I'll tell you, I've been teaching for 25 years, and for 25 years we've had lockdowns,

teaching kids about, you know, mass shootings and schools. But I think in my head I never thought

it would be like our own government that we had to try to protect ourselves from or to protect

our children from.

From the Atlantic, this is Autocracy in America. I'm Ann Applebaum.

This season, I've been examining how the Trump White House

is rewriting the rules of U.S. politics

and talking to Americans whose lives have been changed as a result.

Today we're bringing you an extra episode that takes a look at what opposition to this new normal looks like, on the ground level.

When heavily armed agents of the federal government arrived in Minneapolis, the residents of Minneapolis and St. Paul

met those federal forces with surprising strength.

For this episode, I spoke to journalist Robert Worth,

a contributing writer at The Atlantic.

He's just been to Minneapolis,

where he observed the tactics of the federal agents

and the response of Minnesotans.

He and I both saw an eerie resemblance to other protest movements that we've witnessed in other parts of the world.

First, though, here's some more from the people of the Twin Cities, explaining how and why they were moved to act.

My name is Amanda Bauer.

I am an elementary music teacher in a small elementary school,

about 500 or so students from places all over the world,

primarily Hispanic and Latin American countries,

...