What about you, Justin Price? Elaine Morgan?
JULIA CONLEY for Common Dreams
As supporters of Donald Trump flood right-wing platforms with threats against the jurors and judge following guilty verdicts Thursday in his criminal case regarding hush money payments, fears are growing that the influence the Republican presumptive presidential nominee has over his supporters will soon lead to violence.
"Until and unless he accepts the process, the
extremist reaction to his legal troubles will be militant," Jacob Ware, a
research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Reuters.
The former president gave no sign of accepting the legal
process Friday as he held a press conference at Trump Tower, repeating claims
that the case had been "rigged."Former state Rep and MAGAnut Justin Price
took part in the Jan. 6 insurrection. Will he suit
up if Donald issues the call to arms?
Shortly after a New York jury announced its verdict in the case
regarding documents that were falsified to cover up payments made to adult film
star Stormy Daniel just before the 2016 election to keep her from publicizing
an alleged sexual encounter she had with Trump, right-wing websites like
Gateway Pundit, Truth Social, and Patriots.Win saw an uptick in violent posts
from users.
One commenter called for "someone in NY with nothing
to lose" to "take care of" New York Supreme Court Justice Juan
Merchan, while another on Gateway Pundit directed a threat at any and all
opponents of Trump.
"Time to start capping some leftys," said the
user. "This cannot be fixed by voting."
The reaction is a direct result, said Ware, of Trump's
"insistence that he is being mistreated."
Trump responded to the verdict on Thursday by telling reporters he is "a very innocent man" and calling the trial—one of four criminal cases against him—"a disgrace." He is expected to appeal the verdict. On Friday morning, the Trump campaign announced a $35 million fundraising haul following the guilty verdict.
Some Trump supporters signaled they are waiting for
instructions from the former president, who is the presumptive Republican
nominee for president in the November general election and is set to be
formally nominated days after his scheduled sentencing in July.
On Patriots.win, one commenter called for 1 million armed
Trump supporters to "go to Washington and hang everyone," while
another said the former president "should already know he has an army
willing to fight and die for him if he says the words...I'll take up arms if he
asks."
While Republican lawmakers have not explicitly endorsed a
violent reaction to the verdict that found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts,
many have joined Trump in making clear that they don't accept the trial's
outcome.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who has said she would not
endorse Trump in the 2024 election, said Manhattan
District Attorney charged Trump for politically motivated reasons and falsely
claimed that he campaigned on prosecuting the former president.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the
"charges never should have been brought in the first place," while
House Speaker Mike Johnson accused the Biden administration of
the "weaponization of our justice system."
Progressives agreed with Trump on one point Friday, after
he pledged that the
hush money case is "long from over" and said that "the real
verdict is going to be November 5" when U.S. voters go to the polls in the
general election.
While celebrating that a jury of "everyday people" held the former president accountable and proved that "despite his worst efforts, Trump is not above the law," People's Action executive director Sulma Arias said Democrats "must beat him at the ballot box" to keep him from further eroding U.S. democracy, climate action, and other progressive values.