The motley coalition of white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and other Trump loyalists continues to pose a real and present danger to the country. They plan armed actions next Sunday and on January 20, Inauguration Day. They have organized actions in Washington, DC and in state capitols across the country. They want nothing less than to overthrow the U.S. Constitution and government.
You can see their posters and videos and calls to armed action on the alternative social media sites they have set up. I will not repost them here. I will not repost them anywhere. Many (but not all) of their accounts, including the accounts of their Führer, have rightly been banned from Facebook and Twitter. Their poisonous plotting and propaganda carry real danger. Words and images have power.
I understand the reasons that many of my friends are reposting these calls to action and sending links to Parler videos. I understand the desire to warn others of the very real and continuing danger. There are other ways to do this.
“The media” is not a monolith. “The media” did not ignore the danger signs before last Wednesday’s insurrection. Before Wednesday, you could have read warnings in this blog, and you could have seen photos and stories of armed actions against governors, secretaries of state, judges, and legislators in many media sources—even in the mainstream media. Explicit warnings came, and continue to come, from many sources. Right-wing violence is not new.
“The Center for Strategic and International Studies found that white supremacist groups were responsible for two-thirds of the 61 ‘terrorist plots and attacks’ in the first eight months of 2020. Since 2009, the far right has been responsible for over 70 percent of extremist murders. In 2019, the FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics Act report recorded 7,314 hate crimes, up from 7,120 the year before. These frightening numbers have led to calls for new policies: A number of national security experts have urged Biden to take on right-wing extremism through a strategy of counterterrorist law enforcement.”
Intelligence and military and police forces were aware of the specific danger of violence on January 6 long before the mob arrived at the Capitol. They were warned, repeatedly. They chose not to act. We need a continuing and in-depth investigation of how this happened. That must include Trump’s firing Defense Secretary Mark Esper on November 9, and replacing top Pentagon officials with his loyalists.
If you want to warn people, please repost reliable sources, rather than republishing the seditious calls to action of this traitorous mob. Here are some of the sources you can read, repost, retweet, and send to your friends:
MOST Americans are shocked and horrified by the insurrection. MOST Americans want Trump out immediately.
“By Friday night, 57% of Americans told Reuters they wanted Trump removed from office immediately. Nearly 70% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s actions before the riot. Only 12% of Americans approved of the rioters; 79% of Americans described the rioters as ‘criminals’ or ‘fools.’ Five percent called them ‘patriots.’”
Remember that we are the majority. Lift up the voices telling stories we need to hear.
Mary Turck
News Day 