Bush Jr. started doing that. I recall seeing protestors who opposed the Iraq invasion being arrested for dissent. Remember Dixie Chicks? Yeah, they got cancelled for that. And, lets also not forget about the random violence against anyone remotely kinda like an Arab, to include Punjabis, Liberians, Somalians, Burmese, etc.
I feel like waaaay too many people forgot about post 9-11 shit.
The left never had a POTUS. Just rotating faces of the Oligarchy.