As this administration attempts to create the specter of #Antifa as an extremist threat, we should take a moment to go through some of the actual violence caused by right wing extremist. (1/6)
10.22.18-11.1.18: Cesar Sayoc Jr., a fervent Trump supporter, mailed 16 bombs to people he considered to be Trump’s enemies. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty. (2/6) nytimes.com/2019/08/05/nyr…
5/30/20-Stephen Parshall, Andrew Lynam, and William Loomis, three Boogaloo Bois, we’re indicted on conspiracy, terrorism and possession of explosives in Las Vegas. (3/6) news3lv.com/news/local/arr…
6/15/20-Scott Williams, a Trump Supporter, was arrested for shooting one protestor and assaulting two others. Williams. Along with several armed right wing militia counter-protestors, aggressively engaged with protestors. (4/6) washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06…
8.25.20-Counter-protestors Kyle Rittenhouse arrested on charge of first-degree intentional homicide for shootings that left two people dead during protests. (6/6) nytimes.com/2020/08/27/us/…
9.3.20-Blue Lives Matter supporters Michael Karmo & Cody Smith arrested outside Kenosha w/ AR-15, shotgun, handguns, magazines, homemade silencer, body armor & drone. Karmo told tipster "he was going to Kenosha w/ intention of using firearms on people.”(+1)yahoo.com/gma/blue-lives…
9.5.20-Michael Solomon & Benjamin Teeter, members of the Boogaloo Bois, authorities say, charged w/ conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, for building & seeping firearms suppressors. (+2) news.yahoo.com/alleged-boogal…
9.30.20-Alan Swinney, a member of the Proud Boys, arrested on assault & gun charges hours after Trump refuses to denounce white supremacy. Swinney pointed a gun at demonstrators in Portland on 8.22.20.(+3) news.yahoo.com/police-arrest-…
10.8.20-Six men charged in alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Alleged plot included plans to overthrow several state governments(+4) cnn.com/2020/10/08/pol…
10.6.20-Eric Allport, a Boogaloo Boi, was killed by federal agents during a shootout in Texas after Allport opened fire while agents were executing an arrest warrant for a federal weapons offense, leaving one person dead and an FBI agent injured.(+5) metrotimes.com/news-hits/arch…
10.16.20-Meredith Dowty arrested on suspicion of threatening to kidnap and kill Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple over frustrations with the city’s mask ordinance.(+6) kansas.com/news/politics-…
10.17.20-Carlos Gavidia, prominent Trump boat parade organizer, charged with sending a written, anti-Semitic threat to kill or do bodily injury in Florida.(+7) newsweek.com/florida-boat-p…
10.24.29-Ivan Harrison, a member of the far-right anti-government Boogaloo Bois has been charged with opening fire on a Minneapolis police precinct while pretending to be a Black Lives Matter protester.(+9) yahoo.com/huffpost/booga…
10.26.20-Neo-Nazi Ex-Marines, Porn Actor Arrested on federal Weapons and Conspiracy charges, linked to threats against a #BLM co-founder.(+10) huffpost.com/entry/camp-lej…
10.29.20-Federal agents arrest Justen Watkins and Alfred Gorman during a pair of raids as part of a continuing crackdown on extremism in Michigan three weeks after the FBI thwarted a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.(+11) detroitnews.com/story/news/loc…
11.5.20-Philadelphia Police Department arrested two armed men Thursday night who allegedly were armed and heading to the city's convention center where ballots were being counted.(+12) news.yahoo.com/philadelphia-p…
11.6.20-Los Angeles-area man arrested after threatening on social media, “If Biden gets in, I’m just going to do like a school shooter, just take out all these Democrats.”(+13) latimes.com/california/sto…
11.6.20-Antonio LaMotta and Joshua Macias, two men from Virginia were arrested Thursday night in Philadelphia and charged with illegal possession of firearms outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where mail-in ballots were being counted.(+14) richmond.com/news/state-and…
11.11.20-Brian Maiorana of Staten Island arrested for making death threats, making anti-Semitic threats toward Sen. Schumer, and threatened to "blow up the FBI building." A firearm was found at his home. He is a registered sex offender.(+15) news.yahoo.com/man-threatened…
12.13.20-Dozens arrested during night of unrest in downtown DC, beginning w/ Proud Boys & other far-right groups rallying for Trump & descending into chaos & violence, w/ 4 different stabbings & burning of #BLM signs at historically black churches.(+16) washingtonpost.com/local/public-s…
12.21.20-Hundreds of demonstrators, many armed, many members of the Proud Boys, Patriot Prayer & other far-right groups, attempted to force their way into the Oregon State Capitol where lawmakers were holding a special closed session.(+17) yahoo.com/news/heavily-a…
12.15.20-Former Police Capt. Mark Aguirre arrested/charged w/ running man off road & pointing gun at his head to prove unfounded voter fraud claim.”He crossed the line from dirty politics to commission of violent crime & we’re lucky no one was killed.”(+18)washingtonpost.com/investigations…
Fears of a #FifthColumn in US law enforcement have apparently not been unfounded.
