In the past 24 hours following the Colorado Supreme Court's decision to remove former President Donald Trump from the state's Republican primary ballot, a troubling trend emerged. According to a report obtained by NBC News, various social media platforms have been inundated with threats directed at the justices involved in the case.
A nonpartisan and nonprofit organization called Advance Democracy, dedicated to public interest research, highlighted the presence of disturbingly aggressive language targeting the justices and Democrats. Much of this rhetoric emerged in direct response to Trump's statements regarding the ruling on his platform, Truth Social. Shockingly, certain individuals on social media went as far as sharing the justices' contact details, including email addresses, phone numbers, and office locations.
The report disclosed one particularly alarming comment from a user on a pro-Trump forum, which was previously utilized by individuals involved in the January 6th riots: "This ends when we kill these f--kers."
The situation reflects a concerning escalation in threatening behavior on social media, sparking fears about the potential repercussions of such inflammatory rhetoric.
"Imagine 7 justices from the Colorado Supreme Court at the bottom of the ocean," mused another user. "That'd be a good start."
The concerning posts, images, and links documented in the report detailed various disturbing methods discussed to harm those seen as adversaries of Trump: from hollow-point bullets, rifles, and bombs to gruesome suggestions such as beheading judges or harming their families.
https://www.toprevenuegate.com/z53790bz?key=faa4ee0fd5b4d9184f97b22ebdaa74d8One post on an extreme website shockingly suggested, "Kill judges. Behead judges. Roundhouse kick a judge into the concrete," and took it to an even more disturbing level, saying, "Slam dunk a judge's baby into the trashcan."
These threats follow a distressingly familiar pattern, often emerging after legal actions against Trump. For instance, when the FBI conducted a search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, a Jan. 6th Capitol participant attacked the FBI field office in Cincinnati with a nail gun and an AR-15-style rifle. Similarly, after a grand jury in Georgia indicted Trump, some of his supporters resorted to posting the jurors' addresses online. Even U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, assigned to special counsel Jack Smith's federal election interference case against Trump, faced threats from his supporters.
This pattern of targeting individuals was underscored by a federal appeals court recently when it upheld a more restrictive gag order against Trump in his election interference case. The court highlighted that those publicly singled out by Trump often face threats and harassment, indicating a distressing cycle of behavior.
Daniel J. Jones, President of Advance Democracy, the organization responsible for compiling the report, expressed deep concern over the consistent and alarming nature of the violent threats and rhetoric.
Speaking to NBC News, Jones, a former FBI investigator and Senate Intelligence Committee staffer, highlighted the troubling trend: "We're witnessing a concerning level of violent language and threats directed towards the Colorado justices and others associated with the recent Colorado Supreme Court decision."
Jones emphasized the worrisome normalization of such violent rhetoric: "The acceptance of this kind of language and the lack of action by social media platforms is a significant cause for concern." He attributed a key role to Trump's statements, which sought to undermine and politicize the actions of the courts, as a major catalyst for this surge in violent rhetoric.
In his statement, Jones urged leaders from all political spectrums to denounce these calls for violence. He also stressed the crucial need for social media platforms to reevaluate their responsibility in hosting and amplifying such inflammatory rhetoric, calling for a reassessment of their role in the dissemination of such content.
