AP: US terrorism alert warns of politically motivated violence.

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
I am so glad I put my coffee down before I read that.

Anything they can do to trigger their base into their programming of 'the libs'.
 

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
https://www.salon.com/2021/10/12/black-flag-understanding-the-trumpists-latest-threatening-symbol/Screen Shot 2021-10-12 at 9.39.42 AM.png
It's an old truism that the "real bad men" (and bad women) "move in silence and violence." That's certainly true for the most dangerous and most effective of Donald Trump's allies, henchmen, henchwomen, and other followers. But for Donald Trump himself, and most of his political cult, that rule does not apply.

Trump and his followers were loud, exuberant and enthusiastic on Jan. 6. The lethal attack on the Capitol had been publicly announced weeks in advance, and should have come as no surprise. Trump's rallies and gatherings continue to celebrate violence and the prospect of revenge — and specifically of "getting even" with Trump's "enemies."

Steve Bannon, Trump's former campaign chairman and White House strategist, has now threatened to recruit Republican-fascist "shock troops" with the apparent goal of undermining the U.S. government, and by implication multiracial democracy, if and when Trump and the Republicans regain control of both Congress and the White House.

On a daily basis Fox News and other elements of the right-wing disinformation propaganda machine use stochastic terrorism and other techniques to radicalize their audience into committing acts of political violence. To this point, the Democratic Party and the political and news media class in general have remained in denial, and largely passive in response.

In one troubling new development, Trump supporters have begun flying all-black American flags, in an implicit threat to harm or kill their opponents — meaning nonwhite people, "socialist liberals," Muslims, vaccinated people and others deemed to be "enemies" of "real America." As media critic Eric Boehlert recently noted, the liberal opinion site Living Blue in Texas is sounding the alarm about the specific meaning of the black flag and the Republican-fascists support for terrorism and other political violence. That post, "Are Your Republican Neighbors Planning on Killing You?", merits lengthy quotation:

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However you interpret these videos posted by Trump followers and other neofascists — which could be mainly performative — it is clearly true that the American right is increasingly willing to accept or condone violence as a means of expanding and protecting their social and political power. (Salon did not find licensed news photographs of these flags, and has made the editorial decision not to reproduce the images mentioned above, which are easy to find on social media.)

Public opinion polls and other research have repeatedly shown that millions of Republican voters and Trump followers would support the use of violence to remove Joe Biden from office because of the "Big Lie" and their belief that that he is not a legitimate president. Similarly, a large proportion of Republicans believe that the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 were "patriots" whose use of violence was justified.

And a new poll from the University of Virginia's Center for Politics even suggests that more than 50 percent of Trump supporters want "red states" to secede from the Union. Republican elected officials and other right-wing opinion leaders have continued to escalate their threats of political violence against Democrats and other targeted groups.

In a recent speech to the North Carolina Faith and Freedom Coalition's "Salt & Light" conference, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., issued what sounded like a declaration of war:

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During an interview with MSNBC's Joy Reid, terrorism and national security expert Malcolm Nance said that Cawthorn's video "picks up on the themes that are not just coming from the Steve Bannon level and Donald Trump level, they are coming from the Republican street — and that Republican street is armed. They're angry. They have been fed an entire line which makes them believe that America is no longer America and that they no longer want the America that the rest of us, the 60 percent of the country, live in. And they`re willing to take up arms for it."

Nance also noted that Cawthorn's propaganda video is thematically similar to the type of propaganda used by Islamic terrorist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaida to radicalize and recruit members.

During an interview with Scientific American magazine, Dr. Bandy Lee, the principal editor of the 2017 bestseller "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump," explained how a mentally pathological leader can "infect" his followers and perhaps even an entire nation:

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Trump and his regime gave permission and encouragement to his followers and other supporters to engage in antisocial and other anti-human behavior on a national scale.Once such a process has begun, and those forces are unleashed, it is not easy to stop. Fascism is not a simple machine with an on-and-off switch. In practice, fascism is given life and takes corporeal form through its followers, with each one being a potential carrier of the pathology.

