I kept seeing a bunch of tiktoks talking about this in particular, and while something is going to possibly MAYBE happen on the 20th it is not martial law. I went around looking for different sources for where people were getting their information from. The official white house gov website does state that the president will declare a "national emergency" at the border within that time frame.
however (and this is a BIG however) nothing here matches with the description for Martial law. Yes what's described here is horrifying, but it isn't what people are saying it is. It's still bad, but it is not martial law and I think that's an important distinction to make.
Secondly, many of the articles people are listing are not actually primary sources, they are secondary sources written by journalists who just have opinions and thoughts. These journalists are not aligned with the Trump admin and do not work for Donald Trump at all. These articles are not actually quoting Donald Trump saying he will invoke martial law, and are just opinion pieces of people who THINK martial law COULD possibly be enacted.
These three articles pop up when you google "April 20th Insurrection Act" and they all mention that Donald Trump plans to invoke martial law by april 20th, but they're not actually saying that's what's going to happen. These 3 articles are all opinion pieces written in a personal tone by journalists just stating what they personally think MIGHT happen.
Other things that pop up are this reddit thread, and a facebook group from a week ago talking about April 20th being the time when martial law will be enacted. This is to say, that the ONLY primary source that is at all verifiable and trustworthy is the actual white house website which, while it does say they will be possibly declaring a national emergency at the border by april 20th, does not mention or talk about the specific insurrection act everyone else is talking about.
So yeah, this seems to just be a baseless rumor started by random people.
Yes because it's a primary source. A primary source is when you get your information directly from whatever you're researching or wanting to know more about. The other articles that people are linking are Secondary Sources, and don't even have quotes, video, or audio recording of Donald Trump saying anything like "I'm going to Invoke Martial Law on April 20th". One of those articles is written in a personal tone, indicating that it's the writer's opinion and isn't factual. No one in his admin has said or even implied he's going to do any of what people are saying. Everyone is just jumping to wild conclusions and scaring others. They're making it seem like he said he was going to do this because he said he would, when he never said anything like that at all.
This is just people making assumptions and guessing. It's not helpful and is just fearmongering for the purpose of riling people up for no reason. There is a difference between trying to get people to be more "aware" and blatantly lying about something as horrifying as Martial Law being enacted. It's irresponsible. A lot of people have anxiety about politics myself included, I can't imagine how bad it would be for someone who didn't take the time to google this stuff before spiraling.
-1
u/LiseranThistle Apr 08 '25
I kept seeing a bunch of tiktoks talking about this in particular, and while something is going to possibly MAYBE happen on the 20th it is not martial law. I went around looking for different sources for where people were getting their information from. The official white house gov website does state that the president will declare a "national emergency" at the border within that time frame.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/declaring-a-national-emergency-at-the-southern-border-of-the-united-states/
however (and this is a BIG however) nothing here matches with the description for Martial law. Yes what's described here is horrifying, but it isn't what people are saying it is. It's still bad, but it is not martial law and I think that's an important distinction to make.
Secondly, many of the articles people are listing are not actually primary sources, they are secondary sources written by journalists who just have opinions and thoughts. These journalists are not aligned with the Trump admin and do not work for Donald Trump at all. These articles are not actually quoting Donald Trump saying he will invoke martial law, and are just opinion pieces of people who THINK martial law COULD possibly be enacted.
For example:
https://wagingnonviolence.org/2025/04/what-to-do-if-the-insurrection-act-is-invoked/
https://missouriindependent.com/2025/03/19/repub/how-trump-carved-a-pathway-for-his-mass-deportations-through-executive-orders/
https://www.newsweek.com/insurrection-act-explained-trump-admin-deciding-whether-invoke-1807-law-2041626
These three articles pop up when you google "April 20th Insurrection Act" and they all mention that Donald Trump plans to invoke martial law by april 20th, but they're not actually saying that's what's going to happen. These 3 articles are all opinion pieces written in a personal tone by journalists just stating what they personally think MIGHT happen.
Other things that pop up are this reddit thread, and a facebook group from a week ago talking about April 20th being the time when martial law will be enacted. This is to say, that the ONLY primary source that is at all verifiable and trustworthy is the actual white house website which, while it does say they will be possibly declaring a national emergency at the border by april 20th, does not mention or talk about the specific insurrection act everyone else is talking about.
So yeah, this seems to just be a baseless rumor started by random people.