JUST HOURS AFTER federal agents entered Mar-a-Lago on August 8 to seize highly classified national security documents, Paul Gosar urged a fight to the finish. "The FBI raid on Trump's home tells us one thing," the far-right Arizona congressman tweeted. "Failure is not an option. We must destroy the FBI."
Three days later, an Ohio man named Ricky Shiffer donned tactical gear, armed himself with an AR-15, and went to the FBI field office in Cincinnati. After failing to breach the facility, he fled and later died in a shootout with law enforcement. Shiffer was a frequent user of Trump's Truth Social site, where the ex-president has kept up steady attacks on political opponents and the Justice Department and FBI. Shiffer had posted about imminent violence, telling fellow Trump supporters to be ready "to jump into civil war."
"People, this is it," Shiffer wrote shortly after the Mara-Lago news broke. A Navy veteran who claimed he was at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he called for stocking up at gun stores with "whatever you need to be ready for combat." He also said "patriots are heading to Palm Beach" and should kill any federal agents who try to stop them.
Was Shiffer spurred to attack the FBI by the statements from Trump and Gosar? It's hard to know, and that's no accident. Shiffer's actions point to a rhetorical method experts call "stochastic terrorism," whereby a leader vilifies a person or group in ways likely to instigate random supporters to attack those targets, while the instigator maintains a veneer of plausible deniability. Trump made this form of incitement a hallmark of his presidency, galvanizing extremists by railing against his "enemies." The country saw the devastating consequences when his supporters stormed Congress to obstruct the certification of the presidential election. And now a growing number of Republicans are emulating Trump's technique.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November/December 2022-Ausgabe von Mother Jones.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November/December 2022-Ausgabe von Mother Jones.
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In the Name of the Mother - How Shyamala Gopalan Harris raised a presidential contender
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WHEN IN DROUGHT
This obscure yet adaptable grain could be a healthy staple for a warming planet.
BAD HABITS
A spate of recent horror movies recycle tired tropes about nuns-and reveal society's ongoing discomfort with independent women.
Taking the Fifth For a glimpse of the Supreme Court after a second Trump term, look at the radical circuit court that's already driving America to the right.
Imagine obamacare is dead and millions of Americans have lost health coverage.
THE ARCHITECT
TRUMP WANTS TO BE KING. RUSS VOUGHT HAS A PLAN TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Losing Faith
As an evangelical leader, I enticed lawmakers and federal judges to adopt a conservative Christian agenda. Donald Trump’s rise proved how wrong I was.
GOD'S COUNTRY
These Christian nationalists have a plan to take over Americafrom small towns to the highest court in the land.