As Hussein Ibish warned in a recent article in the Atlantic, "The cancer of political violence is not an endemic American disease. At the moment, it is a Republican disease. No one but Republicans themselves can cure it. Until they do, the violence of the right is only going to keep swelling and crashing. From a Middle Eastern perspective, this is all appallingly familiar."

Fascism is a highly virulent social disease that usually destroys the host body – but not before spreading the disease to many other people. In fact, if the original host dies, he or she can be elevated to the status of martyr for "the cause," serving to inspire existing followers and lure in new ones.

Ultimately, Donald Trump, like other fascist and authoritarian leaders, is the symptom of a sick society. Trumpism is not actually the core disease. For America to counteract the deep underlying illness that has made Trumpism possible will require a long-term cultural and moral reckoning. Anything less, and the disease of American fascism will only go dormant until it is resurrected again — perhaps in a more dangerous and virulent form.
 

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/maga-cult-property-tennessee-b1937005.htmlScreen Shot 2021-10-13 at 7.22.30 AM.png
A pro-Trump religious sect that embraces AR15s in ceremonies has purchased a 130-acre property in Tennessee as a holy retreat and training centre.

The Rod of Iron Ministries, also known as The World of Peace and Unification Sanctuary, is run by Pastor Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon, a conspiracy theorist who proclaims that his followers are at war with the “deep state”.

The group has a growing following among MAGA supporters and Second Amendment devotees, and has attracted Trump allies Steve Bannon and former NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch to appear at a Freedom Festival last weekend.

Mr Moon’s late father Reverend Sun Myung Moon, who died in 2012, headed the Unification Church cult whose followers were known as the “Moonies”.

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VICE News reported that the “church” has purchased a $460,000 property in the mountains of east Tennessee to recreate the Unification Church’s spiritual retreat Cheongpyeong in South Korea.

“As soon as I was in the vicinity of this property, I immediately felt Cheongpyeong,” Mr Moon reportedly said in a broadcast on Rumble.

“Many, many, many busloads of people are going to come to pray there,” Mr Moon said on a recent broadcast, adding that they would perform “ancestor liberation there.”

The Tennessee purchase is part of a rapid expansion project in deep-red states across the US.

In May, the church reportedly purchased a compound in 40 miles from Waco in Texas as a place of refuge.

Mr Moon co-founded the church in Pennsylvania in 2017 after falling out with his mother over who was the rightful heir to his father’s religious empire.
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Sean Moon’s brother, Kook-jin “Justin” Moon, is the CEO of Kahr Arms, which manufactures guns and is headquartered near the church’s original base of operations in Pennsylvania

Sean Moon posted videos showing himself and Justin Moon outside the US Capitol during the 6 January riot, and both have become fervent supporters of Donald Trump.

The Independent has approached Rod Iron Ministries for comment.

What do the Rod of Iron Ministries believe?

While the younger Moon embraced and included Moonie ideology in his Sanctuary Church, what makes the group notable is its focus on firearms as objects of worship.

Sean Moon claims his inclusion of AR-15s into his church’s worship ceremonies is Biblically based, citing a passage in the Book of Revelation that speaks of Jesus using a “rod of iron” to assert his authority during the End Times. Traditional readings of the verses interpret the “rod of iron” to be a shepherd’s staff, which was a symbol of authority, particularly when in reference to Jesus.

Under Sean Moon’s reading, the rod of iron was not a sceptre or staff, but an American-made AR-15.

He refers to himself as a “King” in sermons.
 

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
https://www.rawstory.com/ricahard-mack/Screen Shot 2021-10-29 at 11.42.39 AM.png
A right-wing former sheriff is traveling around the country spreading his anti-government views to law enforcement officers, sometimes with state approval.

Richard Mack, the former sheriff of Graham County, Arizona, and co-founder of the Oath Keepers, pushes the legal fallacy that county sheriffs are the highest legal authority in the United States and have the authority to defy or disregard laws they believe are unconstitutional, and travels the country seeking to induct local law enforcement into his Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), reported Mother Jones.

