After an Australian white supremacists went on a killing rampage against two mosques in New Zealand, murdering over 40 in the process, we've learned that the killer was an admirer of Donald Trump. Specifically, in his "manifesto" (i.e. his crazy logs) he praised Donald Trump as a "symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose."
So let's call call what happened in New Zealand what it is: a product of the Trump Effect.
No one should be surprised. Words from the President of the United States matter. Today, after two years of Trump in the White House, we know that every extremist killing in the United States in 2018 had links to right-wing extremism.
What's worse, two-thirds of terror attacks in the U.S. last year were carried out by like-minded zealots and bigots. This didn't come out of nowhere. Remember Trump's campaign rhetoric?
Here's the point. Words matter. Trump's been upping the ante on divisive speech ever since he entered the White House. Just this week, Donald Trump said that his "friends" in the military, police and biker groups might have to get "tough" on Democrats and his political opponents in the future.
Where does that come from?
And, yeah, that was a dog whistle.
If you need to know about the limits on free speech - and why Trump is dangerously reckless and, yes, should be held liable on the issue - click here.
- Mark
Oh, I forgot to put this in the post ...
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