Mobtown

Some things are worse than losing money. Martial law may be one of them.

19th April 1861: An engraving entitled 'The Lexington of 1861' depicting the march of the 6th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia through the streets of Baltimore, Maryland, where a local crowd attacked them resulting in the first bloodshed of the civil war. Source: Getty Images

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Wednesday, June 11^th, 2025

Bill Bonner, from Youghal, Ireland

We’re not sure Francis Key Howard appreciated the delicious poetry of it. From his cell at Fort McHenry, he could look out by the dawn’s early light and see that star-spangled banner. But for the grandson of Francis Scott Key, the sight must have stuck in his craw.

Just as England had to conquer Wales and Scotland before it could take on India, the US had to subdue its erring Southern states before it could attack Iraq. Both were on the path of empire; Howard was just roadkill.

We saw last week how some things are worse than losing money. Martial law may be one of them. The editor of the Baltimore Exchange was held under lock and key by an invading army. Abraham Lincoln didn’t appreciate his point of view.

Howard thought the US Constitution gave him the right to hold any opinion he wanted, even one that favored the South. He thought it also allowed free people to decide for themselves who should rule over them. And he believed that he must be entitled to defend himself in court; ‘What about habeas corpus,’ he must have muttered through bars.

Hadn’t Chief Justice Taney (a Marylander) stated very clearly that:

“The privilege of the writ [habeas corpus] could not be suspended except by act of Congress...under the Constitution and laws of the United States, [the president] cannot suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, nor authorize any military officer to do so.”

And yet, that’s what President Lincoln did...and when the courts found that he lacked the authority, he simply ignored them.

The ‘Civil’ War began on the streets of our hometown, Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Richard Sprigg Steuart described what happened.

I happened to be in Baltimore on the night of the 19th April 1861, and witnessed the outburst of feeling on the part of the people. Generally, when the Massachusetts troops were passing through the city of Baltimore, it was evident to me that 75% of the population was in favour of repelling these troops. Instinctively the people seemed to look upon them as intruders, or as invaders of the South, not as defenders of the City of Baltimore. How or by whom the first blow was given can not be now ascertained, but the feeling of resistance was contagious and powerful.

The citizens of Baltimore threw stones. The soldiers fired their guns. Blood was drawn and the war was on.

A month later, a Union general entered town and declared martial law. By September, ‘peace keeping forces’ had shut down nine newspapers and imprisoned many of Maryland’s leading citizens — editors and publishers, one of Maryland’s congressmen, Mayor George Brown and the entire City Council of Baltimore, all the state’s police commissioners along with a third of the Maryland assembly.

And today, it is the Los Angelenos who are throwing stones.

The president has called up the National Guard to support his deportation program. The Defense Secretary is sending the Marines. Anyone who gets in their way may be subject to arrest.

When the US attacked Iraq, claiming it was fighting terrorism, it was just a matter of time before the terrorist fighters would be turned loose on domestic ‘terrorists.’ Then, in his “Battle for the Soul of the Nation” speech in 2022, Joe Biden — flanked by armed soldiers and blood-red background lighting — encouraged listeners to think of MAGA supporters as enemies of the nation:

Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. But it’s still walking in the same direction.

The aforementioned Roger B. Taney, chief justice of the Supreme Court, is widely accused of having started the ‘Civil’ War himself. His decision in the Dred Scott case over-reached to the point where he declared that people of African descent “are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word ‘citizens’ in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.”

The decision was both extremely provocative, and not exactly truthful. Free Blacks had been included on the citizen rolls of some states and had voted in their elections. But no matter. That was the majority decision and it is the reason, among other things, that Taney’s lugubrious statue was recently removed from the park in front of our house in Baltimore.

The ‘writ’ of habeas corpus requires the government to show evidence of a crime before taking away a person’s liberty or property. Kristi Noem might not know this, but it is ancient and fundamental to the rule of law. Who doesn’t get the benefit of it today? The Wall Street Journal:

The White House Marching Orders That Sparked the L.A. Migrant Crackdown

In late May, Stephen Miller, a top White House aide and the architect of the president’s immigration agenda, addressed a meeting at the headquarters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. The message was clear: The president, who promised to deport millions of immigrants living in the country illegally, wasn’t pleased. The agency had better step it up.

Agents didn’t need to develop target lists of immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, a longstanding practice, Miller said. Instead, he directed them to target Home Depot, where day laborers typically gather for hire, or 7-Eleven convenience stores. Miller bet that he and a handful of agents could go out on the streets of Washington, D.C., and arrest 30 people right away.

And so, the ICE agents went forth, over all the land. Masked and armed, but without arrest warrants, they ignored habeas corpus and rounded them up – thousands of them. What did the immigrants do wrong? Nobody knows; no charges were filed; no court heard the evidence.

“Another flight every day,” said Tom Homan, US ‘border czar,’ whatever that is. “We are not stopping. I don't care what the judges think.”

Asked if Homan should arrest California Gavin Newsom, Donald Trump replied:

“I'd do it if I were Tom...Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing.”

Regards,

Bill Bonner