Thread by @ClaireBerlinski

This report confirms their may be links to White supremacist groups among US law enforcement. It isn't clear on the details. brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…

But it's plausible to suspect some law enforcement agencies have been infiltrated by white supremacists.

If so, this is what will happen in the next 66 days:

Black men will be killed by white cops.

This will be filmed.

These videos will go straight to Twitter, where they'll be boosted and amplified by not only by terrified black Americans, but by Trump's campaign and by our friends in the GRU.

Black Americans can then do one of three things:

1) Nothing.

2) Realize it's a provocation, and respond intelligently.

Getting black Americans to riot, loot, and burn down buildings is *Trump's re-election strategy.* Trump, white supremacists, and Russia are counting on black people to riot in response.

Vast, sustained, dignified, peaceful protests are another thing entirely. Not *mostly peaceful* protests. *Entirely* peaceful. These have been shown to work, over and over, even under the most violent regimes. news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/…

.

But violent protests are not only wrong, they are *insanely counterproductive.* They make electorates swing to the right.

Donald Trump is the candidate of the right--and he is not a normal candidate.

He is an authoritarian goon itching for a pretext.

His supporters will see videos of breaking windows and burning buildings on a loop--over and over again--and they will see Trump as their savior.

He's counting on this. He's counting on riots to elect him.

If you're protesting because you believe America is fundamentally racist, for God's sake, act like you really believe it and draw the obvious conclusion. When racist people see black people burning down buildings, it makes them *more* racist, not less.

Racists too have the vote. Don't mobilize them.

Unless you want to be a puppet for white supremacists, treat any protester among you who indulges in violence as the enemy and deal with him accordingly. Because he is. Objectively, he's working for Trump.

Peaceful protest *does* work. If you actually want things to change, it's the only way. (For lessons, see Belarus: )

If you don't actually want things to change--if you just see a chance to riot and loot and you seize it--you're a criminal psychopath.

So that's one way this might go. But--

3) The other possibility: They won't realize, or care, that this is a provocation. They'll mindlessly burn down cities like Kenosha, and Trump will rub his hands in glee.

It's not an accident that Kenosha is in a critical swing state.

Or maybe it is an accident, actually. But watch to see if there's a pattern: If it happens next in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin, you've got your answer: It's not an accident.

The future of democracy--and the world--now rests (yet again, if you're of the @nhannahjones school of historiography) on black Americans.

Do you see that this is a trap?

Are you planning to walk into it?

Or are you as mindless and impulsive as a mangy collection of lowlife white supremacists and a bunch of racist Russian intelligence officers assuredly believe you to be?

Because they think you're animals: They think you'll burn and riot on demand.

They think they just have to pull your puppet strings and you'll dance to their tune.

Voilà, cities go up in flames--and Trump wins.

The second Trump term will be far worse than the first. He will understand being reelected to mean, "You can do anything now."

One of the things he'll do is make life feel very cozy and safe for his tremulous and quivering base. His base is terrified by the very sight of you. You know that.

So if you don't want a second Trump term, don't play his game--which is also Russia's game, by the way.

So no matter what the provocation, do *nothing* that could be turned into a Trump propaganda commercial.

Don't do it, first, because arson, looting, and rioting are wrong.

(If @nhannahjones says she's proud to call these "1619 riots," or if *anyone* tells you the violence is somehow justified by the enormity of the crime, tell them to go fuck right off. Justified or not--and it is not--riots will get Trump re-elected.)

And you, if you are black, will be the first order of business for Trump's "Law and Order" Korps.

My next piece of advice is for the white kids playing dress-up Antifa games.

Go home.

You're playing a game you do not understand, and you will lose. In fact, if you understood this game, you would already know this.

If you think you're being an "ally" to black people by toppling statues, covering them in graffiti, mobbing people as they eat their dinner, doxing them, getting into brawls, or dragging out guillotines in front of Jeff Bezos house, you could not be more delusional.

You aren't fighting fascism. You're enabling it. You're giving Trump a gift so amazing he can't believe his eyes. You are objective allies of Trump.

And you know who *won't* be the first to pay the price for that? You. You're just aimless, disgruntled, violent white kids--

--playing with thuggishness and matches for kicks and telling yourself you're fighting fascists, which makes it all sound noble.

But it's not. You're just starring in "Trump reelection campaign commercials," which is about as ignoble as it gets.

If Trump's re-elected because of your moronic hijinks, you'll probably be fine. At first. But your "allies" won't be.

And ultimately, none of us will be. So stop being so fucking childish and selfish.

Get off the streets.
Don't mob senators.
Don't mob people eating dinner.
Don't scream hysterically at people.
Don't dox anyone.
Don't threaten anyone.
Don't commit violence.
Leave the Portland Courthouse alone.

Just go home.

And vote.