BATON ROUGE — Ahead of Saturday’s “No Kings” protests in Baton Rouge and across Louisiana, the ultra‑right Louisiana Freedom Caucus issued a press release invoking statutes on “self‑defense” if “protesters in the road are harming/trying to harm you.”
Though couched in legalese, the message is unmistakably aggressive — implying that armed citizens have license to shoot. This rhetoric comes one day before the horrific assassination and assassination attempt of two Minnesota officials, shattering any notion this is mere bravado.
While Saturday’s protests passed peacefully, the Louisiana Freedom Caucus’s warning is deeply troubling. It signals an incredulous shift: protesters exercising their First Amendment rights being painted as combatants. It’s a dangerous escalation—one step away from vigilante violence backed by state-aligned political groups.
This is not isolated.
Across America, the normalization of gun-wielding threats at civic events is one factor fueling deadly radicalization. In Florida just days ago, a sheriff publicly vowed to “kill you dead” if protesters got “unruly.” In Texas, nearly 7,000 National Guard troops were deployed around protests. The signal is clear: dissent isn’t just tolerated, it’s met with force.
The Louisiana Freedom Caucus press release didn’t simply defend “the right to self-defense” — it read like a rallying cry for pre-emptive violence against citizens daring to voice dissent. As watchdogs of democracy, we must ask: when political factions frame peaceful dissent as a mortal threat, have we surrendered to authoritarianism?
And this isn’t some fringe extremist group; it’s officially led by elected lawmakers:
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Rep. Beryl Amedée (R–Gray) serves as Chairwoman of the caucus and is a key strategist and public voice.
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Rep. Jay Gallé (R–Mandeville), another prominent member, frequently appears in their communications and is tied to previous incendiary remarks like “run over protesters.”
These are active legislators — using the power of their offices to endorse and legitimizes such dangerous rhetoric.
To be chillingly clear: this comes one day before actual political assassinations — murders that ripped apart the lives of Minnesota families and rattled the nation. That fact looms like a warning: inflammatory rhetoric precedes real-world deaths.
This is what the degradation of our political discourse looks like.
When sitting lawmakers endorse or flirt with armed resistance to protests, it shifts from dangerous rhetoric to governance by fear. This isn’t protected debate — it’s threat politics.
The timing couldn’t be more disturbing: they dropped this release a day before the fatal shootings in Minnesota, underscoring how swiftly hateful words escalate to lethal violence.
The Louisiana Freedom Caucus is not a hyperbolic media myth — it’s a formally recognized bloc of elected officials backing a paramilitary posture toward dissent. They’re not just posturing. They’re wielding influence in legislatures, through funded campaigns, and are actively recruiting more.
This goes beyond degrading public discourse — it’s a descent into authoritarianism. Louisiana’s political institutions must condemn this posture decisively. When threats replace dialogue, democracy loses.