A new movie by Dinesh D’Souza is exposing the threat to the American way of life posed by the rise of the police state. The film is a bold, dramatic warning.
A fictionalized scene from the latest Dinesh D’Souza movie “Police State” depicting the arrest of a Christian. (Courtesy of Dinesh D’Souza)
Conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza has created a feature-length documentary film he hopes will alert the public to the danger posed to all of us by the rising American police state.
In a recent phone interview with The Epoch Times, Mr. D’Souza said that, even as a teenage immigrant to the United States, he was “mesmerized not only by the economic opportunity and upward mobility of this country, but also by America’s system of individual rights.
“These rights are enshrined in the Bill of Rights as unalienable, not open for negotiation.
“The sad thing is none of these rights are safe today,” he said.
The movie, titled “Police State,” will be shown in hundreds of theaters across the nation for two days only, Oct. 23 and Oct. 25. Tickets are about $22.
Erosion of Civil Liberties
“Bad actors are using many different pretexts and rationales, but the trend is unmistakable. Our liberties are being choked off one by one.
“The situation is like a herd grazing and dozing peacefully in a field, oblivious to the presence of a predator lurking in the trees.
“Police State is a wakeup call. It is an attempt to rouse America from its indifference and slumber,” Mr. D’Souza said.
Conservative Filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza. (Courtesy of Dinesh D’Souza)
The film’s virtual premiere is set for Oct. 27. The pay-for-view event will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Mr. D’Souza and others.
On an as yet undisclosed future date, the film will be available for viewing on several streaming services for a fee, as well as on DVDs.
Dictatorship in the Making
According to Mr. D’Souza, “Ours’ is a police state under construction. It needs a constituency to help build and protect it. The Left and the Democrat Party are that constituency today.
“They may say they are committed to rights like freedom of speech, but what they mean by that is freedom of speech for them, not for everyone.
“Outwardly, they embrace these rights as a tactic and not as a genuine commitment to civil liberty. They are not committed in principle to civil liberty. They don’t like it because it slows down their agenda.”
When asked to define the term “police state,” he said, “Look around the world. Look at China, North Korea, Iran, and the old Soviet Union.
“They all have these things in common; the mass surveillance of their citizens, systematic censorship, political and ideological indoctrination instead of true education, suppression of opposition parties, the holding of political prisoners, and they all undermine religion. They also never allow people to leave freely.
“All this prompts the question, ‘Are we hurdling toward a police state?’
“We certainly still have basic freedoms in America, such as freedom of movement. Yet, I estimate that on a scale of one through ten, our country is at a six or seven on the way to becoming a police state.
“The situation is serious enough for us to have good reason to be alarmed, but we are not yet at the point where hope is lost,” he said.
A Call for Courage
Reaching decent, well-meaning people who may not realize what is happening is one aim of the film.
“I hope it raises this question in their minds, ‘Do you really want things to go this way?'” said Mr. D’Souza.
He added, “We also hope the movie will stiffen the spines of patriots whose opposition to the police state is weak, such as Christians, and Republican party leaders who are too timid and fearful that they will be attacked.
“When Republican politicians do nothing, the message sent to the Left is ‘Go ahead and assault us with impunity because there will be no consequences, no penalty or price to pay.'”
‘The Chinese Model’
When The Epoch Times asked him why many American politicians, business moguls, and pundits so admire the so-called “Chinese Model,” Mr. D’Souza answered, “They are enamored with the centralized control and the high degree of efficiency in policy execution that they see in the Chinese Communist Party.
“The so-called ‘Chinese Model’ is the absolute opposite of the American Model. We have the separation of powers, which is decentralization. We have checks and balances, which means oversight and accountability. These two features of the American system were designed to protect liberty.
“The Chinese Model is centralized, dictatorial power.
“Our Founders bequeathed to us an arrangement to diffuse power. Our system relies on the rational fear that factions have for each other.
“That results in mutual respect between the majority and the minority. The American Model discourages both sides from engaging in tyrannical behavior. Here, individuals have unalienable rights that cannot be voted away by the majority. Neither can our rights be negotiated away.”
Mr. D’Souza said in a podcast that his team bought up all the theater seats in advance at a discount and is reselling them online. The practice guarantees theater management a sell-out. It is a way to encourage managers to run the film.
He also told moviegoers not to look for the title on the marquee because it is a private showing. There will be no ticket sales at the door.
Collaborating with Mr. D’Souza in the motion picture is radio talk show host and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino, and there are powerful appearances by investigative journalist Peter Schweitzer.
People interviewed in the film are Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio); Kash Patel, a former chief of staff to the Secretary of Defense and Trump loyalist, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), among others.
A fictionalized view of FBI agents on a surveillance detail as depicted in a scene from the film ‘Police State.’ (Courtesy of Dinesh D’Souza)
Domestic Terrorism Our Greatest Threat?
Mr. Schweitzer states in the publicity trailer of the movie, that the government security apparatus that used to be occupied with the threat of Islamic terrorism is now going after domestic extremism.
“It really paints anybody that’s right of center, Mr. Schweitzer said.
Besides interviews of real people who have suffered abuse at the hands of the police state, much of the film is a dramatization by professional actors of the attitudes and actions of today’s FBI.
“In the movie, the lines spoken by the actors playing FBI personnel have been taken directly from the Bureau’s public statements, including testimony before Congress.
“The agents’ actions and methods while planning and conducting the raids depicted in the film are based on completely authentic practices,” Mr. D’Souza said.
Tickets to the theater showings are available only by going to policestatefilm.net.