Thread by @jedshug

It’s time to talk about Trump’s stochastic terrorism.
Like it was after Pittsburgh.
And #MAGA pipe bomber.
And Quebec & Christchurch mosque massacres.
And Louisville & Nashville racist murders.
And Trump’s “2d Amendment people” speech about Hillary...
nytimes.com/2018/10/25/opi…

2/ Here's how psychologist @ValerieTarico explained it in 2015:
“1. A public figure w/ access to airwaves or pulpit demonizes a person or group.
2. With repetition, the targeted person or group is gradually dehumanized, depicted as loathsome & dangerous...
rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

3/
"...arousing a combustible combination of fear & moral disgust.
3. Violent images & metaphors, jokes about violence, analogies to past ‘purges’ against reviled groups, use of righteous religious language—all of these typically stop just short of an explicit call to arms..."

4/ "4. When violence erupts, the public figures who incited it condemn it—claiming no one could have foreseen the ‘tragedy.'”
Does this sound familiar?
Demonizing individuals and groups.
Invoking purges ("Lock her up." "Send her back.")
Exploiting religion.
Jokes about violence.

5/ @EyalPress on “Stochastic terrorism": "Mass communications inspire random acts of violence that 'are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable.' No one knows by whom or where an act will happen, but it’s a good bet that something will." nyti.ms/2JgBzuh