"Absolutely terrifying": Trump asks for emergency powers during pandemic

URGENT: Trump's Attorney General William Barr is asking Congress for emergency powers to imprison American citizens indefinitely without trial or even being charged with a crime.

This is a massive and terrifying power grab, using the pandemic as an excuse to throw out one of our most basic constitutional rights: the right not to be imprisoned without appearing before a judge.

We can stop this, but only if the initial public backlash is big and loud. Once the government claims these kinds of powers, it's incredibly difficult to take them back.

Throughout history, moments of crisis have been used by authoritarians to attack basic civil liberties. And the guarantee against indefinite detention without trial—or habeas corpus—is one of our most basic freedoms, and is a cornerstone of the Bill of Rights.

The thought of William Barr and Donald Trump claiming the powers to lock up anyone for any reason—or no reason—is frankly terrifying.

This is a clear ploy for Trump and his cronies to grab as much power as they can over our constitutionally guaranteed rights during a global catastrophe.

We need to stop this idea cold. We’ll need to gather signatures to send to Congress to let them know the public won’t stand for this attack on our rights. Will you help fight back before Trump gets Congress to help him ignore the Constitution?

They can’t get this past us.

Thanks for standing with us.

Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress