FAC Weekly Update 2026-04-14-Silence is Dangerous

Weekly update for April 14, 2026. This is recording number 365.

Dear Members and Advocates,

We occasionally begin our weekly update with a historical quote. We don’t do this for effect, but for perspective. History has a way of repeating itself when people convince themselves that “this time is different.” It rarely is.

This week’s quote is often attributed to Martin Niemöller:

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Niemöller’s words were not written from theory, they were written from personal regret. In 1933, the German pastor initially supported Adolf Hitler and the rise of the Nazi Party. Like many others, he believed the new government would restore order and stability. As the regime escalated, targeting one group after another, exterminating entire populations of people, Niemöller began to see the cost of silence and inaction. By 1937, he began to speak out, was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned for years. Following his release in 1945, he went on a lecture tour to talk about his own inaction as the Nazis began rounding up the “unpopular” groups, and this famous quote came from those lectures.

The lesson he leaves us is simple: injustice rarely begins with everyone. It begins with someone. And it grows when others decide it’s not their fight. Until the injustice reaches you or someone you love… and by the time it has grown to that point, it’s often too late. That brings us to today.

Across the country and particularly in our own state, we continue to see policies justified in the name of “public safety” that ignore evidence, discard constitutional protections, and isolate a group of people deemed politically safe to target. People on the registry are called irredeemable and disposable. They are treated as if they are outside the protections of the Constitution, subjected to restrictions that often serve no rehabilitative purpose and, in many cases, actively undermine reintegration. Yet as these laws are passed, as people are legislated into homelessness, as individuals are imprisoned on nonsensical technical violations, as people are fired from jobs because of stigma and not work performance, and as families are separated, people stand by and allow it to happen. “It’s not my battle to fight… I don’t work at Starbucks… I don’t live in Putnam County… I don’t know anyone on the registry…” Until it impacts you.

Niemöller waited until the system came for him. By then, it was too late.

Earlier this month, in Brevard County, Florida, a man was hunted. His killer printed a list of local sex offenders, targeted a random registrant, beat him with a baseball bat and dismembered his body. A murder so brutal it shocks the conscience. Meanwhile, another county passes a residency restriction. Another state expands registration requirements. Another law chips away at what little stability people have left. We read these stories, we shake our heads, we say ‘lucky we don’t live in that county’, we tell ourselves this murder was an isolated event. We convince ourselves it won’t happen here or it will never happen to us. And we do nothing.

Until they come for our county, our loved one, or until the killer is in our doorway.

If you are reading this, you don’t have the luxury of doing nothing. Acting now is not just about any specific city, county, state or individual. It’s about the precedent being set. The law enacted in another area becomes the model legislation introduced in yours next. And the same environment that allowed a man in Brevard County to be identified from a list, tracked down, and beaten to death, is the same environment in which you live. When laws begin to operate on exceptions – when it says “this group doesn’t get the same protections” – it creates a framework that can be expanded, repurposed, and applied to others.

Advocacy is not always comfortable. It requires pushing back when it would be easier to stay quiet. It requires correcting misinformation when it would be easier to avoid conflict. And it requires standing up for principles even when the people affected are not popular. But that is precisely when it matters most.

At FAC, we challenge policies that are rooted in fear rather than fact, and punishment rather than justice. We refuse to sit back idly and watch injustice. So, we constantly reach out to legislators, we advance litigation to protect our rights, we compile research to educate the public, and we strive to be the organization that is advocating for you, but we cannot do it alone. We are just a tool, a source of information and just one voice, in one state. We need you to contact your legislators, share the information we post on our site or social media with others, support ongoing legal efforts, and speak up when you see injustice.

We have some amazing members and an incredible board and committee chairs who work tirelessly to advance our mission. They show up, they do the work, and they carry this organization forward in ways that often go unseen. But the reality is this: the strength of our voice is measured in numbers. When we meet with lawmakers, there may be dozens of us in the room – but there should be hundreds. When we issue a call to action, hundreds respond – but it needs to be thousands. And when we share our message on social media, it cannot stop with us – it needs to be amplified by tens of thousands more.

Because this is not just about effort – it’s about impact. Lawmakers don’t just listen to arguments; they respond to pressure, to volume, to the unmistakable signal that people are paying attention and demanding change. A handful of voices can be dismissed. A chorus cannot. Every email sent, every call made, every message shared adds weight to what we are fighting for. Without that collective force, even the most dedicated advocates are left trying to move a system that has no incentive to change.

And that’s where each of you comes in. Support doesn’t end with agreement, it requires action. It means taking a few minutes each day to send that email, to make that call, to forward that message to others who haven’t heard it, to like or share one of our posts on Facebook. It means stepping slightly outside of your comfort zone, knowing that doing nothing carries a far greater cost. Movements don’t grow because people care quietly – they grow because people choose to act.

Silence is not neutral – it allows the status quo to continue unchecked. It allows harmful policies to expand, unchallenged and unquestioned. History has shown us, time and time again, that silence is what allows bad ideas to take root and spread. If we want a different outcome, we cannot afford to remain quiet.

Sincerely,
Florida Action Committee