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Right-wing extremist chatter spreads on new platforms as threat of political violence ramps up – POLITICO

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With the threat of future political violence looming, a surge in online extremist chatter is increasingly taking place in private groups and encrypted messaging apps with little, if any, rules about what is posted.

Law enforcement nationwide is on high alert after last week’s riot at the Capitol, with reports suggesting that several extremist groups have planned armed demonstrations across the country to protest the end of Donald Trump’s presidency.

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But the severity of the threat is increasingly hard to ascertain, in part because of the crackdown that authorities have already put in place on message boards. That crackdown has driven would-be insurrectionists further underground and scattered their activity across innumerable platforms, including one — TikTok — that’s best known as a hub for teens to share videos.

The diffuse, chaotic nature of the online chatter has fed into a climate of fear. Ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, the FBI has reportedly warned law enforcement agencies across the country to be on high alert for potentially violent protests in all 50 states over the next few weeks, and has gathered intelligence about an armed group planning to travel to D.C. to stage an uprising on the day of the inauguration. The Pentagon, meanwhile, has authorized up to 15,000 National Guardsmen from around the country to deploy to D.C. to support local law enforcement ahead of and on January 20.

Rep. Conor Lamb (D-PA) said on Tuesday morning that he and other lawmakers have been briefed about potential plots surrounding the inauguration. “They were talking about 4,000 armed ‘patriots’ to surround the Capitol and prevent any Democrat from going in,” he said. “They have published rules of engagement, meaning when you shoot and when you don’t. So this is an organized group that has a plan. They are committed to doing what they’re doing because I think in their minds, you know, they are patriots and they’re talking about 1776 and so this is now a contest of wills.”

Complicating efforts to tamp down on the extremism is the decentralized and chaotic nature in which it is spreading. Countless posters — few of which are directly linked to publicly-known extremist groups — have proliferated through extremist channels and social media, listing dates, times, and specific locations for people to gather in violent protest against the so-called “stolen” election, primarily at state capitols and federal landmarks.

TikTok videos from influencers bearing the Three Percenters logo as their avatar, referring to the anti-government militia movement, are hyping up future protests — even going so far as to publish videos of them collecting ammunition and guns, while playing doctored audio suggesting that Trump wants them to target his vice president, Mike Pence.

On Gab and Telegram, two fringe networks frequented by white nationalist and other extremist groups, mysteriously-originated videos of military personnel walking around American cities have also gone viral, with social media users either questioning if such activity was part of support for Donald Trump’s presidency or efforts by the government to clamp down on people’s constitutional rights.

In this milieu several different movements have emerged: the Million Militia March, with a flag sanctifying the QAnon supporter who died while storming the Capitol last week; Patriot Action for America, which called for tens of thousands of “patriots” to stop Democrat lawmakers from entering the Capitol on the 16th and 17th; or just simply a generic march to take back America, with attendees free to fill in the blanks as they wish. The concern among extremism monitors is that much like the Stop the Steal rally became a magnet for militia members and conspiracy theorist groups — even without the explicit encouragement of the event’s organizers in the professional MAGA activist class — so too will these events.

The promotion of the events has come to the attention of prominent, pro-Trump conservative outlets and figures, who have offered a range of responses, including skepticism that they might be false flag operations organized by antifa and other leftists groups.

Much of the online confusion has been driven by large social networks clamping down on the most extreme of material appearing on their sites. Along with banning Donald Trump, Facebook and Twitter have both stopped far-right hashtags from trending and have removed scores of posts promoting potential violence ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration.

Without the largest social media networks to rely on, far-right campaigners initially turned to Parler, the conservative app, to vent their anger and frustration and potentially plan for further action. The digital platform was used to organize some of the violence associated with the Capitol Hill riots on Jan. 6 and became a central rallying place for Trump supporters who still believed in debunked voter fraud claims stemming from the November election, based on a review of online posts by POLITICO.

But in the wake of last week’s violence, Google and Apple quickly banned Parler from appearing in their app stores, and Amazon — whose cloud computing business underpins how many digital services work — kicked the company from its servers. Parler subsequently filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.

