On the 1st of July, would-be King Trump held a “grand opening” for his “Alligator Alcatraz” concentration camp in the Everglades. With him were Ron DeSantis and Kristi Naom. A Lenco Bearcat armored vehicle was parked inside the gate and much of the Collier County FL Sheriff’s Dept was at the site.
Facing the cops and a handful of Proud Boys and MAGA meatheads were well over 100 protesters organized by Miccosukee youth backed up by migrant rights activists and anti-fascist activists. It is the Miccosukee whose sacred land is being stolen, desecrated, and trashed for this project.
A chant in the protest warned “People will die here!” Prisons in Florida generally do not offer A/C in the cellblocks, so its unlikely that this tent city internment camp will have A/C outside of the trailers used by the guards. Note that the Everglades are one of the hottest and most humid places in all of Florida, and most of the hostages Trump and DeSantis plan to hold in tents there there will be from other climates.
The protest was tense. While protester managed to stay out of the road, the media did not. This factor combined with widespread police support for Trump and ICE plus Proud Boys trying and failing to start fights left the cops quite agitated. Tribal organizers emphasized the importance of not biting on bait set by right-wing disruptors given the dangerous environment. Nobody did, even while Proud Boys dressed to resemble ICE agents paraded in the street past the crowd and were NOT ordered out of the street by police.
A number of protesters carried signs calling this hellhole not “Alligator Alcatraz” but “Alligator Auschwitz.” The name is apt: remember that Hitler’s concentration camps began in exactly this way: as temporary holding facilities for Hitler’s poltical enemies. They grew from such facilities to massive slave labor and death camps responsible for at least six million deaths and untold misery.
Today, we have Trump’s “homegrowns are next” remarks indicating potential future uses for facilities such as this one. Note that Trump has already threatened NYC Dem Mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani with deportation if he dares to block ICE’s activities in New York City. He is calling Trump’s bluff, saying he won’t stand for such intimidation tactics.
