Dem Assassin ist „starker Trump -Unterstützer“ bester Freund enthüllt

No shocker there. The No Kings flyers was an obvious attempt to divert.

Insert *ShockedPikachuFace.jpeg*

Maga is the deadliest gang in the U.S.

So, can the Republicans address the elephant in the room please? Acknowledge their language and actions are leading us to extremist behavior instead of talking about condemning it.  You know, maybe prove they’re not just fascist followers, because that’s how I feel about them.  Trump says he admires North Korea and Kim.  That our people should be his slaves.  No! He continues to use the language of a dictator even after being called out as such several times.  He’s trash, he’s the scum of the earth, he’s Hitler reborn.  

Pretty sure most of us ciphered that on our own.

To no one’s surprise.

I know „dem assassin“ fits since he assassinated a democrat state senator, but it really seems like people should be calling him a Republican Assassin, since he is an assassin for the GOP

Wow. I’m SO surprised.

Yeah, it’s not exactly hard to imagine a trump supporter pretending to be democrat to sabotage things.

Fork found in kitchen

>“Dem Assassin…“

What a terrible freaking headline. (Not OP’s fault; the folks at The Daily Beast wrote it!)

Sad event.

This belongs in r/noshitsherlock

Sure hate those Democrat MAGA supporters!

„Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.“ -Voltaire.

First of all, regarding the interpretation from Trump supporters that the „No Kings“ flyers found in the suspect’s car indicates that he is naturally a „radical leftist…“

The MN state police instructed residents earlier in the day to not attend any of the „No Kings“ protests taking place across the state „out of an abundance of caution“ because there were concerns that he could be targeting those events. Organizers of the protests even said that they were cancelling all of the planned events after a recommendation from officials.

In other words, the fact that there were „No Kings“ flyers in the suspect’s car is not evidence that he is supportive of the anti-Trump protests. In reality, all evidence actually points to the contrary.

For instance, police executed a search warrant earlier at an address where the gunman had been renting a room. A resident at that home, David Carlson, claimed to be „best friends since fourth grade“ with the gunman.

> Carlson said that the suspect worked at a funeral home, owned firearms and ***had voted for Donald Trump.*** He was a ***devout Christian*** who ***strongly opposed abortion…*** His friend had been experiencing financial and mental health challenges, Carlson said.

If you need further convincing that the suspect isn’t some „leftist terrorist“ who was incited to violence by Democrats, his public professional history as an ordained minister shows that he has been clearly radicalized by far right ideologies.

> Mr. Boelter has delivered several sermons at a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a video of one that was posted online, he appeared to ***criticize gay and transgender people.***

> “There’s people, especially in America, they don’t know what sex they are,” he said. “They don’t know their sexual orientation, they’re confused. The enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul.”

Furthermore, the suspect’s „list“ of targets appears to have 70 names on it, and the names of politicians included on this list are reported to be the names of Democrats and not Republicans:

> U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Democrat of Minnesota, said in an interview that the gunman had a target list that included her name and the names of other lawmakers, ***all of whom were Democrats.***

Law enforcement have commented on the list, noting that some of the targets were Planned Parenthoods:

> Chief Mark Bruley of the police department in Brooklyn Park, Minn., where the Hortmans lived, said the gunman’s vehicle contained a manifesto and a target list. A federal law enforcement official said the list included about 70 potential targets, including politicians, doctors, community and business leaders, and ***locations for Planned Parenthood*** and other health care centers. Some were in other states.

Also, in 2018, the suspect urged his followers on LinkedIn to vote in that year’s election.

> “I think the election is going to have more of an impact on the direction of our country than probably any election we have been apart of, or will be apart of for years to come,”

One of the victims that was killed by the gunman—Ms. Hortman—ran successfully for re-election that year.

That said, and despite Trump supporters emphatically denying that a Republican could have been responsible for the assassination attempt(s) on Trump’s life, they are now convinced that Democrat***s*** are responsible for the „violent rhetoric“ that gave rise to these attacks *and* the assassination attempts on multiple members of their party and those member’s families.

Nevermind that it’s the Republican party that is plagued by infighting and factionalism, or the fact that Donald Trump is one of the most divisive public figures in recent memory and he is disproportionately responsible for a considerable rise in domestic extremism in this country.

This is thanks in no small part to his alarming and incendiary rhetoric; his penchant for inciting violence and needless hostility; his dictatorial impulses, his excessive use of insults, bullying and scare tactics; his utilization of executive orders and ambiguous criteria to arrest and detain political dissidents, or to federalize troops against Americans exercising their rights lawfully; his brazen use of escalation methods as a political strategy; and his persistent threats against his political opponents, his critics in the media, and anyone who has ever pushed back against his unlawful agenda or tried to hold him accountable.

And considering that Trump’s supporters maintain a vicarious relationship with him and therefore tend to follow his example, it’s utterly audacious and hypocritical of them to even suggest that Democrats are more prone to political violence.

Keep in mind that this is all while Trump’s lame, costly and gaudy North Korea style military parade—which was organized in his honor and his honor alone—juxtaposes the thousands of troops that were deployed to the other end of the country in order to subdue and intimidate protestors. The stark contrast between spectacle and suppression in Trump’s divided America couldn’t be any clearer.

It also speaks volumes that the immediate response from conservatives to this tragedy was to get out in front of the facts and immediately start spreading baseless claims about who is to blame.

But this is their M.O.

Republicans have shown us, time and time again, that they are not above politicizing a tragedy or act of extremism. Consider how often they take an isolated incident of violence or vandalism and milk it repeatedly to push a partisan narrative—no matter how fabricated or sensationalizing. These narratives and talking points are used to scapegoat marginalized groups, to validate their hatred, grievances, and victimhood, and to justify the enactment of excessive and authoritarian measures that crackdown on the opposition.

In almost every case of politically motivated violence, Trump and his followers jump to conclusions before most of the facts are reported. If they can get out in front of the truth—which they achieve through the use of a vast and effective propaganda network of right wing mouthpieces and political agitators—they can create a counter-narrative before there is a clear account of the facts.

So when an official and factual analysis of the events reveals that they are wrong, they can proceed to cry „fake news“ while clinging to their conspiracy theories and their alternative versions of the „truth.“

With all of that being said, this kind of political extremism and violence should be condemned by everyone, no matter the shooter’s or the suspect’s party affiliations or political ideology. This was a tragedy that deserves to be acknowledged and addressed as such before it becomes politicized by a Republican party that’s more concerned about how it can be spun into a partisan narrative and used for political gain.

This case, and many like it, are symptomatic of a broader problem and rising trend of domestic extremism in this country. A problem that Americans have had to grow more accustomed to ever since Trump stepped into the political arena. And if you ask me, what’s particularly distressing and equal parts illuminating about all of this, is how this tragedy comes on the same day that tanks are rolling down the streets of our Capitol.