'They Should Get the Death Penalty': The Far Right's History of Calling for the Execution of Political Opponents
During Tim Pool's podcast, Laura Loomer said opponents of Donald Trump 'should get the death penalty,' which is part of long history of the far right calling for the execution of political opponents.
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Laura Loomer, far right conspiracy theorist, recently said that the political opponents of Donald Trump 'should get the death penalty,' which is part of long history of the far right calling for the execution of political opponents.
During his recent podcast, Tim Pool said that if Donald Trump is elected he should imprison his political opponents: “should there be list of Democrats who need to go to jail? One hundred percent.” Laura Loomer responded that “not just jail, they should get the death penalty,” and seconds later the video feed abruptly stop broadcasting. After the interview, Loomer would claim that she was “talking about the people who staged the coup against Donald Trump,” and that “people who commit TREASON should get the legal punishment for TREASON, which is the DEATH PENALTY.” The video of the podcast “longer appears on YouTube, and was instead replaced with the disclaimer that it had been ‘removed by the uploader.’”
Both Pool and Loomer have a long history of engaging in violent rhetoric. Pool has repeatedly invoked the idea of civil war, including claiming that the FBI’s authorization of deadly force at Mar-A-Largo was “attempt to kill Trump or incite civil war,” claiming that any attempt to remove Trump as nominee is “act of civil war.” Loomer has repeatedly advocated for the dearth penalty, not only for perceived political opponents that she claims are guilty of treason, but for anyone who makes false allegations of rape and apparently for public nudity.
The more this type violent rhetoric is accepted within mainstream political discourse, the more it creates permission structures for individuals to engage in acts of real world violence. Calls for the execution of political opponents should be viewed as part of ongoing campaign which is laying the groundwork for possible acts of extremist violence in the future. As Ali Breland recently wrote in The Atlantic, “polemical rhetoric is reaching further into the mainstream, portending something dark. But it will probably take time to get there. Until then, there will likely be escalating moments—protests and other physical action in real life, not just online—to be heeded.”
‘I think these people should be publicly prosecuted and hung.’
In recent years, various types of individuals, from right-wing media personalities to Republican candidates for Congress, have called for the execution of political opponents. These statements have often been qualified with claims that their political opponents are guilty of treason.
Charlie Kirk, right-wing media personality and founder of Turning Point USA, during an episode of The Charlie Kirk Show said that Joe Biden “is a bumbling dementia filled Alzheimer's corrupt tyrant who should honestly be put in prison and/or given the death penalty for his crimes against America.”
Pearson Sharp, correspondent and commentator for the right-wing One America News Network (OAN), during a monologue on OAN asked rhetorically what should be the consequences for the “people who were responsible for overthrowing the election,” and Sharp answered: “America had a very good solution for dealing with such traitors — execution.”
Roger Stone, Republican political consultant and Trump ally, during an interview on Bubba The Love Sponge Show said that various leaders of federal law enforcement agencies should be “tried and convicted of treason, for which as you know, Bubba, the penalty is capital punishment. They must be hung by the neck until dead. That’s what the law says.”
Lin Wood, former attorney and right-wing conspiracy theorists, claimed that former Vice President Mike Pence had engaged in acts of treason, and to “Get the firing squads ready. Pence goes FIRST.” Also, during a speech at Rhema Bible College, Wood said: “They are killing our children, send them to jail. Put them in front of the firing squad. They are committing acts against humanity. The penalty for an act against humanity is death. Take them out.”
Josh Bernstein, right-wing political commentator, during an episode of The Josh Bernstein Show said that Congresswoman Ilhan Omar should be charged with “sedition, treason, marriage fraud, voter fraud, illegal campaign contributions, immigration fraud, and aiding and abetting our enemies,” and punctuated his comments with: “this bitch should be executed.”
Stew Peters, far right White Nationalists media personality, during an episode of The Stew Peters Show advocated for the criminal investigation and execution of Dr. Anthony Fauci. Peters rhetorical asked that if you want to hold Fauci accountable, how about “indict this guy on charges of crimes against humanity, and send him to the gallows? That’s what you should do.”
Elijah Schaffer, far right White Nationalist podcaster, during an episode of the Nightly Offensive said that “every single leader who’s involved in the replacement of white people in their own country should be hung by the state.”
Morgan Ariel, right-wing Christian social media influencer, during an interview on The Stew Peters Show said celebrities who advocate for vaccinations “should be publicly prosecuted and hung."
Alex Jones, far right conspiracy theorist, during an episode of the Alex Jones Show said that everyone involved in the development of the COVID vaccine should be executed, and “all the other tyrants and all the other would-be psychos and mad scientists need to see them jerking at the end of a rope for the millions they killed.”
Wayne Allyn Root, right-wing political commentator and conspiracy theorists, during an interview on The Mark Cox Show said that Hillary Clinton is guilty of treason, and that anyone guilty of treason should “go to jail for the rest of your life, or you get the death penalty.”
Carl Paladino, former Republican candidate for U.S. House in New York, during a radio interview said that Attorney General Merrick Garland “should be not only impeached he should probably, should be executed.” Paladino later walked back his remark, claiming he was just being “facetious.”
Mark Burns, current Republican primary candidate for U.S. House in South Carolina, told guest host Lauren Witzke during The Stew Peters Show that “we need to hold people for treason, start having some public hearings, and start executing people who are found guilty for their treasonous acts against the Constitution of the United States of America, just like they did back in 1776.”
‘You'll have alien corpses hanging from the border fence!’
The calls for violence and execution of political opponents have been echoed by commentators in various online spaces where the far right congregates, from online message boards such as 4chan and The Great Awakening to alternative social media such as Telegram and Gab.
On Patriots.win, the message board populated by the online MAGA community which began as the The Donald on Reddit, commenters indulged in violent fantasies including stock pilling guns and ammunition for a civil war, and calling for arrests and execution of perceived political enemies. In the thread announcing the conviction of Trump, one commenter wrote that “we can no longer live peacefully with Democrats.” Some were calling for violent retribution, including a commenter who wrote that “All involved need to be designated as traitors to America and banished from the country. The head of the snakes need to be executed.”
There have also been numerous calls for the execution of other targets, including members of the LGBTIQ community, undocumented immigrants, and anyone accused of crimes against minors. In the Texas vs U.S. channel on Telegram, there was a call to immediately “impose the death penalty on illegal immigrants,” which was followed by an ominous warning that if undocumented immigrants are not executed “Texans are going to take matters into their own hands and you'll have alien corpses hanging from the border fence!”
I just have one question ⁉️ Where's the United States Justice Department and the FBI⁉️
Please add Joe Oltmann to the List of the Infamous "Death to XXX". Oltmann, architect of the Dominion Voting System conspiracy, recently called for the Death of Biden. Previously, he called for the Deaths of Colorado Gov Jared Polis and Colorado SOS Jena Griswold.