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I know what real protest looks like.

I was there during the 1980s, standing shoulder to shoulder with people demanding accountability during the Iran-Contra years. When cameras asked why I was there, I didn’t hide. I told them plainly: our own government was funding guerrillas who murdered nuns in Central America — women whose only “crime” was teaching people to read and write. That was the spark that drove me into the streets.

We were angry because our leaders misused taxpayer money for guns and drugs, all while preaching democracy abroad. We understood what it meant to stand against propaganda, not to repeat it.

So when I walked up on Sunday to the group promoting the upcoming “No King’s Day” rally for October 18, I expected to meet people who shared that same spirit of truth-telling. Instead, I met something disturbingly familiar — a movement that looked grassroots but spoke in rehearsed soundbites that echoed foreign propaganda.

They were handing out flyers for the event and had a sign leaning against a tree claiming they’d “been here since 1999 fighting for justice.” I knew that wasn’t true. I’ve been around long enough to know who actually built those movements. I was part of the New Haven socialist and feminist organizing circles, involved in anti-war campaigns and community justice coalitions. I’ve marched beside bleeding-heart liberals and hardline pacifists alike — and I have never seen these people before.

This wasn’t activism; it was theater.

I approached four people. One woman — clearly the leader, handing out leaflets — told me she “didn’t understand” my questions, even though she had just said that October 7th was “Israeli propaganda” and that “those women were never raped.” Another woman standing in the middle of the signs refused to answer anything unless I “turned off the camera.”

That’s not protest. That’s performance. That’s how propaganda hides in plain sight.

When Denial Becomes Policy

Let’s be clear: October 7th happened. Women were raped, brutalized, and murdered. There is evidence — videos, autopsies, witness testimony. Denying that truth isn’t activism; it’s erasure. Yet we now have American activists parroting Iran-backed talking points and Democratic officials who either look away or stand quietly beside them.

What Kind Of Democracy Tolerates That?

The long shadow of manipulated truth I’ve seen this pattern before. During the Iran-Contra affair, our government secretly sold arms to Iran and funneled the profits to Nicaraguan rebels, breaking its own laws and deceiving the public. That scandal showed us how easily the truth can be bent when ideology and power intersect.

Around the same time, the Smith–Mundt Act — the 1948 law that once barred the U.S. government from using propaganda at home — began to erode. By 2013, the “Modernization Act” allowed government-produced broadcasts, originally meant for foreign audiences, to circulate domestically. It was sold as transparency. But in practice, it blurred the line between information and influence — between journalism and persuasion.

The result? Americans became fair game in the same propaganda wars that once targeted people overseas.

“No King’s Day” And Suicidal Empathy

That’s what I see happening again — ordinary people falling into what I call suicidal empathy. They think they’re standing for peace, but they’re really echoing Cold War tactics and foreign disinformation that keeps endless wars alive. Instead of questioning regimes that weaponize suffering, they silence anyone who challenges the narrative.

You cannot build a democracy by pretending atrocities didn’t happen. You cannot defend human rights by defending propaganda. And Democrats who enable or ignore this manipulation should be ashamed — not only for the hypocrisy, but for betraying the very idea of free thought.

A Final Word

True democracy welcomes cameras. It welcomes debate, disagreement, and uncomfortable questions. When people start saying, “Turn off the camera,” it’s no longer protest — it’s control. I’ve seen this movie before. The actors change, the slogans change, but the ending is always the same: the truth is the first casualty. If we want to honor the ideals that real protesters once stood for, then it’s time to stop mistaking silence for peace and propaganda for truth.

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