During a planning meeting, the Defense Department offered the Capitol Police and the city of Washington additional National Guard troops. They were turned down.(1/7) nbcnews.com/news/crime-cou…
More than an hour elapsed from the time rioters approached the Capitol to when they began smashing their way in, but no help materialized. The bulk of deployable agents from DoJ & DoH were not called upon until after the protesters had breached the building.(2/7)
Capitol Police have first jurisdiction over the Capitol, so federal agencies could only be involved at their discretion. “We watched in horror. As much as we wanted to be there, we couldn't send anyone in without the specific request of the Capitol Police."(3/7)
On #January6th 2021, Donald #Trump attempted a coup. He failed. But it was absolutely an attempted coup. It followed a familiar pattern: (1/4)
Step 1: The defeated president gives a speech to a group of supporters where he tells them he was robbed of the election, denounces his own administration's members and party as traitors and tells his supporters to storm the building where the voting is being held.(2/4)
Step 2: Supporters, many dressed in military attire and waving revolutionary-style flags, then storm the building where the federal law-enforcement agencies controlled by the current president do not establish a security cordon and quickly overwhelm police.(3/4)
“You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong … I know everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building.
“The people who did nothing to stop the steal. This gathering should send a message to them: ....This is Donald Trump’s [party]. If you’re gonna be the zero & not the hero, we’re coming for you & we’re going to have a good time doing it!”
“Have some backbone. Show some fight. Learn from Donald Trump. And we need to march on the Capitol today. And we need to stand up for this country. And we need to stand up for what’s right.”
These dangerous ideas may not be implemented, but simply the fact that they are being discussed marks a new low. Never before in U.S. history has there been a record of a president discussing a military coup to stay in office.(1/4) washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
While Trump is focused like a laser on his election grievances, he has all but checked out of the fight against a pandemic that has already claimed the lives of more than 316,000 Americans and that is projected to kill more than 560,000 by April.(2/4) motherjones.com/coronavirus-up…
The pandemic isn’t the only threat Trump is ignoring. U.S. government & corporate computer systems have been massively infiltrated by Russian hackers. Trump, however, continues playing down the severity of the attack, claiming “it may be China.”(3/4) washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
Rosenstein secretly took steps in ‘17 to narrow Mueller’s investigation, which prevented investigators from looking into whether the president’s personal & financial links to Russia posed a national security threat. nytimes.com/2020/08/30/us/…
Rosenstein never told the FBI about his decision to narrow the Special Counsel’s mandate, leaving the FBI with the impression that Mueller would take on the investigation into the president as part of his investigation, thereby curtailing the FBI’s counterintelligence probe.
Installing Mueller, Rosenstein publicly ordered him to examine “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government” & Trump campaign. But privately he instructed Mueller to look only into whether anyone broke the law in connection w/ Russia’s 2016 election interference.
Bannon’s arrest perfectly captures the cynicism and self-dealing among leaders of the American right at this moment. As the president seeks reelection, the moral rot of Trump and his retinue has spread to the core. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
At the NRA, chief exec Wayne LaPierre and other leaders have drained millions of dollars from the organization, the New York attorney general alleged this month, much of it for private jets, security, yachts in the Bahamas and personal payouts. washingtonpost.com/politics/nra-l…
On Tuesday, Jerry Falwell Jr. resigned as president of Liberty U, which he used to vouch for Trump’s moral integrity & religious bona fides. Falwell acknowledged a multiyear affair in which he is accused of watching his wife have sex with a pool boy. nypost.com/2020/08/25/jer…