Trump is 'setting the stage for a kind of pro-Trump paramilitary force': analyst https://www.rawstory.com/trump-militia-2024/ According to MSNBC political analyst Zeeshan Aleem, Donald Trump's claim that he will pardon the Jan. 6 rioters if he is re-elected in 2024 is nothing less than a recruitment pitch for another Capitol insurrection with true believers thinking they will be absolved of all criminal acts if they help him take control of the government. Earlier in the week, the former president told far-right Newsmax host Wendy Bell that he has been financially supporting some of the Jan. 6 rioters and then said of them, "It’s a disgrace what they’ve done to them... if I win, I will be looking very, very strongly about pardons, full pardons.” According to Aleem, those comments not only give hope to those who have been convicted of rioting and damage to property, among other charges but will be seen as a promise to another wave of his defenders who want to see him installed in the Oval Office again. As the analyst notes: "Trump is sending out a signal — one which his most devoted supporters will surely take note of." "Trump is not only continuing to defend the transgressions of Jan. 6, but also intensifying his commitment to take care of its perpetrators should he achieve presidential power again. Implicit in these pledges is another one: that he will look to take care of anyone who helps him next time around," Aleem predicted. Such encouragement by the former president will likely set in motion the development of a pro-Trump militia with two years of planning in front of them should he run -- and lose -- again. "It could be argued Trump is effectively setting the stage for a kind of pro-Trump paramilitary force in the future. Of course he will remain as undisciplined as ever if he actually runs for office, and he’s too sloppy and noncommittal to do something like operate a militia. But there are right-wing militant organizations he can expect to play an organizing role, and he’s now implying that legal immunity and possible financial compensation await those who are willing to do whatever it takes to help him secure victory," The analyst wrote before warning, "We don’t need to succumb to alarmism about this, but these signals should be taken seriously. Recent history tells us that his devotees listen." You can read the whole piece here.
I don’t know about that. I live in a state with a lot of active military and veterans. While some are MAGA Trumpers — there are a good portion who lean conservative but don’t support Trump.
Just razzing you man. You disappointed me a bit. I figured you would have googled and posted at least six links in response by now.
On my cell phone now — so no links. Sorry to disappoint you. I will note that Trump’s popularity among the military crowd appeared to nose dive after November 2020 when Trump & his cronies pushed the big lie and had a mob storm the Capitol. This is just my opinion based on conversations here in N.C.
I saw them abandon him when he decided not to issue pardons and went w/black rappers instead. Also after he pushed the vaccine. I wouldn't be so optimistic.
Yet another Trump-endorsed congressional candidate has ties to Nazis. GOP congressional candidate Joe Kent’s ties to white nationalists include interview with Nazi sympathizer https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/30/poli...hite-nationalists-nazi-sympathizer/index.html
Armed Fringe Groups Are Gearing Up to ‘Protect’ Midterm Ballot Dropboxes The groups, inspired by conspiracy theories and the Big Lie about the 2020 election, could deter some voters, experts warn. https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy7wvj/lions-of-liberty-oath-keepers-midterm-ballot-boxes A “patriot group” in Arizona called Lions of Liberty—which is closely tied to the Oath Keepers—is organizing their supporters to go out and conduct round-the-clock surveillance of ballot dropboxes during the midterm elections. It’s the latest sign that groups with clear ties to extremists, galvanized by conspiracy theories, are seeking to take matters into their own hands this election season. Ballot dropboxes have become the central focus of election fraud conspiracy theorists, thanks to the debunked documentary 2,000 Mules, by right-wing commentator Dinesh D’Souza. That film claims that a shadowy network of hired “mules” in contested states were hired by nonprofits as part of a giant ballot trafficking operation to stuff dropboxes with fake absentee ballots, all with the goal of stealing the 2020 election from Donald Trump. The film was released in May, six months before the midterms, reinvigorated the “Stop the Steal” movement and inspired vigilante efforts around the country—in some cases spearheaded by innocuous-sounding groups that obscure the known ideologues and extremists behind them. Lions of Liberty is the “political arm” of a newly-formed nonprofit called Yavapai County Preparedness Team (YCPT), led by the former vice president of Arizona’s Oath Keeper chapter, Jim Arroyo. At a meeting in August that was posted to YouTube, Arroyo explained that they had turned the Oath Keeper chapter into a corporate nonprofit under the name of YCPT, which in turn gave them the ability to get a bank account. In an email to VICE News, Arroyo said that the Arizona chapter officially broke ties with the national leadership of the notorious militia group after it was implicated in the violent riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6.