Right-wing violence

[Nom De Plume]

THIRTEEN MEN WITH TIES to illegal right-wing militias are facing charges in connection with extensive plots to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, attack the state Capitol building and incite a civil war, federal and state officials announced Thursday.

Six men were charged in federal court for plotting to violently kidnap Whitmer at her vacation home with the help of explosives and firearms. The men reached out to and trained with members of an unauthorized militia group, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Thursday, which did not name the militia group.

https://www.usnews.com/news/national-ne ... get-police

[Texan]

It sounds like somebody saw them coming. Glad it was foiled. Throw the book at them.

I call BS on the explosives. If you plan to kidnap somebody, the last thing you need to avoid unwanted attention is explosives.

[Nom De Plume]

It sounds like somebody saw them coming. Glad it was foiled. Throw the book at them.

I call BS on the explosives. If you plan to kidnap somebody, the last thing you need to avoid unwanted attention is explosives.

Dude! It is not OK to even plan a kidnapping!

[Nom De Plume]

Violence by far-right groups and individuals has emerged as one of the most dangerous terrorist threats faced by US law enforcement and triggered a wave of warnings and arrests of people associated with those extremist movements.

The most recent in-depth analysis of far-right terrorism comes from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

The report says “the majority of all terrorist incidents in the United States since 1994, and the total number of rightwing attacks and plots has grown significantly during the past six years”, with the far right launching two-thirds of attacks and plots in 2019, and 90% of those in 2020.

The CSIS study came during a new wave of terror attacks and plots from white supremacist and anti-government extremists.

Last Monday, the Department of Justice announced that it had brought an array of charges, including terrorism related offenses, against a US army soldier who subscribed to a mix of white supremacist and satanist beliefs which are characteristic of so-called “accelerationist” neo-nazis like Atomwaffen Division.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... t-analysis

[Texan]

It sounds like somebody saw them coming. Glad it was foiled. Throw the book at them.

I call BS on the explosives. If you plan to kidnap somebody, the last thing you need to avoid unwanted attention is explosives.

Dude! It is not OK to even plan a kidnapping!

Didn't I just say "Throw the book at them"? I think the media is screaming "EXPLOSIVES" just to amplify RIGHT WING terrorism. They are hyping this way more than the months of looting, burning, and taking over downtown districts in "peaceful protests". Both are just as wrong, but the media want to shout about it now that somebody on the right did something stupid.

[Black Orchid]

From what I've read the founder of this group is an anarchist.

[Nom De Plume]

Armed militias are nothing new in the United States. A decade ago, Kilcullen counted about 380 right-wing groups and 50 left-wing ones, many of them armed
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/202 ... lence.html

That is scary!

[Black Orchid]

The leader. Oooops nice flag eh? lol

[Nom De Plume]

Another difference and danger is the prevalence of cable TV networks and social media, which amplify and spread the shock waves. Incidents that in the past might have stayed local now quickly go viral, nationwide or worldwide, inspiring others to join in.

After Rittenhouse shot three people in Kenosha, right-wing militants touted him as a hero. FoxNews host Tucker Carlson hailed him for deciding that he had to “maintain order when no one else would.” Frequent Fox guest Ann Coulter said she wants Rittenhouse “as my president.”

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/202 ... lence.html

[Nom De Plume]

Unfortunately, President Donald Trump has no interest in calm. Instead, he is deliberately fanning the flames as part of a cynical election strategy. He has declined to criticize Rittenhouse, viewing his actions as self-defense. In general, he rails only against left-wing militants such as antifa activists—never against the right-wing ones, such as the Boogaloo Bois, Patriot Prayer, or Proud Boys. More than that, he has lumped antifa alongside the truly peaceful protesters of Black Lives Matter—and alongside the Democratic Party. His words encourage some police, in some cities, to take the same view. (In Kenosha, police were caught on camera tossing water bottles to armed right-wing militants, thanking them for coming out to help.)


Trump is also threatening to cut off federal aid to cities with Democratic mayors and rising crime rates, calling them “anarchist jurisdictions.” He has painted his opponent, Joe Biden, as a weak politician in “thrall” to leftist radicals—ignoring Biden’s long record as a left-centrist and his repeated denunciations of violence and looting, regardless of the cause.

Trump’s aim is to incite fear—fear of violence, disorder, change—and to paint himself as the bastion of law and order. It’s an odd tactic for an incumbent president, and it’s unclear whether the ploy is working. But, as Kilcullen and Kalyvas point out, he’s right about the fear’s potency. And the first violent incidents can spark a self-reinforcing cycle of violence, retaliation, and retaliation for that. “It doesn’t matter what the original grievance is,” Kilcullen says. “It becomes self-sustaining.”
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/202 ... lence.html