When Democracy Bleeds: A Trauma-Informed Reckoning

“When democracy bleeds, care is the tourniquet. And courage is the suture.” - Mary Coughlin

There are moments so staggering they knock the breath from our collective body.

This weekend, a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband were assassinated in their home. Another lawmaker and his wife were also shot and nearly killed. The man responsible wore a fake badge, carried a hit list, and impersonated law enforcement to carry out his plan.

This was not random.
This was politically motivated violence, unfolding in the context of a nation led by a president who has, for over a decade, glorified violence as a tool of control.

Let us say it plainly:
This is what it looks like when democracy bleeds.
And we must not look away.

The Violence Wasn't the Beginning—It Was the Blueprint

Our current president has built a political brand not just on disruption, but on domination.

• He told supporters to “knock the hell” out of protestors—and promised to cover their legal fees.

• He urged police officers to “not be too nice” to suspects.

• He called the press “the enemy of the people.”

• He promised “retribution” against those who challenge his power.

• He’s cultivated a base through fear, grievance, and the lie that violence equals strength.

So when a shooter targets elected officials with a kill list in his car, we can’t pretend this came out of nowhere.

It came from years of permissive rhetoric, unchecked threats, and the erosion of norms that once defined democracy.

Through a Trauma-Informed Lens

Trauma-informed care teaches us that healing begins with safety, trust, empowerment, and truth.

Now look at what we’re living through:

• A president who fuels division and fear

• Lawmakers assassinated in their homes

• Citizens afraid to speak, teach, vote, or gather

• A justice system increasingly politicized and paralyzed

This isn’t just dysfunction.
It’s trauma, orchestrated and weaponized.

In trauma-informed care, we ask:

What happened?
Who holds the power—and how is it being used?
What restores dignity, agency, and safety?

Right now, those answers demand action.
Because trauma-informed care isn't just a clinical framework—it’s a compass for democracy.

And when that democracy is bleeding, care isn’t optional.
It’s urgent. It’s strategic. It’s the antidote to authoritarian harm.

This Is Not Normal

We cannot normalize assassination.
We cannot normalize political intimidation.
We cannot normalize a president who governs through threat and spectacle.

Because when we do, we stop being a democracy—and become something else entirely:

A nation ruled by fear, not by law.
A place where violence decides, and silence enables.

This is the anatomy of authoritarian trauma.

And in the face of that—when numbness feels easier than truth—choosing to care is a revolutionary act.

Trauma-Informed Care Is a Political Imperative

To say “care is essential” is not soft.
It is subversive.

It means:

• Protecting the sacredness of every life, even when others treat it as disposable

• Telling the truth even when it’s dangerous

• Interrupting cycles of violence with cycles of connection

• Replacing coercion with consent, punishment with healing, power-over with power-with

This is what trauma-informed care teaches us.
This is how we resist authoritarianism without becoming it.

What Now?

This post isn’t a eulogy. It’s a call to integrity.

Speak even when your voice shakes.
Organize even if the odds feel impossible.
Care even when you’re told not to.
Write. March. Vote. Disrupt. Reimagine.

Because when democracy bleeds, trauma-informed, justice-rooted care is the only salve that can stop the hemorrhaging.

With love as protest and truth as anchor,
Mary

P.S. We are the weavers of what comes next. Let it be laced with care, stitched in justice, and guided by courage.