(Five members are currently standing trial for seditious conspiracy charges, including the group’s leader Stewart Rhodes. Prosecutors allege that Rhodes and his cohort plotted an “armed rebellion to shatter a bedrock of American democracy.”) However, they had been operating more or less independently from the national organization for about four years, said Arroyo; Rhodes broke ties with the Arizona contingent after they declined to assist in armed vigilante activities at the border, out of respect for Border Patrol. Arroyo, who insists YCPT is not a militia, led that August meeting in an Oath Keepers hat and T-shirt.He explained to the crowd that he would need volunteers to monitor ballot drop boxes, and that he was particularly concerned about the period between midnight and 6 a.m. “If you saw the movie 2,000 Mules” he said, that timeframe was “when the bulk of the problems happen, that’s when we will be on scene with a camera and flashlight.” Arroyo told VICE News that some volunteers might be armed. “This is Arizona; almost everyone is armed, all the time,” he said. “That's not a big deal here.” Arroyo said he will likely pick up a couple of shifts to monitor dropboxes. In the August meeting, Arroyo assured members of the crowd that they’d be welcome to continue wearing their Oath Keepers merch, even while conducting ballot dropbox surveillance. “Your shirts and hats are what tell the world you’re not ashamed to be an Oath Keeper, or afraid of the government just because of that crap that happened on January the 6th, which was completely staged. It was a setup,” Arroyo said, before acknowledging, “Yeah, they did something stupid beyond all belief.” During the meeting, Arroyo also stoked fears of an imminent civil war. “This is not the same as (Black Lives Matter) and George Floyd or antifa. This is a direct confrontation with the federal government,” he said. “This is now the federal government of the United States of America in direct conflict with its own citizenry.” (Much more at above url)
This is nothing more than Trump and his surrogates raising an army of people whose intent is to disrupt the election. What is interesting is that there are states (mainly red ones) which allow the "watchers" to also be “challengers" who can stop you from voting for any excuse whatsoever. Even if you bring your passport and drivers license to prove your citizenship and home address -- these challengers can ignore the proof and demand that you not be allowed to cast your ballot. Obviously this "poll watcher" system needs significant reform when its intent becomes disrupting elections rather than insuring their smooth operation. 'Stop the steal' supporters train thousands of U.S. poll observers https://www.reuters.com/world/us/stop-steal-supporters-train-thousands-us-poll-observers-2022-10-13/ Inside the El Paso County clerk's office in Colorado, where officials had gathered in July to recount votes in a Republican nominating contest for this year's midterms, dozens of angry election watchers pounded on the windows, at times yelling at workers and recording them with cell phones. In the hallway a group prayed for "evil to descend" on the "election team," said the county's Republican clerk Chuck Broerman. "It's astonishing to me to hear something like that." The election watchers had showed up to observe a five-day recount of votes for four Republican candidates who claimed the primary was fraudulent in a contest where they faced other Republicans. Protesters had mobilized outside the clerk's office, holding signs with the signature "Stop the Steal" slogan of former President Donald Trump and demanding the county get rid of its voting machines. As the United States enters the final stretch to November’s midterm elections, Reuters documented multiple incidents of intimidation involving an expanding army of election observers, many of them recruited by prominent Republican Party figures and activists echoing Trump's false theories about election fraud. The widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election as alleged by Trump and his supporters was never proven. Interviews with more than two dozen election officials as well as representatives of groups driven by false theories about election fraud, and an examination of poll-watching training materials, revealed an intensifying grassroots effort to recruit activists. This has heightened alarm that disturbances in this year's primary contests could foreshadow problems in November's local, state and national races. Officials and experts worry the campaign will deepen the distrust about America's election process and lead to further harassment and threats to already besieged election workers. Election officials in three other states -- North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada -- reported similar incidents. In 16 North Carolina counties alone, officials noted unusually aggressive observers during May's primary elections, according to a state election board survey. Some attempted to take photographs of sensitive voting equipment or intimidated voters at polling places, in violation of North Carolina's election laws. During early voting in Arizona's Pima County, an election observer was told to put away binoculars; another was caught looking at private voter data, and another was asked to stop making comments about “fraudulent elections,” according to a September report by the county recorder's office reviewed by Reuters. State law forbids voter intimidation and obstructing election workers. Pima county recorder Gabriella Cazares-Kelly said her election staff received multiple complaints from voters that individuals were shouting at them from outside the 75-foot circumference around polling stations, where interaction with voters is banned. "The concern is it makes them feel unwelcome," said Cazares-Kelly. In Nevada's Washoe County, people with night vision goggles stood outside the registrar's building and aimed their cameras at election workers counting votes on primary night in June, two Washoe County officials told Reuters. Poll watchers have been a feature of American democracy since the 18th century, recruited by parties and candidates and regulated by state laws and local rules. People from both parties keep an eye on the voting - and each other - to make sure things go smoothly. In some places, poll “watchers” are different from “challengers,” who can point out people they suspect aren't legal voters. In other states, poll watchers also do the challenging. Groups that question the legitimacy of the 2020 vote have helped recruit thousands of observers who support dramatic changes to how Americans vote, including doing away