Convicted former President Donald Trump’s supporters have taken to pro-Trump websites, including his Truth Social platform, Patriots.Win, and the Gateway Pundit, to express their outrage and call for violent retribution. A Reuters review of these websites revealed dozens of menacing comments, with some advocating for attacks on jurors and the execution of the presiding judge, Justice Juan Merchan. One post on Patriots.Win suggested that “someone in NY with nothing to lose” should “take care of Merchan,” while another on Gateway Pundit called for shooting liberals.
Threats of violence have escalated since Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, which he falsely claims was stolen. As he campaigns for a second White House term, Trump has baselessly labeled the judges and prosecutors in his trials as corrupt tools of the Biden administration. In response, his loyalists have engaged in a campaign of threats and intimidation against judges and court officials.
After Thursday’s guilty verdict, many of Trump’s supporters expressed their belief that the American political system is broken and that only violent action can save the country. One poster on Patriots.win advocated for “1,000,000 men (armed)” to “go to Washington and hang everyone,” while another suggested that Trump should “already know he has an army willing to fight and die for him if he says the words.” Other posts specifically urged targeting Democrats, with one Gateway Pundit commentator writing, “AMERICA FULLY DESTROYED BY DEMOCRATS. LOCK AND LOAD.”
While most of the comments identified by Reuters fall short of the legal standard for a prosecutable threat, experts warn that the guilty verdict could inspire violence by reinforcing a conviction among some of Trump’s supporters that he is a victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by his enemies. Amy Cooter of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies’ Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism said, “I do think a lot of these folks have been looking for an excuse to maybe mobilize for a while. I hope I’m wrong. I’ve said for a long time, though, that I would not be shocked to see violence result from a guilty verdict, either directed toward the jurors or others connected to the case.”
Despite the violent rhetoric, all three websites where the posts were found have policies against violent language, and some of the comments have been removed. Representatives of Patriots.Win and Gateway Pundit did not respond to requests for comment, and a Trump spokesperson also did not respond to an email seeking comment.
