The Cost of Hyper-Tolerance — Part 1

A Catalog of Atrocities

We won.

Not everywhere. Not everything. But we won. Democrats secured victories across the country—state houses, local races, even in deep red districts. The American people are rejecting Trump’s fascism. They’re rejecting the cruelty. They’re rejecting the chaos.

That’s the good news.

Here’s the reality: Winning elections is not enough.

We cannot move on. We cannot heal. We cannot unity our way past mass atrocities. The Trump administration has committed crimes against humanity—bombing fishermen without trial, disappearing immigrants into torture prisons, protecting pedophiles, pardoning insurrectionists, looting the country through crypto corruption.

And the ultimate responsibility for these atrocities doesn’t lie with Trump alone. It lies with every person who chose to tolerate them. Every official who looked the other way. Every citizen who remained silent. Every friend or family member who shrugged and said “that’s just politics.”

This is the cost of hyper-tolerance. This is what happens when good people are too conflict-averse to exact accountability.

Yes, we must also deliver. We must make life affordable. We must address kitchen table issues—housing costs, healthcare, wages, the basics that matter to families every single day. If we get back in power and don’t deliver on what matters to people’s lives, we deserve to lose. Both delivery and accountability are non-negotiable.

But this series is about accountability. Because too many people want to skip that part. They want to “move forward” and “heal” and “look to the future.” They want to pretend none of this happened.

We can’t let them. So let me document it. Every atrocity. Every crime. Because we’re going to need these facts when it’s time to exact accountability.

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What They’ve Done

They Executed People Without Trial

79-83 people killed.¹^,² Across 20+ strikes in the Caribbean.^2,³ Trump called them “narco-terrorists.” Trump claimed each sunken boat saved 25,000 American lives.¹

Let’s be absolutely clear: Even if every single person on those boats was smuggling drugs, summary execution is illegal.

Under international law, extrajudicial killing violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Under American law, due process is guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. Under both, you don’t get to execute people without trial—even suspected criminals. Especially suspected criminals.

That’s the foundation of the rule of law. Evidence. Charges. Defense. Trial. Conviction. Then punishment.

The Trump administration provided zero evidence these boats were carrying drugs.¹ They struck first, asked questions never. No due process. No trial. No evidence. Just death. But even if they had evidence—even if these were confirmed drug smugglers—summary execution would still be murder.

And here’s the other part: The sentence for drug trafficking is not death. Even if they had proven guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law, executing them would violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. You can’t impose the death penalty for a crime that doesn’t carry the death penalty. That’s not law and order. That’s state-sanctioned murder.

The UK withheld intelligence over concerns about legality.³ Colombia’s president accused the U.S. of murder.³ Trump’s own statement gave it away—he bragged about scaring “fishermen in the area.”¹

This isn’t a drug war. This is extrajudicial execution. And it violates every principle of law we claim to uphold.

They Disappeared Immigrants Into Torture Prisons (CECOT)

238 people deported to CECOT⁴.—El Salvador’s maximum-security torture facility. The Trump administration knew at least 130 had no U.S. criminal convictions.⁵ They sent them anyway.

One man came to support his sick child. He was detained. Then he disappeared into a concrete cell, 23 hours a day in isolation, no sunlight, no lawyers, no due process.⁴

Over 60 were Venezuelans seeking asylum.⁵ People fleeing persecution. People who came here legally under international law. The Trump administration didn’t care. They wanted the optics. They wanted to terrify immigrants. So they disappeared them.

125 days they were held in a facility where El Salvador tortures MS-13 gang members.⁶ These weren’t gang members. They were asylum seekers. Fathers. Workers. Human beings.

The American Immigration Council demanded accountability.⁶ Texas Tribune exposed the lie.⁵ ProPublica documented the families left behind.⁴

This is ethnic cleansing. Not immigration enforcement. Ethnic cleansing.

They Disappeared Hundreds More at “Alligator Alcatraz”

But CECOT wasn’t enough. The Trump administration also established a detention facility in Florida—dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”—where they disappeared even more people.

Over 250 detainees had no criminal records at all.⁷ None. Zero. They weren’t criminals. They weren’t gang members. They were immigrants the Trump administration wanted to disappear to send a message.

