Should these extremists be on some sort of watch-list?
Quote:
But this October morning was “Trumpstock,” a small festival celebrating the president. The speakers included the local Republican congressman, Paul Gosar, and lesser-known conservative personalities. There was a fringe 2020 Senate candidate in Arizona who ran a website that published sexually explicit photos of women without their consent; a pro-Trump rapper whose lyrics include a racist slur aimed at Barack Obama; and a North Carolina activist who once said of Muslims, “I will kill every one of them before they get to me.”
...
“I don’t have a problem with Muslims,” said Angus Smith, an Arizona resident who attended the festival, “but can they take the rag off their head out of respect for our country?”
...
“If you’re Muslim, just tell us you’re Muslim,” she said of Mr. Obama. “It’s not that I didn’t believe him, I’m just not qualified to answer that question. I’ve seen information on both sides that’s compelling.”
...
Mark Villalta said he had been stockpiling firearms, in case Mr. Trump’s re-election is not successful.
“Nothing less than a civil war would happen,” Mr. Villalta said, his right hand reaching for a holstered handgun. “I don’t believe in violence, but I’ll do what I got to do.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/28/u...rumpstock.html
Obviously, these particular people are just a buncha tryhards. Equally obviously, they're also Islamophobic extremists with a penchant for pro-violence rhetoric. When people such as these openly—publicly!—express a desire to kill members of religious minorities, or to kill their political opponents if said opponents prevail in a (more or less) democratic election, are they placed on some sort of watch-list? Subjected to additional scrutiny when they buy firearms? Monitored for unusual financial activity or movements? If not, should they be? What's the present standard for dealing with Americans who express such violent extremist views? Again, I think the majority of these ludicrous fuckwits are just Lewkowskian posers, but I can't help but wonder what might happen to a brown Muslim man if he were to say similar things.
