"Virtual Insanity to Real World Calamity: How Will Lies Power Domestic Terrorism in 2021?"

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Clint Watts
@selectedwisdom
"Virtual Insanity to Real World Calamity: How Will Lies Power Domestic Terrorism in 2021?" my first post at @SubstackInc an assessment of today's domestic extremism landscape https://clintwatts.substack.com/p/virtual-insanity-to-real-world-calamity?r=1dxl2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=twitter…
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https://clintwatts.substack.com/p/virtual-insanity-to-real-world-calamity

The January 6 mobilization and insurrection at the U.S. Capitol came later than many thought—at least for those watching the extremist corners of social media. Former President Trump, after assuming office in 2017, imbued in his supporters an alternative reality—a rival social media nation comprised of competing facts and erroneous narratives—impervious to counter-arguments, data, science and expertise. The former President’s lies and influential supporters’ conspiracies about election fraud led to the logical finale for his term. In Washington, D.C., on that first Wednesday of 2021, peaceful protestors, conspiracy theorists and violent extremists converged at a rally that devolved into a violent insurrection that killed a police officer, trampled Trump supporters, left pipe bombs on the doorsteps of the RNC and DNC headquarters, and momentarily paused the peaceful transfer of democratic power—a national embarrassment the likes the United States has never seen in its history.

As a result of the insurrection, there’s been a disturbance in the social media ecosystem. In the wake of January 6—and likely in response to a Democrat-majority Senate—social media companies de-platformed former President Trump and many extremist groups. Facebook and YouTube have purged many of the extremist groups that coalesced in groups and channels, while Apple, Google and Amazon shoved Parler, a central hub for extremist chatter headed into January 6, from their app stores and hosting services. Today, domestic extremists test the waters of many social media apps with limited moderation: Telegram, Gab, MeWe, Minds, Clouthub and others, seeking out a space to spout their hate, organize their manpower, and listen for direction as to where they should focus their anger and violence.

The wide swath of attendees and the most aggressive insurrectionists ascending the steps of the Capitol are not a monolith. J.M. Berger, a foremost expert on these groups and author of the aptly titled book Extremism, adroitly pointed out in his mapping of online extremists that up through Inauguration Day, these were “far-right factions held in equipoise between cooperation and competition by their shared support for Trump.”

The Wolverine Watchmen members apprehended for their plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the presumed QAnon adherents arrested outside a Philadelphia vote counting location, and the hundreds charged for a violent insurrection on January 6—they come from many ideological persuasions, but share receptiveness to direction from former President Trump as to where and when to mobilize.

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1. The large group of young stochastic haters didn't come from a vacuum

Looking at the two charts reveals what effect the destruction of social safety nets has had. For too long we have moved away from programs that identify and assist vulnerable people and instead pump more resources into after-the-fact processes, doing nothing until it becomes a law enforcement problem. The reaction strains resources. More jails, more police, more agencies, and more restrictions on everyone was the chosen direction. Then there weren't enough funds for the preventive programs, their budgets dwindled and sometimes disappeared, vocational training and other avenues offered in mainstream education did too. Ultimately continuing in this direction until everyone is jailed, destined to be jailed, or working as a jailer isn't a solution. When does it end?