Following the conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts by a New York jury, his supporters have taken to pro-Trump websites with alarming calls for riots, revolution, and violent retribution. This historic verdict has incited a wave of violent rhetoric online.
Violent Reactions on Social Media
Trump's conviction, the first for a U.S. president, has sparked a surge of violent posts on platforms aligned with Trump, including his own Truth Social, Patriots.Win, and Gateway Pundit. Calls for violent acts against jurors, Judge Juan Merchan, and even suggestions of civil war have been rampant. One user on Patriots.Win incited violence against Judge Merchan, while a Gateway Pundit post called for shooting liberals.
Escalation of Threats
The uptick in violent language follows Trump’s ongoing claims of a stolen 2020 election and his portrayal of judges and prosecutors as corrupt agents of the Biden administration. His supporters have responded with threats targeting judicial figures involved in his trials. Trump himself denounced the trial, calling it rigged and the judge corrupt, further inflaming his base.
Details of the Conviction
The jury found Trump guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence a porn star's account of a sexual encounter before the 2016 election. Sentencing is scheduled for July 11, just before the Republican Party’s nomination event for the upcoming presidential election. Trump maintains his innocence and plans to appeal.
Dangerous Rhetoric on Social Media
After the verdict, Trump took to Truth Social to criticize Judge Merchan, calling him "HIGHLY CONFLICTED" and suggesting unfair jury instructions. This led to extreme reactions, with one post depicting a hangman’s noose and calling for violent justice.
Jacob Ware, a co-author of “God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America,” commented on the dangerous potential of Trump’s rhetoric to mobilize his extreme supporters toward violence. Ware emphasized the need for Trump to accept the legal process to prevent further militant reactions.
Platform Responses and Legal Concerns
A spokesperson for Truth Social condemned the Reuters article highlighting the violent posts, calling it manipulative and defamatory. Despite all three platforms having policies against violent language, some of the posts were later removed. Patriots.Win and Gateway Pundit representatives, along with a Trump spokesperson, did not respond to requests for comment.
Potential for Violence
Supporters expressed their belief that Trump’s conviction signifies a broken American political system, advocating for violent actions as the only solution. Posts included calls for armed marches on Washington and violent actions against Democrats. While most posts do not meet the legal standard for prosecutable threats, the rhetoric remains concerning.
Amy Cooter, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies’ Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, warned that the guilty verdict could spur violence among Trump’s followers. She expressed concern that these supporters might see the verdict as justification for mobilizing, potentially leading to violence against those connected to the case.
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