If you pay attention to politics, you’ll start seeing a pattern of “we’re keeping you safe” as an excuse to rob you of your freedoms. This really ramped up in the USA after 9/11. It’s when spying on Americans by our own government became legalized. We were afraid, and we gave up some freedoms for the idea of safety.
…and now we know we’re no more safe than we were before.
Staying calm and speaking both rationality and politely does work wonders. It disarms most irate people. I just had to use the technique on some grumpy neighbors.