Protesters in Chicago come out in numbers to confront Donald Trump’s threats of violence. (cc photo: nathanmac87)
Of all the many disturbing things about Donald Trump, his glorification of political violence may be the worst. Again and again, he has encouraged his followers to respond to peaceful protests with brutal force. The Intercept (3/11/16) had a good compilation of Trump’s encouragement of attacks against those who dare to speak out against him:
- “See, in the good old days this doesn’t happen, because they used to treat them very, very rough. And when they protested once, you know, they would not do it again so easily…. They get away with murder because we’ve become weak.”
- “I love the old days — you know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.”
- “You see, in the good old days, law enforcement acted a lot quicker than this, a lot quicker. In the good old days, they’d rip him out of that seat so fast. But today, everybody’s politically correct. Our country’s going to hell with being politically correct.”
Rachel Maddow on MSNBC (3/11/16) presented a video compilation of Trump’s routine incitement to violence:
And Trump’s followers are clearly listening to their leader’s exhortations. Slate publishes a running list of violent events at Trump rallies—including attacks on journalists as well as protesters. After one protester was punched, kicked and reportedly choked at a November 2015 rally in Birmingham, Alabama, Trump’s response was, “Maybe he should have been roughed up, because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.” One Trump supporter who viciously elbowed a African-American protester in the face—and was later indicted for the assault—boasted to Inside Edition (3/10/16), “The next time we see him, we might have to kill him.”
The idea that a political movement should respond to criticism with violent attacks is not compatible with a democratic society. There’s no incongruity in Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke’s endorsement of Trump; what Trump is celebrating is the Klan’s strategy of suppressing dissent through terror.
When peaceful protests are met with violence, as they have been again and again at Trump’s mass meetings, protesters have a choice between giving in to intimidation and staying away, or showing up in numbers large enough so that they cannot be suppressed. Last night, in Chicago, activists made the latter choice. It was the right thing to do for democracy.
Jim Naureckas is the editor of FAIR.org. Follow him on Twitter at @JNaureckas.
Oh, please! Launching a raid on a rally intended for TRUMP SUPPORTERS, then clashing with them, is NOT ‘free speech’. It is intimidation, plain and simple. This is a ‘color revolution’ being devised by the ‘deep state’ to derail Trump–By Any Means Necessary. And FAIR should know that
Just because Trump says he wants to punch a protester in the face, and then one of his supporters punches a protester in the face, does not mean Trump caused his supporter to punch a protester in the face.
Correlation is not proof of causation. That is why the Chicago riot is all Bernie’s fault! snark
Oops! I just realized, what happened in Chicago is what happens at any KKK rally.
This is not an endorsement of Trump. The article here and many similar to it are equivocating.
The magical thinking that we have a right to not be offended is NOT free speech.
P.S. life isn’t fair, fair.org.
POLITICAL FISTICUFFS IS VIOLENCE? — COMPARED TO WHAT?
General George Patton
“Americans love war, we love a good fight”
General Patton, now there was a man of supreme violence for it could be said that after his tank division finished chasing every fascist out of Western Europe, no general of any war or army has ever equaled his degree of slaughter.
And to find a like comparison among the six candidates still in the race for President of Empire USA, we need to take a very close look Hillary the vampire, for her thirst for blood and her evil record for the destruction of good governments has the potential to lead us square into a Global War Three. For thinks to her efforts at orchestrating what started out as three minor encounters, we now have President Gaddafi assonated and the stable and workable governments of Honduras and Ukraine totally fascist dominated.
For both Trump and Bernie have stated that our military spending must be reduced greatly and this has to be a moratorium on violence carried to its ultimate conclusion.
What whining drivel. Free Speech means the capacity to state whatever you want without having to appease anyone who might hear it! The Trump rallys are events where he is exercising his Free Speech-they are not events where others can expect to exercise their Free Speech. If people disagree with his points or positions he expresses, they are “free” to pay for an event to speak at. Nothing stopping them. To come to a Trump Rally and expect to be heard-especially with an opposing view-is ridiculous.