And it gets worse. Some of the detainees were DACA recipients⁸ — ”Dreamers” who came to this country as children, who grew up here, who followed the law. People protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. People Trump’s own administration had granted status to. And then they rounded them up anyway. Despite Trump’s claims that Alligator Alcatraz held the “worst of the worst,” the truth was the opposite: they were targeting people who had no criminal history.⁸

Then they started disappearing. Two-thirds of the approximately 1,800 detainees at Alligator Alcatraz vanished from ICE databases.⁹ Around 1,200 people. Just gone. Their families couldn’t find them. Lawyers couldn’t locate them. Advocates checked databases—nothing. The Trump administration disappeared 1,200 human beings from the system. No records. No accountability. No way for anyone to challenge their detention or know where they were being held.

This wasn’t bureaucratic incompetence. This was deliberate. Just like CECOT, just like the boat strikes, the Trump administration wanted people to disappear. They wanted families terrorized. They wanted immigrants afraid. They wanted to create black holes where people vanish without due process, without lawyers, without any way to hold the government accountable.

They Ruled the Tariffs Illegal—Trump Did Them Anyway

Federal courts ruled 7-4 that Trump’s tariffs violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.¹⁰^,¹¹ Most of his tariffs are illegal.^10, The judiciary—including Trump-appointed judges—said so explicitly. Trump continued anyway. The Tax Foundation estimates $11 trillion in economic damage from Trump’s trade war.¹² Prices went up. Supply chains collapsed. American consumers paid the bill.

The courts said stop. Trump said no. That’s not policy disagreement. That’s lawlessness.

They’re Protecting Pedophiles and Covering for Epstein

Ghislaine Maxwell—Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice, convicted child sex trafficker—was moved to a low-security prison.¹³^,¹⁴ Then whispers started about seeking a commutation from Trump.¹³

House Judiciary Democrats demanded answers.¹⁵ Epstein’s victims called it a coverup.¹⁵ But the Trump DOJ moved her anyway, right after an interview with a top DOJ official.¹⁵

Let’s be honest: Trump is protecting pedophiles. Maxwell trafficked children. She’s serving 20 years. And the Trump administration is setting her up for early release. Why? Because Epstein’s network implicates powerful people. People Trump needs. People Trump protects. Potentially Trump himself. This isn’t conspiracy theory. This is documented fact. The moves are public. The pattern is clear.

They’re Looting the Country Through Crypto Corruption

Senators Warren and Merkley called it a “staggering conflict of interest.”¹⁶ Senator Blumenthal introduced a resolution condemning Trump’s crypto corruption.¹⁷

Trump made deals with Justin Sun—a crypto billionaire who leads a fake country called “Liberland.”¹⁸ The deals violate the Emoluments Clause.¹⁶ Trump is personally profiting from his office. Again. Rolling Stone documented it.¹⁸ Senate Banking Committee investigated it.¹⁶ House Democrats condemned it.

Trump is looting the country. Using the presidency for personal enrichment. While Americans struggle to afford groceries, Trump is cutting crypto deals with foreign billionaires. This is corruption. Naked. Obvious. Documented.

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There’s more to this series, but first:

If work like this—documenting atrocities with full sourcing, refusing to move on when others want to forget—feels worth having in the world, please consider supporting The American Manifesto. Paid subscriptions make it possible to keep fighting when the fight is uncomfortable, unpopular, and necessary.

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What Comes Next

We’ve documented the crimes. We have the receipts. The extrajudicial executions. The ethnic cleansing. The torture prisons. The disappearances. The illegal tariffs. The pedophile protection. The brazen corruption.

And now comes the predictable response: “Can’t we just move forward?”

Some will counsel healing. Others will talk about unity. Many will say we need to look ahead, not back, to pretend it never happened, to unity our way past mass atrocities.

But we’ve been here before. Every time atrocities happen, we’re told to move forward, to heal, to look ahead. And every time, things get worse.

Why? That’s the question we’ll answer in Part 2: why 150 years of hyper-tolerance brought us here—and why maximum accountability is not optional.

