READ: They're using their fists to keep us quiet

But even in the scorching heat, the people came.

Last weekend I was traveling through my hometown of La Porte, Indiana. It was hot. Really hot. 95 degrees with a heat index of 105.

So my wife Hannah and I stopped by Tastee Cream, a soft-serve stand that’s been there since I was a kid. She asked if anyone locally had written about the Executive Order — the one Trump signed naming me a traitor. I hadn’t looked.

I checked.

And there it was. Tucked inside the local news: a protest was planned the very next morning at the county courthouse. In support of free speech and in defense of a local. Me. I had to read it twice: Protest this Saturday in LA PORTE! Focus is on Freedom of Speech, and specifically speaking up for a La Porte local - Miles Taylor.

I thought it might be a joke. What were the odds that this would be happening while I was home? Of course, I also became suspicious. Was someone trying to bait me? Was this a setup?

Hannah looked at me and said, “We should go. Surprise them.”

I hesitated.

“Could get dicey,” I replied.

Online I saw that a local MAGA group had flagged the event for their followers, seeming eager to launch a counter-protest.

“Even if it’s not a trick,” I went on, “no one is going to show up for this. And not in the sweltering heat. Maybe three or four people.”

She shrugged. “Then all the more reason. Anyone who does that really deserves your thanks.”

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The next day we drove by. Just to scope it out. What we saw made us pull the car over.

Dozens of people (the newspaper later said a hundred) were lined up around the La Porte County Courthouse. Sweating, smiling, standing together in the blistering sun.

One woman held a hot pink sign:

“SMILES FOR MILES — TRUTH + FREE SPEECH!”

Others read:

NO KINGS. NO TRUMP.

RESIST.

WAKE UP.

DEMOCRACY NOT DICTATORSHIP.

We found a parking spot around the corner and got out. I still couldn’t believe so many people cared enough to show up. I reached the line of people and cautiously announced myself to a woman in a bucket hat. She was standing there holding a sign alongside a few friends.

“Hi there, I’m Miles Taylor. I can’t believe you all are here today. I’m so grateful.”

They looked at me like I had three heads. Then the first woman blurted. “I can’t believe YOU’RE here!” She gave me a bear hug.

Hannah and I walked the picket line. I thanked every person I could. Shook hands. Hugged strangers slick with sweat. And people honked as they passed. Over and over again.

After many difficult months, this lifted my spirits. But these folks weren’t just there for me. They were there for each other — and the wider cause.

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The protestors didn’t just brave the heat. They braved the opposition.

For all the honking and support, I notice there were occasional passerby’s screaming obscenities. Then pickups began circling the block. Loud. Intentional. One mounted the curb to scare the crowd. Another gunned the engine and sent exhaust blasting into a protester’s face.

We decided it was best to head out so that my visit didn’t incite any violence.

But later — after I’d already left — I got a message: A man had gotten out of a truck. Approached a quiet protester. And punched him in the face.

Several protestors allegedly wrestled the man to the ground. Then the police took him into custody. He was later charged with battery and public intoxication. The victim? A kind guy I’d just taken a selfie with. Peacefully standing in the heat to defend free speech.

The irony was thicker than the humidity.

But you know what? After the incident, I’m told that the protestors didn’t flee. They didn’t cower. They stood back up at their posts and started waving their signs once more.

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Scuffles happen all the time in small towns. Politics is local, and it’s heated. But something bigger is happening. Political violence is spreading across our country, in small ways and big ways.

Whether it’s people punching defenders of free speech in Indiana or MAGA gunmen assassinating politicians in Minnesota, we cannot look away. This is serious.

The Trump regime — and its most militant supporters — don’t just want to criminalize dissent. They want to scare us into silence.

Straight from the strongman’s playbook. You crack down from above. Then you let your followers throw their fists from below.

Here’s the thing they didn’t count on, though. Even in a 105° inferno, the people still showed up. They showed up with signs and with grit and and with pink poster board, loudly declaring their cause.

Something inside them stirred. Something old and good. I know because it’s stirred me, too: when the powerful try to shut you up, showing up becomes its own form of defiance.

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Hannah and I have talked about this a lot the past few days.

What’s clear to us is that the more of us who rise, the harder it is to push us down. We are in a historic fight for free speech. So we should encourage our family and friends: don’t sit this one out.

There are people all across this country willing to stand beside you in the heat … to take the punches … and to keep standing.