In this void, many fringe groups have turned to TikTok.

Since the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riots, pro-militia groups have flooded the Chinese-owned video-sharing service, promoting voter fraud conspiracy theories and accusing Pence of betraying Trump by overseeing the certification of the Electoral College vote, according to Ciaran O’Connor, a disinformation researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based think tank that tracks online hate speech.

Multiple TikTok users posted audio clips of Trump speaking that were doctored to make it appear that he was criticizing the current vice president. Often, the posts were labeled: “Mike Pence is Traitor.” Viral images of the recent Capitol Hill riots, including incendiary claims that more violence was in store, quickly garnered large amounts of online views on the site.

Other TikTok users went even further to claim the president was about to institute martial law. The hashtag InsurrectionAct, in reference to false claims that Trump had already called in the military, currently has more than 4.4 million views, collectively, on the social media platform.

“TikTok is acting as an echochamber for people’s grievances,” said O’Connor. “A lot of this material is being created to promote Three Percenter or pro-militia activity.”

In response, TikTok said it was reviewing the posts that POLITICO had flagged, adding that content or accounts that incited or promoted violence would be removed.

But the app is far from the only place where these groups and individuals are congregating and posting. Many, fearing scrutiny from law enforcement, have gone dark. As early as November, hardcore extremist groups retreated to invite-only message boards and encrypted messaging apps, such as Telegram, as they began organizing events to protest Trump’s loss. The growth of CB apps — named after CB radio, the informal frequencies truckers use to communicate with each other — has made it easier for them to coordinate activity in real time.

Though fewer people outside those networks can become radicalized as a result of the use of invite-only boards, extremism researchers have found it more difficult to track these groups as a result. They expressed hope that law enforcement — with their ability to execute warrants and superior technology — was zeroing in on these entities nonetheless.

“Most who research this space are in favor of removal because we don’t want to usher in the next generation of supremacists [simply] because we wanted to monitor it,” said Joan Donovan, research director for the Harvard Shorenstein Center, which studies and monitors the spread of disinformation and extremist ideology online. “There are trade offs in every field of research, but this is an issue that requires real action.”

It is possible that the sudden surge of law enforcement interest might frighten and deter potential attendees from coming to state and national protests. After FBI officials and other federal agencies were able to swoop in and arrest attendees of last week’s event at the Capitol — even going so far as to put potential suspects whom they found on social media on no-fly lists leaving Washington — it became clear to the wider world of MAGA supporters that they were risking severe consequences.

Some militia groups have tried distancing themselves from their own events.

The Boogaloo Bois, an anti-government far right militia, attempted to cancel an event they’d organized for the 17th. But even as they warned that “mainstream headlines” had drawn too much attention to their march, they noted that anyone who wanted to protest that day could bring weapons if they wished: “If you can carry legally, you can carry.”

In an ironic twist, right-wing media outlets, professional MAGA influencers, and pro-Trump social media groups are now warning their members to avoid these events, albeit with their own conspiratorial spin: that they are acutally false flag operations, either created by the government in an attempt to silence conservatives and strip away their Second Amendment rights, or by leftist antifa plotters hoping to make the MAGA movement look bad, or even by the Chinese government in conjunction with the elites.

“Do not go to capitols armed, do not be part of the demonstrations on January 20th. It’s run by the globalists,” warned Infowars’s Alex Jones on Tuesday. “There isn’t some secret plan to overthrow things so Trump wins. All you’re doing is cementing things as domestic terrorists, so Biden can cement a new Patriot Act and come after you.”

Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report.

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Larry David shares how he feels about Trump – CNN

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Larry David shares how he feels about Trump

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David shares how he feels about former President Donald Trump and the 2020 election. Watch the full episode of “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace,” streaming March 29 on Max.


03:21

– Source:
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Trump's claims on crime rates clash with police data – NBC News

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Surging crime levels, out-of-control Democratic cities and “migrant crime.”

Former President Donald Trump regularly cites all three at his campaign rallies, in news releases and on Truth Social, often saying President Joe Biden and Democrats are to blame.

But the crime picture Trump paints contrasts sharply with years of police and government data at both the local and national levels.