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Your Move

This documentation isn’t abstract. These are real atrocities. Real people killed, tortured, disappeared. So I’m asking you:

• Which atrocity documented here hits hardest for you? The fishermen bombed without trial? The asylum seekers disappeared into torture prisons? The DACA recipients vanished from databases?

• What have you heard people in your life say to defend or minimize these actions? What rationalizations are people using?

• How do we keep this documentation alive when Trump is no longer president? How do we prevent people from memory-holing these crimes?

Part 2 drops tomorrow and will tackle why maximum accountability is not optional.

1. The Associated Press, “Trump says boat crews are narco-terrorists. The truth is more nuanced, AP finds”, NPR, November 8, 2025.

This AP investigation, published by NPR, documents the identities of people killed in Trump’s Caribbean boat strikes. The reporting reveals that 79-83 people died across the strikes, with the administration providing zero evidence that the boats were carrying drugs. The investigation identified victims including Robert Sánchez (42-year-old fisherman earning $100/month), Juan Carlos Fuentes (bus driver who turned to smuggling out of desperation), and Alejandro Carranza (Colombian fisherman with no drug trafficking ties). Trump’s own statements gave away the truth—he bragged about scaring “fishermen in the area.” This article exposes the extrajudicial executions masquerading as drug enforcement.

2. Mosheh Gains, Courtney Kube, and Alexandra Marquez, “Trump administration carried out 20th attack on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean”, NBC News, November 14, 2025.

This NBC News report documents that the Trump administration carried out a 20th military strike on boats in the Caribbean, with a total death toll of 79 people. The reporting confirms that the UK withheld intelligence over concerns about the legality of these operations and that Colombia’s president called Trump a “barbarian” for the killings. The article provides additional confirmation that these attacks represent an ongoing pattern of extrajudicial killings, not isolated incidents, and that international allies refused to participate due to legal and moral concerns about the operations.

3. Wikipedia, “2025 United States military strikes on alleged drug traffickers”, Wikipedia, November 24, 2025.

This Wikipedia article provides comprehensive documentation of the Trump administration’s 20+ military strikes against boats in the Caribbean. The article documents that the UK withheld intelligence over concerns about the legality of the strikes and that Colombia’s president accused the U.S. of murder. The entry serves as a centralized reference for understanding the scale and international condemnation of these operations, which killed dozens of people without due process or evidence of drug trafficking.

4. Melissa Sanchez, Perla Trevizo, Mica Rosenberg, Jeff Ernsthausen, Ronna Rísquez, and Adrián González, “He Came to the U.S. to Support His Sick Child. He Was Detained. Then He Disappeared”, ProPublica, July 18, 2025.

This ProPublica investigative piece tells the story of José Manuel Ramos Bastidas, who came to the United States to support his sick child and was detained and then disappeared into CECOT—El Salvador’s maximum-security torture facility. The investigation documents how 238 people were deported to this facility, where they were held in concrete cells for 23 hours a day in isolation with no sunlight, no lawyers, and no due process. The reporting exposes the human cost of the Trump administration’s decision to disappear asylum seekers and immigrants into a facility designed to torture MS-13 gang members, revealing the ethnic cleansing hidden behind immigration enforcement rhetoric.

5. Mica Rosenberg, Melissa Sanchez, Gabriel Sandoval, Perla Trevizo, Ronna Rísquez, and Adrián González, “Trump administration knew most Venezuelans deported from Texas to a Salvadoran prison had no U.S. convictions”, Texas Tribune, May 30, 2025.

The Texas Tribune investigation revealed that the Trump administration knew at least 130 of the 238 people deported to CECOT had no U.S. criminal convictions before sending them anyway. The reporting documents that over 60 were Venezuelans seeking asylum—people fleeing persecution who came to the U.S. legally under international law. The administration didn’t care about their status; they wanted the optics of appearing tough on immigration and deliberately sent asylum seekers to a torture facility to terrify other immigrants. This article exposes the administration’s knowing participation in human rights violations.

6. American Immigration Council, “After Detaining People in El Salvador Torture Prison for 125 Days, the U.S. Government Must Be Held Accountable for Disappearing Migrants”, American Immigration Council, July 18, 2025.

