

Not an accident. Not a chaotic moment. Not a split-second mistake. Slow enough that the intent was unmistakable. Slow enough that the suffering was the point.

And what broke me wasn’t just the video.
It was the fact that I wasn’t shocked.

That’s the part that should terrify all of us.

How Did This Become Acceptable?

I don’t care if he was undocumented.
I don’t care what paperwork he did or didn’t have.
I don’t care what talking point someone wants to trot out to justify it.

That was a human being.

A living, breathing person with nerves, pain receptors, fear, and a body that can be permanently destroyed by a vehicle.

When did we collectively decide that torture is acceptable if we slap the word illegal on someone?

Because that’s what this was. Torture. And we are watching it like background noise.

The Violence Is No Longer Hidden

This wasn’t an isolated incident. That’s the lie people tell themselves to sleep at night.

I see this kind of content every single day:

• On TikTok
• On YouTube
• In “news” clips
• In ads on Spotify promoting ICE recruitment

State violence is no longer happening in the shadows. It’s algorithm-approved. Monetized. Branded. Normalized.

And the scariest part?
People scroll past it. Shrug. Argue about legality. Move on.

That’s not neutrality. That’s conditioning.

“Just Following the Law” Is a Historical Red Flag

Anyone who has studied even a basic amount of world history knows where this rhetoric leads.

Every atrocity begins with:

• Dehumanizing language
• Legal justifications
• A population trained to look away

“It’s the law.”
“They shouldn’t have been there.”
“They brought it on themselves.”

Those phrases are not new. They are recycled. And they always precede mass violence.

America Has Never Been Safe for Everyone — But This Is Escalation

Let’s be honest. America has never been a great place for:

• Non-white people
• Immigrants
• Queer people
• Religious minorities
• Disabled people
• Anyone who doesn’t fit the approved mold

That’s not new.

What is new is the speed and openness with which cruelty is being displayed — and defended.

What’s new is the glee some people take in it.

What’s new is the expectation that we are supposed to accept it as “just how things are.”

Why Aren’t We Angrier?

That question haunts me.

Why isn’t this causing mass outrage?
Why aren’t people shutting things down over this?
Why is a man being run over by a government vehicle not a national emergency?

The answer is uncomfortable:
Because empathy is being trained out of us.

Because fear is profitable.
Because outrage is exhausting.
Because people are taught that safety comes from proximity to power, not solidarity.

Where I Stand — And Why I’m Still Terrified

I’m a white, straight-passing woman.
I’m pansexual, married to a man.
I’m an atheist, but I respect all religions.

By American standards, I am “acceptable.” I blend. I can pass.

And I am still terrified.

Not just for myself — but for my children.

Because if I feel this unsafe watching what is happening, what must it feel like to be:

• Brown
• Undocumented
• Muslim
• Black
• Trans
• Poor
• Disabled
• Or simply visibly “other”

If state violence feels this blatant now, what happens when things get worse?

This Is Dangerous Territory

History doesn’t repeat itself perfectly — but it rhymes like hell.

We are watching:

• The expansion of state violence
• The erosion of civil liberties
• The normalization of cruelty
• The targeting of “undesirable” groups
• The demand for silence in the name of order

Anyone who has studied authoritarian regimes knows this pattern.

Something is coming.
And pretending otherwise doesn’t make us safer.

I Refuse to Pretend This Is Okay

I will not debate whether someone deserved to be tortured.

I will not entertain arguments that hinge on paperwork instead of humanity.

I will not accept a world where watching a man be run over by a government agency is treated as normal content.

Because the moment we accept this, we lose something we do not get back.

And if we don’t draw the line here —
we don’t get to be surprised when the line moves again.