Twelve Days in June - Part I: Prelude

Twelve Days in June is the story of one possible future for America. At this moment, the country is in chaos, and it seems to get worse every day. Donald Trump has accused his enemies of treason, threatened to declare martial law in response to civil unrest, and has not fully committed to a peaceful transition of power after the election. His powers to suppress mass protests are immense, and largely unknown to the public. If he doesn't leave office on January 20th… what happens? All around the world — in Hong Kong, Belarus, Bolivia, Nigeria — popular protest movements are rising up to challenge authoritarian regimes. Those regimes are not going down without a fight. Is the United States of America next to be added to the list? Framed as a five-part series of articles published in 2022, the story looks back on history that has not yet been written. Part I covers how the months following the 2020 Presidential Election set the table for upheaval, massive even by today's standards; Parts II through V track the extraordinary events moment-to-moment. Told from the perspectives of journalists, activists, government insiders, and ordinary Americans, Twelve Days in June is the story of a nation experiencing — and surviving — an unprecedented crisis. Part I: Prelude covers the period following the 2020 presidential election, as President Trump makes increasingly authoritarian moves against dissidents, and steadily escalates his rhetoric against the press. Ultimately, his incitements push the United States to the brink of a historic calamity. Twelve Days in June is a work of speculative fiction. The Lodestar Magazine and Max Ezer are fictitious entities. Public figures and entities are depicted in a fictitious context—their actions and statements are presented hypothetically as satirical political commentary protected under fair use and the First Amendment. All other characters are wholly fictitious, and any resemblances to persons, living or dead, or events that take place after the publication of this work are purely coincidental.