Point of no return

The largest protest in San Francisco since the Vietnam War erupted yesterday as 150,000 marched against President Trump’s federal deportation campaign. Troops deployed under the Insurrection Act opened fire to disperse the crowd; at least 11 were killed, 237 injured, and thousands arrested. A citywide curfew signals the start of an entrenched military presence, as commanders prepare to outline their plans tomorrow.

“These weren’t rioters, they were Americans peacefully exercising their rights. When the shots erupted, all I could think was, how do we, as a country, come back from this?”

As the crackdown unfolded, a vision for control became clear...

Mission objectives

General Marc Kershaw stands at San Francisco City Hall to announce “Operation Golden Glory” following President Trump's invocation of the Insurrection Act targeting the city. The president's broad directive—quell protests, restore order, aid deportations—have stirred fears of a de facto federal occupation.

“I couldn’t help but wonder if this is how it starts—symbols swapped overnight, a military commander at the mayor’s podium, flanked by soldiers instead of local leaders. His words were all about cooperation, but I kept thinking—if this is cooperation, what does control look like?”

The troops quickly made their presence known...

Occupation inbound

Troops repurpose San Francisco’s iconic Powell-Hyde cable cars for military transport. Local leaders condemn the move as a blatant display of dominance, while a guerrilla network of transit workers reportedly scrambles to sabotage operations.

“We're hearing rumors that troops are conflicted about being deployed here, but doubts won’t stop the bloodshed. It’s already started, and this city will resist at every turn.”

Protesting was soon met with new forms of punishment...

Denying democracy

Protesters scatter downtown as a military Humvee deploys the Active Denial System, a microwave-based weapon that induces excruciating pain. Designed for overseas crowd control, the technology has now made its domestic debut in San Francisco. Civil rights groups warn its use against legally-assembled demonstrations signals a chilling disregard for constitutional freedoms.

“I kept thinking: this wasn’t about breaking up a protest—it was about breaking the protesters themselves. What’s left of democracy when the tools of war silence the basic right to dissent?”

For many, the stakes were even higher...

Papers, please

Rosa, 62, clutches her granddaughter as soldiers demand information at her Mission District home. As city and state sanctuary policies impede federal access to local jails, soldiers now scour neighborhoods, fraying the community's social fabric and leaving neighbors wary of each other and fearful of informants.

“I first noticed her outstretched arms, somewhere between a hug and a plea. But the soldiers were just as unsure as the girl. I later learned that Rosa refused to answer any of their questions, standing her ground in an act of quiet defiance.”

Mass detainment reshapes the city...

Parks & requiem

Hundreds of arrested protestors are held in a makeshift detention center quickly erected in Dolores Park. Detainees report being subjected to biometric scans and extensive photographing, sparking fears of a permanent federal registry—a digital ‘blacklist’—targeting dissenters.

“The sign caught my eye first—‘Civic Processing Center'—a euphemism so sanitized that it completely masked the horror inside. People used to gather here to celebrate life. Now it’s where freedom meets a quiet death.”

Solidarity soon reached far beyond city limits...

A State of union

Rio, 19, holds up a California flag amidst smoke and chaos in downtown San Francisco. Rio is one of hundreds reported to have traveled here from across the state to join local resistance networks.

“Rio casually said home was Bakersfield, like it was no big to drive hundreds of miles into a war zone. ‘This is all California's fight,’ they told me with such a sense of conviction. I couldn’t stop thinking about how young they were—how this generation’s first war is against their own government.”

And some just have defiance in their DNA...

Fierce resistance

Soldiers detain drag queen “Col. Lateral Glamage” during a satirical protest in San Francisco’s Castro District. The unchecked scope of the military's occupation has emboldened pervasive homophobia and transphobia among troops, fueling targeted harassment and detentions in LGBTQ spaces.

“This is what queerness knows: how to survive, how to resist, how to thrive. The Colonel didn’t surrender—she turned this moment into proof that we will outlast them.”

As barricades rise in the city of bridges...

Gated community

A soldier inspects the green card of a woman at a gated checkpoint in San Francisco’s Richmond District. Witnesses report that even legal residents are being harassed under vague accusations of fraudulent documentation. As barriers and checkpoints multiply, residents fear a future where every move requires military approval.

“Her ID said she belonged, but the gate and interrogation said otherwise. Every interaction with them feels like a test with no right answers . How long can people hold out when the rules aren’t just unfair—they’re unknowable?”

When your new home starts looking like the one you fled...

Home of the free

Rana, 21, grips the fence of a detention camp in Duboce Park. Her family fled Syria years ago, escaping a regime known for crushing dissent with mass arrests and indefinite detention. Now, after being arrested at a student protest, she finds herself facing the same tactics in the country her family hoped would provide refuge.

“I got as close to the fence as I could without drawing attention. Her anger was evident, but even more a sense of betrayal: ‘We came here to escape brutal authority. How is this any different?’"

Only here could resistance take such unexpected forms...

A habit of defiance

Sister Chaos Divine, a member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, applies makeup to a deserting soldier inside a San Francisco safe house. The disguises are part of an underground effort to help AWOL troops evade arrest while also tricking facial recognition surveillance. Resistance sources say the number of soldiers deserting has steadily increased as doubts about enforcing orders grow.

“The Sister joked that their makeup had a special ingredient—empathy. It made perfect sense. The Sisters have been defying oppressive norms for decades—sex, gender, religion—so of course they're here on the frontlines as their hometown takes on tyranny.”

Across town, they had thought they were safe...

Collateral damage

A toddler sits amidst the wreckage of a mistaken raid on his family’s Excelsior home in San Francisco. Federal troops, acting on faulty intelligence, admitted to targeting the wrong address—one of many errors eroding support for the operation as its indiscriminate nature becomes clear.

“The kid looked at me with eyes full of questions I couldn’t answer. 'If you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear,' that’s what we’ve been told. But this raid proved that when power is unaccountable, no one is safe.”

But fear was no longer a consequence—it was the point...

Disappearing act

Eduardo Ramirez, 62, adds his daughter Maria’s photo to a Mission District wall as the faces of arrested protesters and undocumented immigrants stare back. Each photo tells a story of resistance or refuge, both now criminalized under Operation Golden Glory.

“Every photo up there was a warning: this is what happens if you resist. The goal wasn’t just to stop protests today; it was to make people too afraid to even think of starting one tomorrow.”

This city never breaks, it only burns brighter...

Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra

Through a haze of smoke and tear gas, an unknown activist raises the unofficial ‘Fog & Gold’ flag of San Francisco, a symbol of defiance on a night of widespread insurgency. Hours earlier, resistance fighters crippled military communications, leaving troops disoriented and retreating. Whether this marks a turning point or a fleeting triumph remains to be seen.

“She lifted the flag and it hit me, this city isn't just a place that endures, it's a force that defies. Anyone who thinks San Francisco is beaten doesn't know its story or its spirit.”