The author also demonstrates his ignorance and tries to equate someone “liking” you with meaning that you and that person are the same. Charles Manson loved the Beatles, that did not make the Beatles serial killers and they were never brought up on charges for the Tate murders.
For the record-I will not vote for Trump, so I am not “for” him. I have never voted for Dem or Rep-I always vote for a Third Party Candidate. If everyone is truly disgusted with Trump and Hillary, then a vote for the Green Party might be in order. But to keep voting for thee same two players and expect something different is insane.
This is really very un-FAIR. There is a very big distinction between protesting and interrupting what is essentially a private gathering, one which I don’t think you would hesitate to draw if it were anyone else. Imagine if a person were to go to a Catholic mass just to shout and wave around a copy of the 95 theses – if the bishop were to call for his removal, and some lay attendees grabbed him and dragged him out the door, would that be “religious violence”? You could apply the same behavior to other sorts of gatherings, too, like marathons, pride parades, or even TED Talks and come to the same absurd conclusion.
It’s also very Orwellian to call shutting down a political rally an exercise of free speech. Were Trump or his fans allowed to exercise that right? For that matter, what about the peaceful protesters who didn’t go inside? The only people who were allowed to “speak” last night were hooligans.
Five comments, apparently five trolls for Trump, so I will not waste e-ink with rebuttals, but only recommend that they learn a little about what the Constitution and case law actually say about what constitutes protected speech and what does not, leaving aside several ludicrous decisions equating money with speech with no credible justification.
Scott Weir nailed it. The right to protest is just as much part of the 1st amendment as free speech (i.e., the GOVERNMENT can not interfere with your speech).
If you switch around the parties involved, e.g., Joe Wilson shouting “you lie!” at President Obama, and you think that protest is okay in this case, then you’re an inconsistent hypocrite (note-this doesn’t mean Joe Wilson is free from criticism for his outburst, nor are any protestors at Trump rallies free from criticism). If you think protest isn’t okay in either case, then you need to quit pretending to be any sort of defender of the constitution.
It is disappointing to see support for Trump’s divisiveness by intentionally stirring anger to scapegoat immigrants and fellow Americans. The anger should be directed at Wall St money-changers and corporate oligarchs responsible for offshoring jobs and rigging the economy to benefit the already-rich. United we all benefit; divided we get scammed.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH — ENIGMA FOR ENSLAVING A POPULATION
Freedom of speech is the freedom to differ openly against the rich and powerful, namely to express truth without fear of reprisal. An absolute impossibility, as you would need to be rich and powerful to purchase the media needed to be heard, as all the other rich and all of mainstream media would generate the confusion and fiction needed to silence you.
It’s like the time a Deputy Sheriff chased me out of a public school parking lot for passing out my freedom of speech. So, I went to a parking lot for police officers and on the windshield of each car was a flyer calling the owner a “legalized killer.”
And so, first the police said that because the parking lot was on private property, freedom of speech was forbidden. Not so, for when the Constitution was written, all property was private property.
Then I was told that because my flyers violated the emotions of the police, that violated their rights and that is why everyone has the right not to hear. Problem is, in a democracy no one has the right not to hear.
For the rich nobility who owned all the slaves in America, they created this enigma called Empire USA, to not only enslave America, but to have dominance and power over all the world.
Trump wants free speech as long as it isn’t coming from protesters standing up for their freedoms. It’s only for those who are tired of political correctness, or what we used to call good manners. So if you hate everyone who isn’t you then go to a Trump rally and you can be rude, petty, small minded, racist and as stupid as you want with Trumps permission. However if you want to let Trump you don’t agree with his violent rhetoric and un-American ideology, then you don’t deserve to even have free speech rights. Now he’s threatening to try to bring charges against those who disagree with him. Is this who we want as the leader of the “free” world? His type of leadership would make us all less free than we’ve ever been.
