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1/ If you’re surprised that extremists stormed the Capitol, don’t be.
These domestic terrorists & their enablers within GOP & conservative media have fomented dangerous & racist conspiracy theories about “their country” being taken away from “them” FOR YEARS. Here’s how.
These domestic terrorists & their enablers within GOP & conservative media have fomented dangerous & racist conspiracy theories about “their country” being taken away from “them” FOR YEARS. Here’s how.
2/ Organizations like @NRA & Republican lawmakers ACTIVELY encourage followers to go out and purchase firearms to protect themselves from "tyrannical government." Some lawmakers directly advocated for a militant coup. Here’s how @NRA does it: https://twitter.com/GunsDownAmerica/status/1347276744009637896
3/ In 2008, the election of our first black president only accelerated the hate, racism and division.
Republican lawmakers immediately adopted a tactic of delegitimizing Obama and his policies (even if they had agreed with those policies in years past).
Republican lawmakers immediately adopted a tactic of delegitimizing Obama and his policies (even if they had agreed with those policies in years past).
4/ By 2012, one analysis found that the number of hate groups increased by 755% since 2008. https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/191153-number-hate-groups-us-has-risen-755-percent-election-obama-new-report-says
5/ And yes, during his 2012 presidential campaign, even today's GOP hero Mitt Romney dabbled in this kind of racism, calling Obama “foreign to the American experience”: https://archive.thinkprogress.org/romney-dog-whistle-obamas-philosophy-is-foreign-to-the-american-experience-bbd65dcc55f/
6/ Trump set it all on fire, first with his birtherism, and then with repeated and countless direct appeals to right wing nationalists, extremists, and white supremacists.
Remember when he legitimized the central theory of QAnon and called them QAnon ppl who “love our country”?
Remember when he legitimized the central theory of QAnon and called them QAnon ppl who “love our country”?
7/ All of this contributed to hate crimes in the U.S. reaching the highest levels in more than a decade.
Trump’s @FBI director even warned that white nationalism was the country’s biggest domestic terror threat https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54968498
Trump’s @FBI director even warned that white nationalism was the country’s biggest domestic terror threat https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54968498
8/ I must note that for decades, the hate was amplified by social media companies which profited from permitting extremists to build community, sell guns, and cause violence in the real world.
@facebook even ran RECRUITMENT ADS FOR MILITIA GROUPS: https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/facebook-ran-recruitment-ads-militia-groups
@facebook even ran RECRUITMENT ADS FOR MILITIA GROUPS: https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/facebook-ran-recruitment-ads-militia-groups
9/ In 2020, we saw a huge display of right-wing extremism all across the country.
They showed up with guns to intimidate lawmakers into prematurely lifting quarantine restrictions. They showed up with firearms to intimidate Black and Brown Americans protesting racial injustice
They showed up with guns to intimidate lawmakers into prematurely lifting quarantine restrictions. They showed up with firearms to intimidate Black and Brown Americans protesting racial injustice
10/ And in the days surrounding the election and the counting of the votes, they sent death threats to state election officials and showed up with firearms at recount centers. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/us/election-officials-threats-trump.html
11/ Throughout all this, Trump & his enablers only stoked the fire, lying & spreading conspiracy theories about the outcome. And as those same extremists began to plan the January 6th insurrection, Trump tweeted out predicting that the day would be "wild." https://news.yahoo.com/trump-promises-wild-protests-washington-165055313.html
12/ So where do we go from here?
FIRST: We must stop pretending that armed extremist violence is unusual or unheard of in the United States. That’s a fantasy. Look around: it happens every day.
FIRST: We must stop pretending that armed extremist violence is unusual or unheard of in the United States. That’s a fantasy. Look around: it happens every day.
13/ SECOND: White people -- particularly those in conservative areas, the very same areas that the Trump supporters who assaulted our Capitol are coming back to -- must speak out against the racism and hate and call for ACCOUNTABILITY
14/ THIRD: State governments across the country must review open carry laws that allow armed individuals to use their firearms as tools of intimidation against democratically elected officials, protesters, etc...
15/ FOURTH: The federal government and the new administration must take immediate action to reign in social media companies that allow hate to grow unchecked on their platforms and deplatform hate groups only AFTER an incident has occurred
16/ FIFTH: We have to have a serious conversation about how our lax gun laws enable extremists to obtain incredibly powerful firearms that they use to intimidate and kill
We must raise the standard for gun ownership in US & outlaw certain military style weapons
We must raise the standard for gun ownership in US & outlaw certain military style weapons
17/ SIXTH (but certainly not last): The images and video of police fraternizing with the mob, taking selfies & opening the gates screams for systemic reforms in how our law enforcement officials apply one set of rules for white ppl and an entirely different set for non-white ppl
