It only takes a few small steps to slip from still-sorta-normal towards oh-who-could-have-thought. Did anyone expect a mob actually storming the Capitol a month before the events? Did anyone expect a federal immigration agent deliberately shooting and killing an innocent US citizen? Things like that happen "gradually, then suddenly".

I don't expect nationwide chaos and oppression, "Deus Ex"-style, any time soon, but we should be prepared to resist any local outbursts of it. Think local mobile networks blackouts and ISP POPs shutdowns, for instance.

Install the damn Briar app today, while it can be done trivially, and you have no use for it. It's like putting on a parachute before getting into a small plane: you plan to never use it, but if you would, there'd be no time to put it on when you're already in a free fall.