For nearly two decades, the United States government has been waging what it calls a “war on terrorism.” Over the last several days, the United States has been engulfed by a wave of terror. But the perpetrators are not al-Qaeda, ISIS, or any other foreign adversary — the terror comes from the domestic forces of order.

After police murdered George Floyd in broad daylight on May 25 — the latest in a long list of police murders of black people, from Philando Castile and Eric Garner to Tamir Rice and Breona Taylor — the police and National Guard have run wild, in brutal ways that only serve to confirm protesters’ arguments about how out of control those police are. In Minneapolis, the National Guard fired rubber bullets on residents on their own front porches, while the Department of Public Safety tweeted about preparing for “urban warfare.” Horrifying footage emerged of New York City Police Department officers driving their vehicles through crowds of protesters. In Louisville, Kentucky, David McAtee, an owner of a barbecue restaurant — who frequently gave free meals to law enforcement — was shot and killed by police and National Guard, who then left his body on the street for twelve hours. Elsewhere across the nation, police attacked protesters, journalists and bystanders with a range of weapons, including batons, tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades.

Donald Trump and his Attorney General William Barr have decided to ignore this very real spree of police violence, the root of the anger sweeping the nation, and instead double down on conspiracy theories justifying their calls for ratcheting up repression — most absurdly but also most dangerously, in their fulminations against “antifa.”