Threats on Gab, Truth Social, and other pro-Trump social media sites have proliferated against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who authorized the FBI search of Mar-A-Lago, former-president Donald Trump’s Florida home, and Judge Bruce Reinhart, who signed the search warrant, have resulted in warnings to local law enforcement and increased vigilance. Many of the attacks have referenced the Jewish identity of both men.
“The torrent of antisemitic vitriol against them has raised concerns that Trump’s base, which has already shown potential for violence, could channel that rhetoric into action,” Oren Segal, vice president of the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League, told The Forward. While the threats against Reinhart and Garland specifically reference their Jewishness, other calls for violence invoke long-standing conspiracy theories of Jewish control over the government, The Forward said.
“I don’t think Mar-a-Lago means Jewish people need to keep their heads on a swivel,” Segal said. “I think we’re in a particularly dangerous time in this country, and everybody should be concerned.”
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