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Quoted By: >>1345206
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/trump-fan-targets-maga-foes-with-menace-gets-away-with-it-2024-09-19/
Geoffrey Giglio was enraged by the July assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump. So, the 57-year-old Californian did what he's done so many times before: he lashed out in a series of threatening messages.
“You TRIED TO KILL Trump,” Giglio posted on President Joe Biden’s official Facebook page, alluding to false conspiracy theories suggesting Biden was complicit in the July 13 shooting. “I hope you swing someday – you deserve it.”
Next, Giglio phoned Colorado state legislator Steven Woodrow, a Democrat who was critical of Trump after the shooting. “I hope they pop your head” and “it turns you into a pink mist,” he said in a voicemail.
More recently, after listening to a broadcast by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, Giglio called U.S. Senator Cory Booker and threatened the New Jersey Democrat.
“You come for us, asshole, we’ll have to get rid of you filthy fucking progressive assfuckers,” Giglio said in a voicemail. Referring to Booker, who is Black, as a “filthy fucking negro,”
Giglio added: “This isn’t a threat, I could give a shit about you.”
Giglio is part of a potent phenomenon: far-right Trump supporters who use threats and menace to intimidate the former president’s opponents, but are careful to avoid language suggesting they’ll actually carry out violence – a key threshold for prosecution.
Giglio’s onslaught coincides with the greatest spike in political violence in decades, including the assassination attempt on Trump in July and another apparent attempt on his life Sunday. Those attacks underscore the risks of today’s incendiary political environment. While politically motivated threats are more prevalent on the right, according to academic studies, they occur across the ideological spectrum.
Geoffrey Giglio was enraged by the July assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump. So, the 57-year-old Californian did what he's done so many times before: he lashed out in a series of threatening messages.
“You TRIED TO KILL Trump,” Giglio posted on President Joe Biden’s official Facebook page, alluding to false conspiracy theories suggesting Biden was complicit in the July 13 shooting. “I hope you swing someday – you deserve it.”
Next, Giglio phoned Colorado state legislator Steven Woodrow, a Democrat who was critical of Trump after the shooting. “I hope they pop your head” and “it turns you into a pink mist,” he said in a voicemail.
More recently, after listening to a broadcast by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, Giglio called U.S. Senator Cory Booker and threatened the New Jersey Democrat.
“You come for us, asshole, we’ll have to get rid of you filthy fucking progressive assfuckers,” Giglio said in a voicemail. Referring to Booker, who is Black, as a “filthy fucking negro,”
Giglio added: “This isn’t a threat, I could give a shit about you.”
Giglio is part of a potent phenomenon: far-right Trump supporters who use threats and menace to intimidate the former president’s opponents, but are careful to avoid language suggesting they’ll actually carry out violence – a key threshold for prosecution.
Giglio’s onslaught coincides with the greatest spike in political violence in decades, including the assassination attempt on Trump in July and another apparent attempt on his life Sunday. Those attacks underscore the risks of today’s incendiary political environment. While politically motivated threats are more prevalent on the right, according to academic studies, they occur across the ideological spectrum.