"He's had more success in bringing anti-government ideas to law enforcement than anyone else," said Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism who recently published a report on Mack and his organization.

The 68-year-old Mack first gained notoriety in the mid-1990s after challenging the Brady Bill requiring background checks for gun purchases, and he's been spreading his "constitutional sheriff" theories to right-wing "patriot" groups and law enforcement for more than a decade.

"There is a huge problem already with hate groups organizing within law enforcement," said Jonathan Smith, who served in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division during the Obama administration and now heads the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. "We've seen repeated waves of it in the past 10 years, with the recruitment of law enforcement officers on the internet. For this to move from the sort of the dark corners of the internet to officially sanctioned trainings from one of the largest states is really frightening in my view."

The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) this year approved CSPOA to provide training that officers must complete to maintain their proficiency certificates, and Mack says that 10 other states, including Montana, South Carolina and Virginia, have done the same.

"If this event would have been in Texas, we would have had 75 or 80 sheriffs here," Mack told an audience recently in Maryland.

Mack had invited all 24 of the state's sheriffs to the event, but only Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, a Fox News regular who regularly bashes immigrants and recently settled a racial profiling lawsuit filed by a Latina woman, showed up.

"People who say I'm radical, I'm an extremist, I'm dangerous, I promote violence," Mack told the crowd. "Let's make this very clear right now: I had never promoted violence or advocated violence. Ever. In 20 years of law enforcement, I never even slapped or slugged another human being. I never shot anybody or maced anybody. I never hit somebody with my nightstick. I've never attacked, hurt or maimed any human being ever. But yet the Southern Poverty Law Center has me down as a domestic terrorist!"

"There is a God! Our rights come from Him!" the crowd chants. "The purpose of civil government is to protect God given rights!"

TCOLE sent two field agents to CSPOA training sessions in July, after receiving a complaint by a civil rights watchdog, and reported no reason to deny continuing education credits to attendees, but Texas attorney general Ken Paxton signaled his endorsement by addressing the group's conference last week in Mesquite.

"It's legitimate law enforcement training," Mack told Mother Jones. "We are the only ones who teach the oath of office."

Pitcavage said fears about extremists infiltrating law enforcement are somewhat overwrought, but he said CSPOA was a "huge exception," and he said Paxton's endorsement was troubling.

"What extremists crave is recognition, official recognition," Pitcavage said. "When [Mack] can get official law enforcement bodies to get trainings, it allows him entrée into more spaces and places and allows him to promote his views about government. [Some states] have officially approved what is essentially anti-government propaganda being delivered to law enforcement in their states."
 

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
https://apnews.com/article/terrorism-race-and-ethnicity-e244aed83f379af2bb7c7cafe1630994
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. faces a “heightened threat environment” from domestic extremists and people inspired by foreign terrorist groups with the approach of the holiday season, the Department of Homeland Security warned Wednesday.

While DHS said it had no credible information on a specific threat, the agency warns in its latest national terrorism advisory bulletin that mass gatherings for the upcoming religious holidays could be potential targets, including from people and organizations seeking to exploit resentment over pandemic lockdowns and recent events such as the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“The Homeland continues to face a diverse and challenging threat environment,” it said.

This is the fourth time this year the agency has issued a bulletin, highlighting the perceived danger from a volatile mix of domestic extremists, often motivated by racially or ethnically motivated hate, and homegrown extremists inspired by overseas groups. It reflects a shift from the focus on al-Qaida and other organizations following the creation of DHS after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

It also comes in an environment that has been super-charged by online propaganda and conspiracy theories as well as anger over the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic. DHS warned that extremists will pose a “significant threat” at least into 2022.

Timothy Langan, the assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, made similar points last week in an appearance before the House intelligence committee. He said the threat from domestic terrorism has “significantly increased” in the last 18 months, with the agency currently conducting about 2,700 investigations on violent domestic extremists.