The American Immigration Council’s press release demanding accountability reveals that the 238 people deported to CECOT were held for 125 days before anyone found out what had happened to them. For more than four months, these individuals—asylum seekers, fathers, workers—were disappeared into a torture facility with no way for their families or advocates to locate them or challenge their detention. The Council’s demand for accountability underscores that this was not a bureaucratic error but a deliberate attempt to make immigrants vanish from the legal system without due process.

7. WLRN, “Hundreds of detainees in Alligator Alcatraz have no criminal records, Herald/Times reports”, WLRN, July 14, 2025.

This WLRN report documents that over 250 detainees at the Trump administration’s “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility in Florida had no criminal records whatsoever. The reporting exposes the lie behind Trump’s claims that the facility held only dangerous criminals. These weren’t gang members or violent offenders—they were immigrants the administration wanted to disappear to send a message of terror to immigrant communities. The article reveals that the Trump administration was systematically targeting people with no criminal history, contradicting their own justifications for the facility.

8. Lilia Luciano, “Some ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detainees are DACA recipients and have no criminal history, despite Trump’s ‘worst of the worst’ claims”, CBS News, August 12, 2025.

CBS News revealed that some detainees at Alligator Alcatraz were DACA recipients—”Dreamers” who came to the United States as children and were protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The investigation exposed Trump’s “worst of the worst” claims as complete fabrications. These were people who grew up in America, who followed the law, who had been granted protected status by the government. Despite having no criminal history, they were rounded up and detained anyway. The reporting demonstrates that the Trump administration was targeting the most vulnerable immigrants, not dangerous criminals, and systematically lying about who they were detaining.

9. Democracy Now, “Where Are the Detainees? Hundreds of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Prisoners Disappear from ICE Database”, Democracy Now, November 25, 2025.

Democracy Now’s investigation documented that approximately two-thirds of the 1,800 detainees at Alligator Alcatraz—around 1,200 people—vanished from ICE databases. Their families couldn’t find them. Lawyers couldn’t locate them. Advocates checking databases found no records. The Trump administration made 1,200 human beings disappear from the system without any accountability, without any way for families or legal representatives to challenge their detention or even know where they were being held. This deliberate disappearance of detainees from official records represents a systematic effort to create legal black holes where people vanish without due process, mirroring the tactics used in the CECOT deportations.

10. NPR, “Most of President Trump’s tariffs are illegal, U.S. court rules”, NPR, August 29, 2025.

This NPR report documents the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s 7-4 ruling that President Trump’s tariffs violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The court ruled that Trump exceeded his authority by invoking emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs, finding that the IEEPA does not grant the president the power to impose such taxes. Despite the court declaring most of his tariffs illegal, Trump continued implementing them anyway. The ruling exposes that Trump’s signature economic policy is fundamentally lawless.

11. Kevin Breuninger, “Most Trump tariffs ruled illegal by appeals court, dealing major blow to trade policy”, CNBC, August 29, 2025.

CNBC’s coverage of the appeals court ruling provides additional detail on the legal reasoning behind the decision that Trump’s tariffs violate federal law. The article emphasizes that the court split 7-4, with even some Trump-appointed judges ruling against the tariffs. The reporting highlights that Trump’s invocation of emergency powers to impose “reciprocal” tariffs on China, Canada, Mexico, and other countries exceeded presidential authority. This source reinforces that the courts—including judges from Trump’s own administration—declared his actions illegal.

12. Tax Foundation, “Trump Tariffs: Tracking the Economic Impact of the Trump Trade War”, Tax Foundation, November 17, 2025.

The Tax Foundation’s comprehensive economic analysis estimates that Trump’s tariffs will cause $11 trillion in economic damage. This massive figure represents the cascading effects of Trump’s trade war: prices went up for American consumers, supply chains collapsed, and businesses faced unprecedented uncertainty. The report documents how tariffs ranging from 15% on European Union goods to 50% on Indian imports represent the highest import taxes since the 1930s. While Trump claims tariffs protect American interests, this analysis shows that American consumers and businesses are paying the bill for his illegal economic policy.

13. Ryan Nobles and Rebecca Shabad, “Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell plans to seek commutation from Trump, whistleblower says”, NBC News, November 10, 2025.

