Constitution’s provision in no uncertain terms
Posted for rational Americans. Please pay close attention to the story
below that will hopefully refocus all of us into believing and trusting and protecting
our legal justice system and our form of democracy.
If not, then consider the alternative of us without a strong and fair judicial system for everyone as we see it decay and disappear into a pitiful abyss (Hint: That letter “A” would then stand for Anarchy not America and our time-tested system that says: “No one is above the law”).
However, these times seem to show one man seeks to erase
that time-honored phrase just for him and no one else as illustrated in this
fine article from SALON
with this headline:
“Hit list” – Trump grand
jurors face violent threats after their names and addresses are shared on QAnon forums”
The first question is simple: How did the jurors names and addresses get released (methods), but, more importantly, by whom and why?
That question is answered below from GA
sources.
Highlights from the
article (formatted to fit the blog):
Users on far-right online forums are publishing private
information about members of the Georgia grand jury that indicted Trump and 18 of his allies in a sweeping criminal case focused
on alleged 2020 election interference earlier this month, now leading to jurors
receiving threats online.
The Fulton County (GA) Sheriff's office says (re: NPR) that they: “Were working on tracking down where the threats were coming from and were coordinating with law enforcement partners to respond quickly to any credible threat and to ensure the safety of those individuals who carried out their civic duty.”
According to Media Matters: After the release of the indictment and the
grand jurors' names, users on far-right message boards began sharing their
addresses, identities, social media accounts, and other information targeting
the jurors.
More specifics from
the SALON article:
Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the “Global Project Against Hate and
Extremism,” told Salon: “It's a serious problem. These grand jurors' names
and other personal information have been linked on dangerous sites, in
particular 4chan where multiple terrorist manifestos have
been posted and the site is filled with white supremacists and other extremists.
In addition to facing online harassment, jurors are at risk of several other
dangers — varying from receiving menacing phone calls to having people show up
at their houses to swatting and even receiving death threats. We've seen this
in other cases where people have been targeted by far-right figures. Their
families can also be targeted. It can be a dangerous and scary situation. We
can never forget the two poll workers in Georgia (mother and daughter) that
Trump targeted and who had to go into hiding afterward. There is a lot of anger
out there on the part of pro-Trump actors and given the harassment that is
faced by public officials lately, the same could happen here. It's unfortunate
Georgia law doesn't provide any protections. These people are doing their civil
duty; they shouldn't have to face this.”
FYI: Under Georgia law, the names of grand jurors are included on
indictments – a practice aimed at promoting transparency. However, this
approach has come under scrutiny given the continuing threats following the
recent indictment of Trump and 18 co-defendants.
On a forum that has served as a hub for “Q – the central
figure of the QAnon conspiracy theory,” a user shared the names of the jurors
alongside their addresses.
On another platform where the QAnon conspiracy theory
originated, a user appeared to make a veiled threat about following these
individuals to their residences and photographic their faces.
Some users also made explicit threats aimed at the jurors on these message boards.
One user referred to the grand jurors' names as a “hit list” that
prompted another user to reply: “Based.
Godspeed Anons, you have all the long range rifles in the world.”
After Trump posted on
his social media website Truth Social that authorities were: “Going after
those that fought to find the RIGGERS!”
This followed that
post from “Advance Democracy,” a nonpartisan research group founded by Dan
Jones, a former FBI investigator and staffer for the U.S. Senate Intelligence
Committee. He pointed out that Trump supporters were now employing that
term “rigger as a substitute for the racial slur” in their online posts.
Donald Haider-Markel,
a University of Kansas political science professor who studies domestic
extremism said: “The only way Georgia or any other state would change the
current practice of releasing names that is if there is a widespread outcry
over the harassment or if there is actual violence that takes place. Much like
election workers after the 2020 election, we may begin to see more efforts from
potential jurors to ask for an excuse not to serve on a [grand jury], which
could also incite a change in the law.”
Haider-Markel further
explained: “Verbal attacks and harassment have been common for a long time
on the extreme right and left. Like the example of wanted posters targeting
doctors who perform abortions by the anti-abortion movement since the 1980s. Individuals
would go as far as disclosing the addresses, phone numbers, car descriptions,
and license plates of abortion clinic workers.”
* Some have been killed in
their cars, or while leaving their office, or even in church with their family like
Dr. George Tiller was cited in this ABC News story from February 2009 in Wichita,
KS.
These message boards have even gone as far as targeting two NBC News reporters who wrote about the grand jury incident. They had their own supposed addresses posted online, according to the Advance Democracy's latest report (from Reuters).
The group also identified posts containing aggressive language targeting DA Fani Willis.
Trump himself
has gone after DA Willis accusing her of prosecutorial misconduct asserting
that she had been excessively lenient on crime allowing Atlanta “…to become one
of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world.”
Heidi Beirich said about that: “He makes everything worse because
he just doesn't seem to care what effect his words have in inciting his
followers. That has been true since his 2016 campaign. I'm sure Willis is
facing a deluge of threats and will need protection.”
His verbal attacks against
Willis come as no surprise though as the former president has a habit of
denigrating prosecutors who are investigating him.
Trump has used Truth
Social to harass Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, New York AG Letitia James, and DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal indictments against him.
In a post against DA Bragg, Trump warned that there would be “Death and destruction” if he was indicted.
Shortly after that threat, the Manhattan DA's office received a death threat letter with suspicious powder, which was later determined non-hazardous, with the letter saying: “ALVIN: I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
In other posts, Trump has called S/C Smith “deranged” and accused
him of taking away his First Amendment Rights.
Trump even called for District
Judge Tanya Chutkan's recusal, saying he was calling for the move “on very
powerful grounds.” Chutkan is the DC federal judge overseeing Trump’s criminal
case to overturn the 2020 election. Recently, a Texas woman, Abigail Jo Shry, was
arrested and charged with threatening to kill Judge Chutkan (AP report).
Shry called the federal courthouse in Washington, DC and left a
threatening message for Judge Chutkan: “You are in our sights, we want to
kill you.”
Despite public
officials receiving such threats, Trump continues his personal attacks such as warning:
“If you go after me, I'm coming after you!”
Lindsay Schubiner,
director of programs at Western States Center — an anti-extremism watchdog,
told Salon: “It's important not to underestimate the chilling effect that
personal targeting and online harassment can have on jurors, on voters, on
elected officials, and on community members. The publication of personal
details, especially physical locations, is a huge risk factor for potential
violence.”
Schubiner then
concluded: “There's also a big risk for the translation of online
harassment into direct physical violence. Trump's words and his actions have
normalized bigotry and harassment, and even political violence for a long time.
From the beginning of his campaign, he opened the door to normalizing
overt bigotry in politics and opened the door for bigoted and anti-democracy
groups like the “Proud Boys, and Oath Keepers, to play a much more prominent
role in our political system.”
More related:
· Trump is just daring the judge now:
Trump targets Chutkan in Truth Social attack
· Blatantly unlawful: Legal experts
say Trump is witness tampering in real time on Truth Social
· What's ahead for Trump: There's
literally no downside to him encouraging violence
My 2 Cents: Sorry for such a long post and with many sources, but I strongly believe it is the most-critically important topic to read and research.
This is perhaps the most-serious domestic issue of our time. How this ends or ceases is truly the $64,000 question isn’t it?
Donald J. Trump truly is a “Clear and Present Danger” to our very survival as the nation & country we have been for over 247 years.
Trump proves that beyond a reasonable doubt (at least in my opinion), and hopefully in yours and the juries who will listen to the evidence in his many trials, too and find him guilty. He has earned the results.
Thanks for stopping by.
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