In a predictable turn of events this week, right-wing, pro-Trump voices seized upon a relatively standard allowance for the use of deadly force in the course of conducting a search/seizure to claim unique, dangerous targeting of the former president. It’s all specifically in the context of the federal search late last year of Trump’s Florida property Mar-a-Lago in the course of what became Trump’s criminal case on classified documents charges.
“The Biden DOJ and FBI were planning to assassinate Pres Trump and gave the green light,” falsely claimed a new post from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on social media.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), an outspoken member of the House Judiciary Committee, accused Greene of seeking to incite violence.
“This lie is so dangerous,” Swalwell said. “Its intent is to inspire violence against President Biden and Democrats in a perverted sense of self-defense. MAGA can’t win with votes so they choose violence.”
This situation isn’t the only context in which such a connection might be drawn. Greene herself has helped lead MAGA’s relentless support for Capitol riot defendants who have criminal accusations tracing to the pro-Trump attack on the Capitol in early 2021, and many of those individuals were accused specifically of violence against police. A significant share have admitted to the allegations, even as Trump himself also proposes help for such figures in the form of presidential pardons or something similar if he regains the White House this year. And Trump often makes no substantial distinction among Capitol riot defendants amid such discussions, suggesting that he’d be as likely to pardon someone who attacked police as someone with non-violent charges.