with voting machines and returning to hand-counted paper ballots. Officials say they are concerned observers intent on rooting out so-called voter fraud could cause unnecessary disruptions and long lines at polling places on Election Day. "It's a real concern," said Al Schmidt, a former Philadelphia city commissioner who received death threats after the 2020 election for refuting false claims of voter fraud. "If these people show up to the polls with the intention of disrupting voting from taking place, then I can't imagine a worse threat to democracy than that." Sandy Kiesel, who heads the Election Integrity Force in Michigan, said her poll "challengers" will be trained to be "polite, respectful and to obey the law. "We're not about trying to hassle poll workers," Kiesel told Reuters. "It's about transparency. If we can all see what's going on, maybe we wouldn't have these arguments whether elections are free and fair." REPUBLICAN SUPPORT In early October, an election-denying group called Audit the Vote PA held a Zoom meeting with almost 80 people that was billed as a "deep dive" poll watcher training session. The Pennsylvania group says Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 win in the state was illegitimate. During the call, which Reuters attended, participants compared notes on how to observe the testing of voting machines and when a hand count of votes can be requested, and discussed the legality of taking photographs in polling locations. Toni Shuppe, Audit the Vote's CEO, declined multiple requests for an interview with Reuters, but confirmed the group is "focused on encouraging people to become poll watchers in the upcoming November midterms elections." Andrea Raffle, the Republican National Committee's director for election integrity in Pennsylvania, told participants on the call they had already filled 6,000 poll watcher positions in the state this year, compared with 1,000 in 2020. Raffle referred a request for comment to the RNC's national office. Election conspiracy groups also often appear at events with Republican officials, focused on recruiting volunteers to help watch the polls, according to the groups themselves and county officials. The Republican Party said it welcomes volunteers from many different groups, expects them to respect the law and to follow the party's training. "Our program is independent of anything else," said RNC spokesperson Danielle Alvarez. The RNC has been pouring resources into recruiting observers and workers since being freed from the restrictions of a court-ordered consent decree in 2018. It expects to have trained over 52,000 poll watchers and workers between November last year and the coming election; it said comparative numbers for past elections were unavailable. The consent decree, which sharply limited the party's ability to challenge voters' qualifications, was put in place after the RNC, during a 1981 governor’s race in New Jersey, engaged in intimidation tactics targeted at minority voters. A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee said they did not have a national number because state party offices manage their poll watcher recruitment. But the DNC says it has hired five staffers to work in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona and Texas to counter efforts to subvert the electoral process, including ballot counting and the certification of results. GROWING NUMBERS IN NORTH CAROLINA In North Carolina's rural Henderson County, as voters cast ballots in May's primary elections, aggressive groups turned up. Observers demanded to inspect voting machine tabulators in violation of state election laws. Others repeatedly grilled poll workers or demanded to take pictures inside voting stations. When told to stop, they said they were following guidance from a Republican Party lawyer, said Henderson County Election Director Karen Hebb. "It was stressful," she said. "If we refused to let the observers do something, they said you know you can be sued if you don't allow us." She contacted the sheriff's department after an observer trailed a poll worker's car from a polling site to the election board. She said the sheriff's office told her no laws had been broken. The Henderson County Sheriff's Office did not respond to requests for comment. In typical years, eight to 10 observers each from the Democrat and Republican parties would observe the county's elections, Hebb said. This year, she had nearly 30 Republican Party observers alone, compared to the usual number of Democrats. Some of the Republican observers later identified themselves as members of the North Carolina Election Integrity Team, a group linked to a nationwide effort led by lawyer Cleta Mitchell, a longtime Republican election lawyer and promoter of voter fraud theories who joined Trump's legal team in his effort to overturn the result of the 2020 elections. As head of the Election Integrity Network, Mitchell is training election observers and is trying to build grassroots networks of conservatives ahead of the midterms. In the first six months of 2022, her network hosted a series of training sessions for activists in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Arizona. Although Mitchell and other activists say the effort is nonpartisan, the project is funded by the Conservative Partnership Institute, a Washington nonprofit organization with deep ties to Trump's political network. Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, is listed as the organization’s “senior partner.” Trump’s political action committee, Save America, gave the group $1 million in 2021, campaign finance records show. Meadows and Mitchell did not return requests for comment. The prospect of scores of unofficial observers turning up at polls already convinced the election system is rigged and assuming election officials are corrupt is a "tinder box" that could easily explode, said Chris Harvey, Georgia’s election director in 2020. "People are passionate about politics, and if there's anger and confrontation at the polls, it gets ugly and really dangerous really quickly," he said.