Tick, tick, tick….
Florida man Cesar Sayoc was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2019 for sending over two dozen inoperative pipe bombs to perceived enemies of then-President Donald Trump. None exploded. No one was injured. His intended victims were lucky.
Politics in the U.S. is not yet full-on blood sport, but there are days it trends that way. Taunts, red hats, belligerence and semi-autos are at any moment inches away from mayhem. People have had to go into hiding over viral accusations disseminated both by social media, propaganda outlets such as Fox News, and political figures such as Donald Trump. The right-wing media complex has yet to feel enough pain in its pocket to pull back from provoking its audience to credible threats of violence. In the case of the Jan. 6 insurrection, it was actual violence.
One victim of Tucker Carlson gets a profile this morning in The New York Times:
What’s known about the man — a two-time Trump voter named Ray Epps — is that he took part in demonstrations in Washington that day and the night before. He was captured on camera urging a crowd to march with him and enter the Capitol. But at other points, he pleads for calm once it becomes clear the situation is turning violent. He can be seen moving past a line of Capitol Police at the barricades, but never actually goes inside the Capitol.
Federal prosecutors have not charged Mr. Epps with a crime, focusing instead on the more than 1,000 other demonstrators who acted violently or were trespassing in the Capitol. The Justice Department’s sprawling investigation into the attack remains open, however, and Mr. Epps could still be indicted.
Yet for more than 18 months, Mr. Carlson insisted that the lack of charges against Mr. Epps could mean only one thing: that he was being protected because he was a secret government agent. There was “no rational explanation,” Mr. Carlson told his audience, why this “mysterious figure” who “helped stage-manage the insurrection” had not been charged.
Epps and his wife have had to sell their Arizona business and go into hiding in another state after receiving death threats from people who believe the conspiracy theory. The couple plans to sue Fox News for defamation:
Now lawyers representing Mr. Epps and his wife are proceeding with plans to sue Fox News for defamation. “We informed Fox in March that if they did not issue a formal on-air apology that we would pursue all available avenues to protect the Eppses’ rights,” said Michael Teter, a lawyer for Mr. Epps who sent the network a cease-and-desist letter asking for an on-air apology and a retraction. After Mr. Teter did not hear from Fox about his request, he began to prepare the suit. “That remains our intent.”
Mr. Epps declined to comment on his potential suit. A Fox News spokeswoman declined to comment.
It is unclear whether such a suit would possess enough merit to move forward.
Epps and his wife are not alone (Newsweek):
The family members of the federal attorneys prosecuting former President Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case are “at risk” due to death threats, former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade warned on Saturday.
[…]
Prosecutors handling the case are now facing threats and harassment, according to a Washington Post report published on Thursday. The newspaper reported that some Trump supporters have posted the names and personal details of individual prosecutors online despite DOJ efforts to keep that information hidden.
McQuade told Newsweek in a statement on Saturday that threats to prosecutors risk “the lives of public servants” and send “a dangerous message about the rule of law.”
New York Attorney General Tish James, also investigating Trump and his corporation, has received death threats. As has Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis. As have mother and daughter Georgia election workers accused by Trump of manipulating ballot counts. And others in Arizona.
McQuade told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” (Raw Story):
“This is not normal,” McQuade said. “From time to time, prosecutors do get death threats, maybe based on someone they’re prosecuting, but I think we’ve reached a whole different era when we’re sort of crowdsourcing these threats. Any time former president Donald Trump says these things about witch hunts and hoaxes, calling for the defunding of [the Department of Justice], there is the risk that someone out there is going to hear that and take matters into their own hands and go after these line career prosecutors.”
Authorities have never captured the person who left pipe bombs at the Democratic and Republican national headquarters properties ahead of Jan. 6, 2021. Those devices were viable, says the FBI.
People like Trump, Carlson, and others are playing with fire. What’s even more nuts is that Trump’s campaign for president is viable.