Trump’s trumpet
A fanfare of fire in a crowded theater
Now the Free Speech supporters are in jail and need help. https://fundly.com/kc-bail-fund
Scott, I was writing a short explanation of who I supported and why, but erased it because it’s irrelevant to the point I was making. People who are “trolls for Trump,” if that is indeed what the commenters here are, can still have valid points, and by avoiding any real response to us you make yourself look like the troll.
One has to wonder where similar protests are over hometown boy made good, President Obama. His policies are indistinguishable from his predecessor’s, some more egregious. When Bush used to come to Chicago, there’d be thousands in the streets protesting. When it’s Obama, one doesn’t even hear about it until the day of. Does Scott Weir really believe there’s any such thing as an ideal of free speech, when all speech and its media vehicles are owned by corporate behemoths?
@Darius- Rallies are ABSOLUTELY events where EVERYONE can expect to exercise their free speech. E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E. And yes, that means expressing that they won’t condone or accept his hate-mongering and fear-mongering.
That’s not true, TeeJae. Rally organizers on private property do have the right to eject people from the event for any number of reasons.
That’s not true, TeeJae. Rally organizers on private property do have the right to eject people from the event for any number of reasons.
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Yeah, but that right is enforceable by public law enforcement and/or the private security personnel hired by the event. The other event attendees don’t have the right to start throwing punches because they don’t like the fact that the opposing viewpoint showed up.
Senator Cruz, Senator Rubio or Governor Kasich should have known the Federal Law, yet Mr. Trump had more knowledge than all of them. Obama passed a law in 2012, bill H.R.347 Unlawful to protest in the restricted areas including locations where individuals under Secret Service protection are temporarily located, and certain large special events like a presidential inauguration or campaign events. A person who knowingly, and with intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions, engages in disorderly or disruptive conduct in, or within such proximity to, any restricted building or grounds when, or so that, such conduct, in fact, impedes or disrupts the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions. Penalty, a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both. This law was nicknamed, Obama’s removal of the first amendment.
Either the three Trump opposing candidates are just lying to the public or since they haven’t shown up to work much they have never gotten acquainted with Federal laws and they are not fit to be Commander in Chief.
Mr. Trump put the safety of the American People ahead of his campaign while all the other candidates were thinking of themselves and how many votes they could squeeze regardless of blood shed.
How juvenile and typical of the Anti-Trump.’protesters’ to hijack my name. With this kind of attitude by the anti-Trump rioters, there is no reasoning with them. Klansmen should raid a Klinton rally in the South. See how much the anti-Trump ‘protesters’ say it is ‘free speech’.
in response to a demagogue (Trump), protesters shout him down when he speaks at his rallies. The most “progressive writers,” see FAIR for ex, say it is not a violation of Free Speech to do so, b/c he would destroy their free speech. But the protesters exclude him from Constitutional protection. They are, these protesters, the judge of who deserves American freedoms, and who does not. He has trapped them into doing just as he says he would do. And what if a Clinton rally was interrupted by shouts of “Libya failed state,” or Sanders by cries of “commie”?
And what if a Clinton rally was interrupted by shouts of “Libya failed state,” or Sanders by cries of “commie”?
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There’d be an attempted witty retort or some other rhetorical flourish to deal with the situation and buy time until the police or security dealt with the hecklers.
Generally, a performer deals with a heckler with some kind riposte or deflection or something. I’ve yet to see a comedian or a singer or whatever address a heckler by telling the other audience members, “Kick that guy’s ass for me.” Call me crazy, but I think somebody wanting to be President of the US should be at least as competent as Jay Leno when it comes to dealing with a problem audience.
My point was that he should not be shouted down or disrupted, b/c that gives him the excuse that he has been denied his constitutional rights.
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Yeah, maybe. But doing nothing implies that there’s no problem with a lying, racist, half-wit buffoon being the leader of the country. So I say protest away– provided they don’t cross a line into violence.
I think, Trump supporters must need to stay away from protesters. Protesters have right because they are in democracy. They think that Trump is not their leader. They have not elected him. Trump or his supporter can’t stop to think people.
Protester must need to go with peaceful protest. They must think about a country assets.