San Diego Free Press

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Terror by Mail, Riots, and Refugees: Anxiety As a Political Weapon

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This is a developing story and will be updated as events dictate.

I’ll say right up front that I don’t believe anybody with a direct connection to the Trump administration has anything to do with the bombs mailed to George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Maxine Waters, Eric Holder, and CNN.

I will instead direct readers to the definition of stochastic terrorism, namely the use of mass communications to stir up random lone wolves to carry out violent or terrorist acts that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable.

All Trump and his gang have done is to stir the pot. All the intended recipients of these packages have been singled out by the President duting campaign rallies and Tweets in recent weeks.  

He’s been touring the country calling  Democrats “truly evil people;” calling out CNN as the “enemy of the people and even conjuring up claims Californians are rioting over fears of immigrants flooding their cities with crime.

His son shared (and he re-tweeted) a social media post claiming billionaire George Soros is funding a threat to the national security of the country, namely a caravan of people 1000 miles from the US, walking north on foot. (You’d think a billionaire’s funding could get them here faster than the 150 days it’s estimated the journey will take.)  

Facebook’s top ten stories, according to CrowdTangle, over the last 72 hours all falling into the catagory of fear mongering about the migrant caravan are from Fox, Breitbart, Daily Wire, the Daily Caller and Judicial Watch, all outlets promoting right wing spin.

Indicted Congressman Duncan Hunter’s campaign is running ads suggesting his opponent is a Muslim/terrorist seeking to infiltrate the government.

From the Washington Post:

In recent weeks, Trump and other Republicans have tried to cast Democrats as the party of the “mob” and attempted to link specific candidates to radical figures on the left.

In Minnesota’s rural 1st District, the National Republican Congressional Committee has repeatedly tied Dan Feehan, an Army veteran who received the Bronze Star, to leftist Antifa activists who’ve clashed with right-wing protesters and police.

“Feehan works at a liberal organization bankrolled by George Soros, chief financier of the global left and anti-American causes,” says a narrator in one spot, as the sound of smashing glass plays over images of anarchist protesters.

The spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association is saying supporters may need to bring guns to the polls to protect themselves from progressives.

Thank you, Eva! This is the correct attitude to have about this.

When the inevitable pushback occurs, it gets deflected with reference to politicians getting harassed in restaurants.

So they keep spouting this crap, wait for the inevitable, and then deny it and do it again.  That’s stochastic terrorism as surely as when Bin Laden did it.

Individuals and organizations not targeted by mailed bombs are impacted, as happened with evacuations of the San Diego Union Tribune and the local offices for Senator Kamala Harris.

In the case of the bomb mailed to former Attorney General Eric Holder, the address was incorrect. The return address it was ultimately delivered to was to Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. A photograph of the package sent to CNN shows the return address.

There will be more bombs in the coming days as copy cats decide this is the moment for their 15 minutes of fame.

How do I know? Read the comments following any of the news stories covering these wannabe terrorist attacks.

On Tuesday, after Fox News reported the discovery of an explosive device targeting billionaire George Soros on Twitter, real people–not bots– like David Slavico, Jr from New Jersey, Michael Ocvirek of Pennsylvania, and Sandy Hagan of Tenneseee replied approvingly about someone seemingly trying to kill the 88-year-old financier, who was not at home at the time that the device was discovered.

Every one of these incidents has been followed by outbursts on social media–particularly Twitter–either saying violence against those targeted was justified or this was a “false flag” operation.

And there’s plenty of hate to go around, even in California. 

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Doug Porter

Doug Porter

Doug Porter was active in the early days of the alternative press in San Diego, contributing to the OB Liberator, the print version of the OB Rag, the San Diego Door, and the San Diego Street Journal. He went on to have a 35-year career in the Hospitality business and decided to go back into raising hell when he retired. He won numerous awards for his columns from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Doug is a cancer survivor (sans vocal chords) and lives in North Park.

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