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But Miami鈥檚 gathering told a different story.

The city sits at the heart of Miami-Dade County, the seventh-largest county in the U.S. and the one with by far the greatest Hispanic population. Miami itself, a Democratic stronghold noted for its diversity, is the second-most-populous city in America鈥檚 third-most-populous state. Yet on Saturday morning, only about 1,000 protesters, most of them white, rallied at the Torch of Friendship downtown.

Their chants of 鈥淪how me what democracy looks like!鈥� rang hollow, as some demonstrators concealed their identities behind masks and refused to share their names. Many used their protest signs to hide their faces 鈥� not only from the cameras, but also from the large contingent of police present. Even one of the event鈥檚 organizers wore a mask and declined to share her name.

Everyone I talked to expressed sorrow and regret about U.S. aggression toward Canada 鈥� some even broke into tears over the newly fractured relationship between our two countries 鈥� yet there was a sense that what people here are facing is bigger than the mistreatment of America鈥檚 friends and allies. Rather, it鈥檚 the loss of fundamental rights that democracies are supposed to protect.

Miamians have experienced systematic efforts to undermine their civil rights since long before Trump鈥檚 second term in office. Over the past five years, Florida鈥檚 far-right Republican governor Ron DeSantis has attacked women鈥檚, Black and LGBTQ+ rights via policies that once seemed unthinkable:聽abortion outlawed six weeks after conception, transwomen barred from using women鈥檚 bathrooms, books about sexual orientation and race banned. Progressive groups in Florida are exhausted and in disarray.

With this foundation already in place, the meagre assembly of uneasy protesters who descended on Miami this weekend serves as a harbinger of what Trump鈥檚 authoritarianism could do to America: push minority groups even further toward society鈥檚 margins, endangering their safety and their very existence.

鈥淚t鈥檚 concerning,鈥� said one protestor, a 74-year-old retired history teacher named Jerry Hunt, in reference to what he called a 鈥渧ery Anglo crowd.鈥� He added, 鈥淟ook around: very few Latinos, very few African Americans.鈥�

Each day brings fresh evidence of Trump鈥檚 tightening grip on free expression, : the president continues to gut federal authority; ignore judicial rulings; subjugate Congress; incarcerate migrants without due process; detain demonstrators; and intimidate media, universities, law firms and cultural centres. In authoritarian governments, such manoeuvres tend to wear down opposition by creating a climate of fear and limiting the ability of dissenting voices to organize themselves and challenge the regime.

That climate of fear is very real in Miami, where more than half the population is foreign-born and many thousands of migrants are undocumented.

A Latina protester who had covered her face and wouldn鈥檛 share her name, occupation or age told me that many of her Latino friends had stayed away from the event out of fear and a belief that free expression was no longer allowed. Standing beside her, a masked Latina graduate of Florida International University said that her friends have been traumatized by reports of migrants who鈥檝e disappeared without due process around the city.

鈥淭hey come from very oppressive regimes,鈥� she said, 鈥渟o they are very afraid of what this government might do 鈥� even though many of them voted for it.鈥�

Many people I spoke to said they were not just mourning their country鈥檚 eroding principles and unprecedented attacks on former allies; they were (and are) fighting to protect the most basic human rights, including the right to speak freely, which true democracies have always promised to uphold.

Yet as afternoon came and the protestors dispersed into the Florida heat, there was an unmistakable sense that the fight was lost. Indeed, when people from marginalized communities are compelled to conclude that silence is safer than solidarity, democracy has already been conquered. And in Miami, the conquest was so quiet that the rest of the country didn鈥檛 even seem to notice.