Killing shows Trump losing control of fans triggered by violent rhetoric: analysis [View all]
Story by Kathleen Culliton • 2h Feb. 1
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Donald Trump is losing control over the unstable MAGA base his violent rhetoric pushes past the brink of sanity, and the proof is a decapitated federal worker’s head, a new analysis contends.
Salon’s Amanda Marcotte Thursday took a hard look at the disturbing news to come out of Pennsylvania Tuesday night when Justin Mohn, 33, posted YouTube video demanding violence against the government with his dead father’s head in full view. (Note: excerpt below, along with link.)
Marcotte acknowledges Mohn’s mental health problems, but argues there’s a bigger issue to blame.
“The people who spread hateful and violent rhetoric, starting with Donald Trump, know full well that unstable people are listening and will take this rhetoric as an excuse to act,” writes Marcotte. “In many cases, the loudmouths are counting on it.”
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More at link.
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Salon story, referred to above:
Right-wing violence hasn't disappeared, it's just gone local
A gruesome murder in Pennsylvania reminds us of the dangers of movements like MAGA and QAnon on a personal level
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
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If it wasn't for the head of his murdered father's body, a video posted on YouTube by Justin Mohn Tuesday night would be indistinguishable from much of what passes for "content" in the world of far-right social media. In the video titled "Call to Arms for American Patriots," the 33-year-old resident of suburban Pennsylvania raved about "the traitorous Biden regime" and claimed a "fifth column army of illegal immigrants infiltrates our border" and that "far left, woke mobs rampage our once prosperous cities." He repeatedly called on viewers to attack federal employees and accused his deceased father, whose head he put on display, of being a "traitor" for working for the federal government. The only thing missing from the rant was accusations that the NFL was fixing the Super Bowl for Taylor Swift and President Joe Biden, but likely only because Mohn's alleged crime was committed before that conspiracy theory had fully flowered online.
Mohn has been arrested and charged with murdering his father and abusing the corpse. Police say he killed his father and decapitated him with a machete, putting the head in a cooking pot to show on camera. It appeared Mohn was reading from a script as he encouraged violence against government officials, police added. YouTube removed his 14-minute-long video, but not before it was viewed 5,000 times.
It's easy to recite the typical deflections from right-wing media and influencers in the wake of yet another far-right crime: They're not to blame. This is about mental health. And look over here while we spread even more conspiracy theories calling the killer a psyop and a deep state plant.
No doubt Mohn is a deeply disturbed person, as evidenced by his repeated attempts to sue the federal government, claiming he cannot get a job due to discrimination against "an overeducated white man." (Mohn has a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness management from Penn State University.) But it's missing the point, albeit deliberately so, to say that mental health factors mean the political motivations behind violence don't matter. On the contrary, our nation's mental health crisis is one reason that the relentless drumbeat of right-wing conspiracy theories and insinuations of violence are so dangerous. The people who spread hateful and violent rhetoric, starting with Donald Trump, know full well that unstable people are listening and will take this rhetoric as an excuse to act. In many cases, the loudmouths are counting on it.
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More at link.
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