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Re: Wisconsin GOP Terrorism
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Max Boot
Feb 19, 2024, 3:56:15 PM2/19/24
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On 2/19/2024 12:28 PM, Bradley K. Sherman wrote:
> |
> | The former chair of the Wisconsin Republican Party said he
> | feared for his family's safety when he signed paperwork as
> | a false elector for former president Donald Trump.
> |
> | Andrew Hitt appeared on CBS's "60 Minutes" and said he was
> | scared of what Trump supporters would do to him and his
> | family if courts later overturned President Joe Biden's
> | victory in Wisconsin.
> | ...
> <https://www.wpr.org/politics/former-wisconsin-gop-chair-said-he-feared-trump-supporters>
>
There was a great opinion piece in the NY Times (the Gold Standard) yesterday,
by David French.
"MAGA’s Violent Threats Are Warping Life in America"
Amid the constant drumbeat of sensational news stories — the scandals, the legal
rulings, the wild political gambits — it’s sometimes easy to overlook the deeper
trends that are shaping American life. For example, are you aware how much the
constant threat of violence, principally from MAGA sources, is now warping
American politics? If you wonder why so few people in red America seem to stand
up directly against the MAGA movement, are you aware of the price they might pay
if they did?
Late last month, I listened to a fascinating NPR interview with the journalists
Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman regarding their new book, “Find Me the
Votes,” about Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. They report
that Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis had trouble finding lawyers willing to help
prosecute her case against Trump. Even a former Georgia governor turned her
down, saying, “Hypothetically speaking, do you want to have a bodyguard follow
you around for the rest of your life?”
He wasn’t exaggerating. Willis received an assassination threat so specific that
one evening she had to leave her office incognito while a body double wearing a
bulletproof vest courageously pretended to be her and offered a target for any
possible incoming fire.
Don’t think for a moment that this is unusual today. Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is
overseeing Trump’s federal Jan. 6 trial, has been swatted, as has the special
counsel Jack Smith. For those unfamiliar, swatting is a terrifying act of
intimidation in which someone calls law enforcement and falsely claims a violent
crime is in process at the target’s address. This sends heavily armed police to
a person’s home with the expectation of a violent confrontation. A swatting
incident claimed the life of a Kansas man in 2017.
The Colorado Supreme Court likewise endured terrible threats after it ruled that
Trump was disqualified from the ballot. There is deep concern for the safety of
the witnesses and jurors in Trump’s various trials.
Mitt Romney faces so many threats that he spends $5,000 per day on security to
protect his family. After Jan. 6, the former Republican congressman Peter Meijer
said that at least one colleague voted not to certify the election out of fear
for the safety of their family. Threats against members of Congress are
pervasive, and there has been a shocking surge since Trump took office. Last
year, Capitol Police opened more than 8,000 threat assessments, an eightfold
increase since 2016.
Nor is the challenge confined to national politics. In 2021, Reuters published a
horrifying and comprehensive report detailing the persistent threats against
local election workers. In 2022, it followed up with another report detailing
threats against local school boards. In my own Tennessee community, doctors and
nurses who advocated wearing masks in schools were targets of screaming,
threatening right-wing activists, who told one man, “We know who you are” and
“We will find you.”
My own family has experienced terrifying nights and terrifying days over the
last several years. We’ve faced death threats, a bomb scare, a clumsy swatting
attempt and doxxing by white nationalists. People have shown up at our home. A
man even came to my kids’ school. I’ve interacted with the F.B.I., the Tennessee
Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement. While the explicit
threats come and go, the sense of menace never quite leaves. We’re always
looking over our shoulders.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/18/opinion/magas-violent-threats-are-warping-life-in-america.html?searchResultPosition=2
French goes on to say that not all of the threats of violence come from the far
right, but without any doubt, the vast majority do, and all of the most unhinged
ones do. And it is absolutely Trump's fault.
> |
> | The former chair of the Wisconsin Republican Party said he
> | feared for his family's safety when he signed paperwork as
> | a false elector for former president Donald Trump.
> |
> | Andrew Hitt appeared on CBS's "60 Minutes" and said he was
> | scared of what Trump supporters would do to him and his
> | family if courts later overturned President Joe Biden's
> | victory in Wisconsin.
> | ...
> <https://www.wpr.org/politics/former-wisconsin-gop-chair-said-he-feared-trump-supporters>
>
There was a great opinion piece in the NY Times (the Gold Standard) yesterday,
by David French.
"MAGA’s Violent Threats Are Warping Life in America"
Amid the constant drumbeat of sensational news stories — the scandals, the legal
rulings, the wild political gambits — it’s sometimes easy to overlook the deeper
trends that are shaping American life. For example, are you aware how much the
constant threat of violence, principally from MAGA sources, is now warping
American politics? If you wonder why so few people in red America seem to stand
up directly against the MAGA movement, are you aware of the price they might pay
if they did?
Late last month, I listened to a fascinating NPR interview with the journalists
Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman regarding their new book, “Find Me the
Votes,” about Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. They report
that Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis had trouble finding lawyers willing to help
prosecute her case against Trump. Even a former Georgia governor turned her
down, saying, “Hypothetically speaking, do you want to have a bodyguard follow
you around for the rest of your life?”
He wasn’t exaggerating. Willis received an assassination threat so specific that
one evening she had to leave her office incognito while a body double wearing a
bulletproof vest courageously pretended to be her and offered a target for any
possible incoming fire.
Don’t think for a moment that this is unusual today. Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is
overseeing Trump’s federal Jan. 6 trial, has been swatted, as has the special
counsel Jack Smith. For those unfamiliar, swatting is a terrifying act of
intimidation in which someone calls law enforcement and falsely claims a violent
crime is in process at the target’s address. This sends heavily armed police to
a person’s home with the expectation of a violent confrontation. A swatting
incident claimed the life of a Kansas man in 2017.
The Colorado Supreme Court likewise endured terrible threats after it ruled that
Trump was disqualified from the ballot. There is deep concern for the safety of
the witnesses and jurors in Trump’s various trials.
Mitt Romney faces so many threats that he spends $5,000 per day on security to
protect his family. After Jan. 6, the former Republican congressman Peter Meijer
said that at least one colleague voted not to certify the election out of fear
for the safety of their family. Threats against members of Congress are
pervasive, and there has been a shocking surge since Trump took office. Last
year, Capitol Police opened more than 8,000 threat assessments, an eightfold
increase since 2016.
Nor is the challenge confined to national politics. In 2021, Reuters published a
horrifying and comprehensive report detailing the persistent threats against
local election workers. In 2022, it followed up with another report detailing
threats against local school boards. In my own Tennessee community, doctors and
nurses who advocated wearing masks in schools were targets of screaming,
threatening right-wing activists, who told one man, “We know who you are” and
“We will find you.”
My own family has experienced terrifying nights and terrifying days over the
last several years. We’ve faced death threats, a bomb scare, a clumsy swatting
attempt and doxxing by white nationalists. People have shown up at our home. A
man even came to my kids’ school. I’ve interacted with the F.B.I., the Tennessee
Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement. While the explicit
threats come and go, the sense of menace never quite leaves. We’re always
looking over our shoulders.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/18/opinion/magas-violent-threats-are-warping-life-in-america.html?searchResultPosition=2
French goes on to say that not all of the threats of violence come from the far
right, but without any doubt, the vast majority do, and all of the most unhinged
ones do. And it is absolutely Trump's fault.
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