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FBI statistics released this year suggested a steep drop in crime across the country last year. It’s a similar story across major cities, with violent crime down year over year in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

NBC News analyzed crime data to evaluate Trump’s assertions about the topic.

U.S. and big city crime rates

Trump’s campaign often refers to crime levels, regularly pointing the finger at Biden.

“On Joe Biden’s watch, violent crime has skyrocketed in virtually every American city,” the campaign said in a news release published this month on its site.

Trump himself has made similar remarks.

“Four years ago, I told you that if crooked Joe Biden got to the White House, our borders would be abolished, our middle class would be decimated and our communities would be plagued by bloodshed, chaos and violent crime,” Trump said in a speech last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “We were right about everything.”

Government figures don’t support that characterization.

Reported violent crime dropped 6% across the board when comparing the last three months of 2022 to the same period in 2023, the FBI reported.

The reported drops were especially pronounced in the big cities that Trump often assails, many of which have Democratic mayors. Violent crime dropped by 11% in cities with populations of 1 million or more, according to FBI data, while murders dropped by 20%, rape was down 16%, and aggravated assault fell by 11%.

Reached for comment, the Trump campaign pointed to other reports indicating that certain types of crimes increased in specific cities.

At the national level, the reported rate of violent crime in 2022, the most recent full year with comprehensive FBI data, was 380.7 offenses per 100,000 people. That’s lower than the overall reported violent crime rate from 2020 — the last full year Trump was in office — when the figure was at 398.5.

The lowest reported violent crime rate of Trump’s presidency was in 2019, when the metric was at 380.8 — in line with the 2022 rate.

The FBI said it will release more comprehensive 2023 crime data in October, just before the election.

The Trump campaign, reached for comment, cited certain categories of violent crime, such as motor vehicle theft, as having increased during the Biden administration, according to FBI figures.

“Joe Biden is trying to convince Americans not to believe their own eyes,” campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, adding that “Democrats have turned great American cities into cesspools of bloodshed and crime.”

New York City crime

Trump, who was born and raised in New York but now lives in Florida, often rails against what he portrays as an increasing crime rate in his former hometown.

Those references to soaring violence have only increased as he faces criminal charges in New York accusing him of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty in that case, must also post a $175 million bond to prevent state Attorney General Letitia James from collecting the judgment from a New York civil fraud case.

“I did nothing wrong, and New York should never be put in a position like this again,” Trump posted on Truth Social about the civil judgment in all capital letters. “Businesses are fleeing, violent crime is flourishing, and it is very important that this be resolved in its totality as soon as possible.”

In a separate post, he claimed that “murders & violent crime hit unimaginable records” in the city.

However, major crimes in New York City are down this year by 2.3%, according to police department data comparing year-to-date figures to the same period in 2023.

Those figures for last year were also far below the highs from recent decades. In 1990, more than 527,000 major crimes were reported, compared to more than 126,000 last year, according to New York police data — a drop of more than 75%.

In 2001, more than 162,000 major crimes were reported in New York. The figure dropped by more than 20% over the next two decades.

At the same time, New York City data indicates that the number of major crimes increased in the past few years, though reported violent crimes like murder and rape were down last year from previous years.

‘Migrant crime’

Trump’s dehumanizing language about migrants has become a mainstay of his political speeches since he first sought office in 2015.

In a news release this month, his campaign said the “border Crisis has created a tragic surge in violent crime against innocent American citizens at the hands of some of the world’s most violent criminals.”

Trump has also focused his energy on high-profile cases such as the death of Laken Riley, who was killed in Georgia while jogging. The suspect is a Venezuelan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally in 2022.

“Every day, innocent citizens are being killed, stabbed, shot, raped and murdered because of Biden migrant crime,” Trump said in a video posted to his campaign’s X account last week.

However, there is no evidence of a migrant-driven crime wave in the U.S., according to local police department data.

Crime reports have decreased in several major cities targeted by Texas’ Operation Lone Star, a program backed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott that flies or buses migrants from the state to Democratic-run cities across the U.S.

