.. some prominent activists have been exploring ways to influence the incoming administration. The most obvious target has been Ivanka Trump and her husband, because they are seen as the least conservative members of the president-elect’s family.
.. He wanted to lynch me.
“Rope, Tree, Journalist,” the man wrote. “Some assembly required.” To this slogan, made popular by T-shirts Donald Trump supporters wore at his rallies, my would-be hangman added his offer: “I will assemble for you.”
.. Lately, the owner and staff at Comet — and those of other businesses on the block — have been getting death threats, spurred by radio host Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist with close ties to the president-elect.
.. Jones has been whipping up a bogus and bizarre accusation that Comet is a front for a Hillary Clinton-affiliated pedophilia ring, and the resulting calls and messages threaten a “public lynching” of this nonexistent ring. “I pray someone comes to Comet pizza with automatic weapons and kills everyone inside,” wrote one. “I just may cut your throat. . . . I truly hope someone blows your brains all over Comet pizza.”
.. The notion that Clinton and her aides are involved in pedophilia has been furthered by none other than Michael Flynn, the man Trump tapped to be his national security adviser.
.. This would appear to be the new normal: Not only disagreeing with your opponent but accusing her of running a pedophilia ring, provoking such fury that somebody takes it upon himself to start shooting. Not only chafing when criticized in the press but stoking anti-media hysteria that leads some supporters to threaten to kill journalists.
.. Trump is not directly responsible for every violent word or action of his followers. But he foments violence.
.. He boasted that “I bring rage out” in people, and his violent rallies proved it. Since the election, Trump has falsely accused the media of inciting violence. At his speech in Ohio last week he denounced the “dishonest” media no fewer than six times.
.. when Trump refers to journalists as “the lowest form of life,” “scum” and the enemy, “it is no wonder that some members of our staff [at The Post] and at other news organizations received vile insults and threats of personal harm so worrisome that extra security was required.”
N.C. man told police he was armed to save children and left Comet Ping Pong when he didn’t find any there
The man who stormed into a D.C. restaurant with an assault rifle Sunday afternoon told police he was searching for child sex slaves whom he believed to be hidden there, that he was armed to help rescue them, and that he surrendered after he found no evidence of child sex trafficking, according to court records.
Edgar Maddison Welch surrendered peacefully after 45 minutes of searching inside Comet Ping Pong, which had become the site of a viral conspiracy theory tied to Hillary Clinton’s campaign that falsely suggested that the restaurant’s owner and powerful political allies were hiding a child sex trafficking ring. Welch told police he had read about the claims online.
.. “Whatever was going through his mind at the time, I’m sure it had to do with saving lives of children,” Holtorf said. “He most likely really believes the conspiracy theory. Knowing Maddison and knowing the good man that he is, I would say he believed he was doing something right.”
She added, “He told people to get out. . . . He probably saw himself as more on a hero mission to save children than anything else.”