How long will it be before someone gets shot by a Donald Trump supporter in what the shooter may likely consider an act of patriotic civil disobedience? Or before someone uses a gun against right-wing vigilantes?
There is no shortage of evidence pointing toward some violent outburst surrounding the presidential election results. Reporters interviewing Trump supporters at rallies, national polls showing likely voters are expecting Election Day violence, consumer-trend tracking firms saying demand is rising for gun purchases, and rhetoric from the longstanding cadre of right-wing loudmouths, all suggest some type of ugly response.
“Sixteen percent of Americans plan on buying a gun as a result of the upcoming election,” said a press release Thursday from Elementum, “the real-time supply chain platform company, who polled 2,000 Americans from October 20-24 and found that among those living in the South, 19 percent will buy guns and among Gen Xers, the number is nearly 23 percent, especially among women, 24 percent.”
Wrapping oneself in the flag and taking up arms is a staple of the far-right militia-embracing fringe. But the urge has found a new home in the Trump campaign, led by a presidential candidate who says the vote will be stolen unless he wins, a manager who publishes bomb-throwing Breitbart News, and backers who get their “news” from even more extreme sources like conspiracist Alex Jones of InfoWars.
Well that's a little chilling.
And don't think that Clinton supporters are going to be in a position to return fire either.
The 54-year-old business owner posted a sign on the door of Altra Firearms conveying those rules, and he’s currently running an ad in a local newspaper declaring:
“Please NO Muslims or Hillary Supporters — We do not feel safe selling to terrorists!” Chandler told ThinkProgress that, as the owner of a store that brands itself as “politically incorrect firearms,” he is free to turn Democrats and Muslims away.
Now I am not one to overreact to news that the Right Wing is preparing to take up arms, after all we have been hearing this same warning now for at least eight years.
However I will say that these people seem even more unhinged than they have in years past, and that it would not at all surprise me to hear of folks being shot in the days following the election by angry Trump supporters.
I think it is clear that Donald Trump has gone out of his way to agitate the most unbalanced people in this country, and they are also the most heavily armed.
That is not a good combination, and I hope that if there ARE any murders attributed to the outcome of this election that the police will not hesitate to knock on Donald Trump's door and charge him with inciting violence.
Source http://ift.tt/2fuCdsf