Several of those cities — New York, Chicago, Washington and Philadelphia — have had decreases in year-to-date reported crime totals compared to the same period last year.


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Federal government promising a 'renters' bill of rights' in upcoming budget – CBC.ca

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government will introduce new measures — including a new “bill of rights” — that he says will help protect those who rent their homes as part of the upcoming budget.

Trudeau said the new measures are specifically geared toward younger people, who are renting more than previous generations.

“It’s about changing the rules of the game in a way that meets young people where they are,” he said on Wednesday.

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Ottawa will work with provinces and territories to develop a “renters’ bill of rights” that would introduce a national standard lease agreement and implement requirements for landlords to disclose an apartment’s pricing history to allow tenants to negotiate their rent.

The new measures will also include a $15-million fund for provincial legal aid organizations that help tenants fight against “renovictions” and landlord abuse.

The Liberals are also proposing to change federal rules so that making rental payments on time will count toward someone’s credit scores, something Trudeau said is meant to help renters looking to one day buy a house.

“If you look at someone who pays a $2,000 [per month] mortgage, they’re getting recognition and credit for that from their bank as part of their credit score,” the prime minister said.

“But if you’re paying $2,000 a month on rent, you get no kudos.”

Typically the government doesn’t discuss what is in an annual budget until it is introduced in the House of Commons. But the announcement was made weeks prior to the release of the Liberals’ next budget, which is slated to drop on April 16.

Releasing tidbits from the budget ahead of time is part of a new communications strategy for the Liberals, sources told CBC News. Trudeau and his ministers are expected to make a number of similar announcements in the run-up to the budget, the sources said.

WATCH | Trudeau says new measures aim to help tenants: 

Liberals promise ‘renters’ bill of rights’ to fight housing crisis

5 hours ago

Duration 2:07

The Liberals are looking to create a ‘renters’ bill of rights’ to help deal with Canada’s housing crisis. Justin Trudeau says the plan is geared toward younger people suffering from a rising cost of living. The Conservatives call the measures meaningless.

Before revealing the planned rental measures on Wednesday, Trudeau took a moment to plug the April 16 fiscal plan, saying that the budget will be about “fairness.”

“For Canada to succeed, we need everyone to succeed,” he said.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland joined Trudeau for his announcement and hinted about further announcements ahead of budget day.

“Over the coming days and in the April budget, we are going to launch a no-holds-barred plan to wrestle down the cost of owning and renting a home,” she said.

Wednesday’s announcements came on the same day that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released a report that found a surge in new apartment construction drove housing start increases in several major Canadian cities last year.

But the report also cautions that demand continues to outweigh supply.

The opposition Conservatives, who have enjoyed a healthy lead in recent polls, have made housing — and other cost-of-living issues — a key point of attack against the governing Liberals.

Following his announcement, Trudeau was asked whether he thinks he bears any responsibility for people feeling left behind in the current economy and whether the new measures would be enough to convince younger people to support him in the next election.

In response, Trudeau suggested that a recent rise in the cost of living is not unique to Canada.

“Young people who are key to our present, and obviously key to our future, are seeing a system that is stacked against them. That’s true in Canada but also true elsewhere around the world,” he said. “What we’re focused on now is making sure that young people can see their success in the economy.”

Opposition parties criticize Liberal announcement

Scott Aitchison, the Conservative housing critic, said Wednesday’s announcement was Liberal posturing that won’t get results.

“Today’s photo op is just another set of meaningless measures that won’t result in building the homes Canadians need,” he said in a statement.

NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan criticized the announcement for not going far enough.

“The Liberals are so out of touch with what Canadian renters are experiencing that they keep offering half-measures instead of a real action,” Kwan said in a statement.

The NDP is calling on the government to invest more in affordable housing while temporarily preventing for-profit firms from buying designated affordable-housing spaces.

WATCH | Liberal government promises better protections for renters in upcoming budget: 

Liberal government promises better protections for renters in upcoming budget

9 hours ago

Duration 11:39

The Liberal government unveiled three new proposals Wednesday to better protect renters in Canada. Power & Politics speaks to Marci Ien, minister of women, gender equality and youth, about the proposed protections.

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