Matt Van Swol Profile picture
Former Nuclear Scientist for US Dept of Energy | Ex-Photographer for @apple, @united, and @hyatt
9 subscribers
Sep 24 11 tweets 4 min read
Someone has to say it...

2025 has been the year of Left-wing violence.

A steady drumbeat of ideologically motivated attacks. from arson and fire-bombings, to targeted shootings and swattings.

You cannot argue with the fact below.

Leftist violence is escalating. 🧵 Early March 2025:

A wave of swatting hoaxes targeted conservative voices (including me, in March).

Local police showed up with weapons drawn at homes of prominent conservatives based on fake, and horrifying 911 calls.

Swatting is attempted murder. Image
Sep 11 10 tweets 3 min read
I am receiving hundreds of DMs from people saying this is their turning point.

I will be using this post as a thread to post them.

Have courage.

This is the time ❤️ Image Image
Sep 6 8 tweets 3 min read
🚨#BREAKING: It has been revealed that new 2025 recommendations by the Asheville NC Racial Reparations Committee released 2 days ago contain even more shocking recommendations.

You are not going to believe what's in here...

Hang on, this is gonna be rough... 🧵 Image First up, they want to give FREE early childhood education... or just "childcare" in general... to ALL Black children.

Hispanics, asians, white people... no free childcare for you, even if you're poor and struggling.

But guess what?

You have to pay the taxes for it. Image
Sep 5 10 tweets 3 min read
Asheville NC has finally ended a race-based selection process to its human relations commission.

They sidelined 30-year city employee John Miall from the Human Relations Commission.

Two years later, a federal judge has finally ended it.

This is the story of John Miall...🧵 Image In early 2023, John Miall, a long-time Asheville resident who worked 30 years for the City Asheville, including as the Director of Risk Management...

...applied to the Human Relations Commission (HRCA) and was not selected.

He believed that violated equal protection, but why?
Sep 4 9 tweets 2 min read
A friend who knew me when I was liberal, called me out of the blue last night and asked why I got political.

He said I was "one of the last people" he would have suspected to get publicly political.

The short answer is:

When life bumps into policy, politics matter, a lot...🧵 ...but most people can go a very, very long time before they bump into a policy that directly affects them or a group of people they know

This is why politics is often on the back burner.

But when the rubber meets the road, suddenly policies set by unknown bureaucrats, matter.
Sep 3 9 tweets 4 min read
We have a serious problem here in Asheville NC.

The county is about to spend $2.9 million in taxpayer funds on racial reparations.

I took a deep dive into the 170 page report, and what I found is terrifying.

Buckle up, because you're not gonna believe this. 🧵 First up is a "race-targeted housing policy"

The plan explicitly calls to “sustain and expand rates of Black homeownership” with “targeted funding” ONLY for the Black populations over three years.

Literally a program that allocate benefits by race-ALONE! A clear violation of the 14th amendment, in writing.

If you're a poor white, latino, asian... or any other race, but black...

Tough luck. You don't get the money.Image
Sep 3 12 tweets 3 min read
I have been struggling to comprehend why leftists are defending radical Muslims.

They are essentially antithetical to everything the woke stand for and it made no sense at all.

Then... it dawned on me 🧵 Image When I say "antithetical" I mean truly POLAR OPPOSITES.

a) Woke ideology: gender fluidity, LGBTQ+ affirmation, secularism.

b) Islamist extremism: fixed binaries, compulsory modesty, theocracy.

They are quite literally the FURTHEST each side could get from each other...
Sep 1 7 tweets 4 min read
For years, I thought I was reading the news.

I have never been more wrong.

I was reading carefully crafted, completely fictional stories.

They choose the heroes.
They scripted the villains.
..and I bought it.

Let me show you the playbook that tricked me for years... 🧵 Step 1: The Casting Call

This is perhaps the most insidious of all the steps... where editors decide which story is even WORTH telling you.

It’s how “the story” starts before a word is written or a show is filmed. A story is picked because it's a “stand in” for a larger point.

It’s the case that can be elevated into a SYMBOL, a parable, a shorthand for a much larger narrative they want to reinforce.

...and here we are, thinking it was news, just a single story representative of a larger trend

It's not.

The “casting” comes BEFORE the script, and once the casting is done, the rest of the story almost writes itself.
Aug 28 10 tweets 2 min read
I've been wanting to write this for a long time, I think now is the time.

Empathy is a virtue... and it is being weaponized against those of us who truly and honestly care.

It's insidious. By design.

Here's how it works on so many... including me, for so long. 🧵 The pattern is always the same:
➡️ Present an emotional story.
➡️ Frame any opposition as cruel and harmful.
➡️ Rebrand neutrality as complicity.
➡️ Make the policy solution an empathy test.
Aug 24 9 tweets 2 min read
The more I’ve gone to church… the more I’m starting to realize that liberalism doesn’t just act like a political ideology.

It literally is a religion (a thread 🧵). Liberals have sacred texts…

Every religion has holy books.

For the radical left, it’s not the Bible … it’s “The Science,” NPR podcasts, Vox explainers, and NYT op-eds.

These aren’t just “a source…”.

They’re treated as sacred truth that must be publicly funded.
Feb 16 5 tweets 2 min read
🚨#BREAKING: The Guardian has just released an article where they sent a reporter to Western North Carolina and then SCOLDED Hurricane Helene victims for:

a) not understanding climate change
b) voting for President Trump
c) believing in God

This is absolutely disgusting... This is an insane statement. Scolding Hurricane victims for believing Helene was an act of God...

This is so gross. Image
Feb 3 4 tweets 1 min read
🚨#BREAKING: In a SHOCKING admission, the NC State Treasurer's office has confirmed that out of the $100 MILLION set aside to support local Western North Carolina governments impacted by Hurricane Helene...

... a grand total of $0 has been given out to date

Read that again. Image Well done to @WRAL for tracking this down.

This is insane. Image
Jan 10 4 tweets 1 min read
THERE ARE LINES 3 MILES LONG EXTENDING ALL THE WAY ONTO THE FREEWAY FOR PROPANE TO HEAT FAMILIES LIVING IN DONATED RV'S IN #WNC TODAY AND FEMA CLOSED ALL OF IT'S DISASTER RELIEF CENTERS UNTIL MONDAY?!!!!!!!!!!

WTF IS HAPPENING?!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU @HistoryBoutique FOR THIS VIDEO!
Jan 9 6 tweets 1 min read
CAN SOMEONE ANYWHERE IN THE NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNMENT THAT REPRESENTS THE PEOPLE PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GET FEMA ON THE FUCKING PHONE AND EXTEND THESE HOTEL VOUCHERS?!!!!

WE ARE TALKING TO ELDERLY PEOPLE AND WOMEN WITH KIDS BEING KICKED OUT OF THEIR HOTELS, WTF IS HAPPENING A lot of people are offering so much, thank you.

But there's NO WAY our little team of 5 people can coordinate 3,000+ people somewhere to stay.

We need FEMA to extend the vouchers. That is the ONLY thing we need right now.

Bang down the doors, make some noise.
Oct 31, 2024 7 tweets 2 min read
I am incredibly worried that unless significant steps are taken soon, Asheville could become a ghost town - 🧵(a thread) 1) Recovery isn’t just about rebuilding homes and businesses—it’s about rebuilding trust in the city’s future. The community’s sense of safety has been shaken, deeply. Families are leaving or have already left, seeking stability that Asheville is struggling to provide. This is already apparent in many areas of the city.