From Words to Weapons: Mapping Trump’s Incitement of Right-Wing Violence
What does the right wing violence from UCLA, Charlottesville to DC have in common? Trump.
“Donald Trump is using campus protests to stoke right-wing violence for the election” — MSN
“How Counter-protesters at U.C.L.A. Provoked Violence, Unchecked for Hours… The violence had been instigated by dozens of people who are seen in videos counterprotesting the encampment…The videos showed counterprotesters attacking students in the pro-Palestinian encampment for several hours, including beating them with sticks, using chemical sprays and launching fireworks as weapons.” — NY Times
Use this StoryMap to track Trump incited violence. From innocent protestors being crushed. Kidnappings. Deadly insurrections. Peaceful protestors being gassed with chemicals and beaten with rods. From Proud Boys chanting anti-semitic slogans in Charlottesville to Pro-Israel groups attacking peaceful protestors in Los Angeles.
Mapping right-wing extremist violence
Violent counter-protestors wearing pro-Israel slogans at UCLA
“The melee began when a group of counter-protesters started tearing away metal barriers that had been in place to cordon off pro-Palestinian protesters… It is not clear how the counterprotest was organized or what allegiances people committing the violence had. The videos show many of the counter-protesters were wearing pro-Israel slogans on their clothing.
Some counter-protesters blared music, including Israel’s national anthem, a Hebrew children’s song and “Harbu Darbu,” an Israeli song about the Israel Defense Forces’ campaign in Gaza. As counterprotesters tossed away metal barricades, one of them was seen trying to strike a person near the encampment, and another threw a piece of wood into it — some of the first signs of violence.” — NY Times
White Supremacist murders protestors with his car
“Trump also claimed that the 2017 white supremacist riot in Charlottesville, Virginia, is “peanuts” compared to the current protests. As a reminder, one of the rioters — who explicitly said they were emboldened by Trump’s election — murdered a woman and injured a number of others by running over them with his car.
Trump’s rhetoric: If the left “gets” to be violent, why can’t his people be violent, too? The whine is dishonest in every way, of course. First, the leftist protesters are largely non-violent. Second, the few who do act up end up arrested, despite Trump’s insinuations to the contrary. But his tactics have never needed to be fact-based to accomplish their goal of permitting his followers to be their worst selves. They already want to believe that the left is violent, so they feel justified in actually being violent.” — MSN
TakeAway: Recognize incitement to violence for what it is: an attack on peaceful democracy.
Deepak
DemLabs
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Reposted from Democracy Labs with permission.