“The greatest terrorism threat facing our homeland is that posed by lone actors in small cells, who typically radicalize online, look to use easily accessible weapons to attack soft targets,” Langan said.

The language of this latest bulletin is similar to the previous ones but adds language based on recent events. It warns that foreign groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State celebrated the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and may use it to encourage violence by their supporters.

At the same time, some domestic extremists have sought to use the resettlement of Afghan refugees in the U.S. to stir up anti-Muslim hatred.

DHS has said it is working with the FBI, state and local law enforcement and foreign counterparts and has also increased grants and training to community-based prevention programs to address the threat.

From 2010 through 2020, racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists advocating for the superiority of the white race have committed 18 lethal attacks in the United States, killing 70 people in attacks that typically focused on houses of worship, including in Charleston and Pittsburgh, according to the FBI.
 

hanimmal

Well-Known Member
I saw a clip of this radicalized politician last night dressed up like he is about to do a scene in pale rider or something, talking about 'oppressors intent..comply with their commands until the end of TIME.... Let me be very clear to all your OPPRESSORS... Because some of us are free Americans and we would rather die.... Vaccines freedom.... Some of us are willing to carry that fight with every drop of our blood.. Congress will once again be under control of the Republicans... To my business partners out there DO NOT COMPLY...' Anyways, I am not going to link to the propagandists youtube video since fuck him and his traffic, and hopefully a real news organization will post it soon, or maybe the Lincoln Project will put it in their 'this week' or another video.
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Seems this is just par for the course with this hate monger.

 

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
I saw a clip of this radicalized politician last night dressed up like he is about to do a scene in pale rider or something, talking about 'oppressors intent..comply with their commands until the end of TIME.... Let me be very clear to all your OPPRESSORS... Because some of us are free Americans and we would rather die.... Vaccines freedom.... Some of us are willing to carry that fight with every drop of our blood.. Congress will once again be under control of the Republicans... To my business partners out there DO NOT COMPLY...' Anyways, I am not going to link to the propagandists youtube video since fuck him and his traffic, and hopefully a real news organization will post it soon, or maybe the Lincoln Project will put it in their 'this week' or another video.
View attachment 5026637

Seems this is just par for the course with this hate monger.

The woman standing behind him says it all with her expression. The guy standing next to her at her right seems mystified.

Pretty much sums up what most think about these people.
 

CatHedral

Well-Known Member
The woman standing behind him says it all with her expression. The guy standing next to her at her right seems mystified.

Pretty much sums up what most think about these people.
I think these guys are the political equivalent of powdery mildew. Annoying opportunistic lower life forms parasitizing healthier society and damned hard to exterminate once it’s set in. And for every bit you see,
 

Fogdog

Well-Known Member

BodegaBud

Well-Known Member
You posted that elsewhere.

Yeah, I get it. You are afraid of Blacks. All I can say is, OMG, a Black leader just said something that was 10% as extreme as what Republicans say every day.

Again if the Proud Boys or some similar group made that threat you guys would of lost your minds. Same way that you can ignore a year of violent riots and billions in damage but as soon as some idiots that look like they are at a football game storm the capital you can’t stop talking about
 

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
Again if the Proud Boys or some similar group made that threat you guys would of lost your minds. Same way that you can ignore a year of violent riots and billions in damage but as soon as some idiots that look like they are at a football game storm the capital you can’t stop talking about
Proud Boys? I never mentioned them. Try to keep up.

again, Republican leaders advocate every day and many times a day, ten times the violence against US citizens than that guy did. But all you want to talk about is what a very minor Black civil rights leader says.

Your Republican leaders passed legislation that makes it legal to murder protesters with a car. That's just a small piece of the BS they do every day. You picked out a nobody on the national scene to get all wobbly kneed about because of some words he said. As if all Black men represent the face of the BLM movement. What a fucking dumb thing to say.

But it was a scary Black man and so you get all skeered. Don't shoot him, OK?
 
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