NBC News reports that a whistleblower revealed Ghislaine Maxwell is actively seeking a commutation of her 20-year prison sentence from President Trump. The whistleblower came forward to House Democrats with evidence including an email from Maxwell to her attorney with the subject line “commutation application.” The reporting reveals Maxwell has been receiving “concierge-style” treatment at the minimum-security prison she was transferred to, including customized meals, special exercise privileges, and time with puppies. The article documents that Maxwell’s transfer came just one week after she met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, exposing a clear pattern of preferential treatment for a convicted child sex trafficker.

14. Al Jazeera, “Epstein victims claim ‘cover up’ as Maxwell moved to low-security prison”, Al Jazeera, August 2, 2025.

Al Jazeera’s reporting captures Epstein victims’ reactions to Maxwell’s transfer to a low-security prison, with victims explicitly calling it a “cover up.” The article documents that Maxwell, convicted of recruiting and grooming teenage girls for sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, was moved to better conditions despite serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking. Victims’ accusations of a coverup provide crucial context: those who suffered from Epstein’s network see Maxwell’s improved treatment as part of a pattern of protecting powerful predators. This source centers the voices of survivors calling out the injustice.

15. House Judiciary Committee Democrats, “Judiciary Democrats Demand Answers Following Trump DOJ’s Sudden Transfer of Convicted Child Abuser and Epstein Accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell After Interview with Top DOJ Official”, House Judiciary Committee Democrats, August 13, 2025.

House Judiciary Democrats’ official press release demanding accountability for Maxwell’s suspicious prison transfer details the timeline: Maxwell was moved to a low-security facility immediately after meeting with a top DOJ official. Ranking Member Jamie Raskin’s letter to Trump explicitly states “You should not grant any form of clemency to this convicted and unrepentant sex offender” and condemns the administration for providing her with special treatment. The press release exposes the Trump DOJ’s role in facilitating Maxwell’s path toward potential early release, raising serious questions about protecting Epstein’s network of powerful co-conspirators.

16. Senators Jeff Merkley and Elizabeth Warren, “FORWARDING: Merkley, Warren: Trump-Linked Crypto Deal is a ‘Staggering’ Conflict of Interest”, Senate Banking Committee, May 5, 2025.

Senators Merkley and Warren’s official statement condemns Trump’s billion-dollar cryptocurrency deal as a “staggering conflict of interest.” The senators document that Trump’s family stands to receive hundreds of millions of dollars from a deal involving UAE’s state-backed investment firm MGX, crypto exchange Binance, and Trump’s World Liberty Financial. The statement warns that the deal may violate the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution and federal bribery statutes. The senators emphasize that “a crypto firm whose founder needs a pardon and a foreign government spymaker coveting sensitive U.S. technology plan to pay the Trump and Witkoff families hundreds of millions of dollars.” This official Senate Banking Committee statement exposes Trump’s use of the presidency for personal enrichment.

17. Senator Richard Blumenthal, “Blumenthal Announces Resolution Condemning Trump Crypto Corruption”, Senator Blumenthal, May 15, 2025.

Senator Blumenthal’s resolution formally condemns Trump’s cryptocurrency corruption, providing an additional official congressional response to Trump’s conflicts of interest. The resolution represents Congress’s formal recognition that Trump is using his office for personal profit through crypto deals with foreign entities. Blumenthal’s action demonstrates that Trump’s crypto corruption is not a partisan talking point but a documented pattern of behavior serious enough to warrant official congressional condemnation.

18. Miles Klee, “Trump Is Doing Crypto Corruption With a Billionaire Leader of Fake Country: Report”, Rolling Stone, June 27, 2025.

Rolling Stone’s investigative report exposes Trump’s cryptocurrency deals with Justin Sun, a crypto billionaire who leads “Liberland”—a fake country. The reporting documents how Trump is personally profiting from deals that violate the Emoluments Clause while Americans struggle to afford groceries. The article reveals the absurdity and brazenness of Trump’s corruption: conducting official business with a billionaire from a fabricated nation to enrich himself. This source captures both the documented facts of Trump’s crypto schemes and the surreal nature of his corruption.