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Thread on Stochastic Terrorism: For years, the President of the United States Donald Trump has utilized his pulpit, twitter and his WH team to perfect a technique known as #stochasticterrorism, inciting random but predictable violence by supporters. His goal was this
https://twitter.com/RothTheReporter/status/1338240337022758916
https://twitter.com/RothTheReporter/status/1338240337022758916
His goal was to promote violence for political gain. That's terrorism. The first time I used the words publicly was in Oct, 2018 after the serial bomber arrest, but Trump was already a pro.
This:
https://twitter.com/juliettekayyem/status/1056186322728169479
https://www.dictionary.com/e/what-is-stochastic-terrorism/
https://twitter.com/juliettekayyem/status/1158095342677741568
2/
This:
https://twitter.com/juliettekayyem/status/1056186322728169479
https://www.dictionary.com/e/what-is-stochastic-terrorism/
https://twitter.com/juliettekayyem/status/1158095342677741568
2/
He was nonstop, through the years.
This:
https://twitter.com/klustout/status/1157842546476765185
This:
https://twitter.com/Porter_Anderson/status/1314542602675539968
This:
https://twitter.com/juliettekayyem/status/1317239570635886595
3/
This:
https://twitter.com/klustout/status/1157842546476765185
This:
https://twitter.com/Porter_Anderson/status/1314542602675539968
This:
https://twitter.com/juliettekayyem/status/1317239570635886595
3/
Over the years, Trump has deployed the tactic -- speak in ways that incite, but not so specifically that you can't deny it ("he was joking" say sycophantic GOP Senators and WH staff), allowing for plausible deniability. 4/
So we are stuck parsing Trump's words, forced into textualist debates about what he meant by "Liberate Michigan" or "Stand Back and Stand By." Meanwhile his supporters know EXACTLY what he means. We saw that in threats against Michigan Governor and violene in DC this weekend. 5/
It is now clear. It wasn't done FOR THE BASE. It was done FOR HIM. It was done to keep him in power, to delegitimize then incite, without saying so directly. His defenders say he's just taking it through legal process, but a month later it is hardly that. DC unrest proved that.6/
Where does the hate go? Trump may just get bored and go golf; leave the country to avoid litigation; or hopefully we just get bored of him. He won't have the megaphone to amplify and nurture and give those who seek violence a sense of place and shamelessness. 7/
But, Trump unleashed a rallying cry that supporters view as a 2nd American Revolution. Shame on them, too. A few public arrests and disruptions, and a whole lot of shaming, will help. Things change and can change. 8/
But if you asked me what is Trump's most successful legacy, on a weekend of DC violence and when statehouses had to protect electors from a violence he cultivated, it would be this: his power to incite terrorism and not have us even call it that. 9/9
