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Yesterday, federal prosecutors charged Coast Guard Lt Christopher Hasson with illegally amassing an arsenal with intent to commit mass murder upon an array of Democratic politicians and liberal media personalities. taskandpurpose.com/white-supremac… 
Only days before, President Trump had demanded "retribution" against those in the media who criticized him.
Hasson seems to have heard President Trump's call for "retribution." Almost every figure on Hasson's kill list had been singled out by President Trump for threat or abuse.
High among those Hasson wanted to murder is Rep. Maxine Waters. President Trump threatened Waters with harm at the hands of his supporters back in June 2018.
Another of Hasson's targets was Senator Gillibrand, a candidate for president. Trump abused Gillibrand in gross sexual terms in December 2017.
So it goes through the roster of names: Don Lemon, Chuck Schumer, etc. Only hours before the Hasson arrest, Trump specified the New York Times as an "enemy of the people." NYT reporters already work under unceasing threat of violence.
As you await the Mueller report, please remember how many of Trump's worst offenses against American democracy have taken place in full public view. Inciting violence against political opponents? It's not some clandestine plot pierced by investigators. Trump ... tweeted it out.
And this latest story? A foiled mass terrorist scheme by a would-be killer who hoped to emulate Norway's Anders Breivik? We're so used to these horrors that it was reported on the Washington Post home page this morning ... as Local News.
Last October, another would-be killer sent pipe bombs to a dozen other targets of Trump's incitements. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. President Trump's reaction? He doubled down on *more* incitement, blaming the targets for the bombs.
Trump fantasizes about violent retribution ... one of his admirers concocts a murder plot ... and when thwarted -which thank God to date they have been - it becomes bad form to mention the possibility of a connection between Trump's words and his supporter's actions.
I haven't glanced at my mentions yet, but I am sure they are replete with chiding already: "How can you blame Trump for this lone nut? And one about Jussie Smollett's fake hate crime - isn't that more important and revealing?"
I never believed the Smollett story, not for one minute. A noose is a symbol, not a weapon. The weapons deployed against the targets of Trump's calls for retribution have not been symbols, but real bombs and guns. We all should dread that one day, one will do real harm. END
