Hi all. I’m Shawn. I’m a Marine Corps veteran with over twenty years of experience as an analyst at the CIA. My journey in the national security arena started on 9/11 and ended early summer 2025 as DOGE was in the process of unconstitutionally and illegally firing government employees left and right and Trump began purging and politicizing what had hitherto been highly professional, non-partisan government agencies that were established to protect all Americans.

When I started my journey, never in a million years could I have imagined that at the end of a career working to protect our freedoms from enemies abroad that our democracy would be under serious threat of authoritarianism from within. In the face of this reality I had a choice, do nothing, or stand up and do what I can to affect positive change.

So I decided to found American Veterans in Defense of Democracy to bring veterans and regular citizens who are concerned about the rise of authoritarianism, political extremism and political violence together. We are ‘lean and mean’ right now but intend to grow. Please support us in any way that you can, whether by contributing financially or subscribing to this Substack page. Thanks for your support—STAY IN THE FIGHT!!

P.S. For additional information on AVDD, you can visit the AVDD website at www.avdd.org

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