The U.S. Supreme Court may have invited more MAGA violence by taking away a major disincentive for right-wing radicals.
The court ruled in favor of a Jan. 6 rioter who argued that he was wrongly convicted under a law that criminalizes the obstruction of an official proceeding, and while the decision affects only a fraction of the Donald Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol, right-wing zealots will likely come away from the decision with a feeling of impunity, argued Salon columnist Amanda Marcotte.
"Every time Trump or his surrogates calls for a 'rally' to intimidate public officials, conspiracy theories fly around MAGA social media, claiming it's a 'set-up' by the FBI and/or 'antifa,'" Marcotte wrote. "However much anyone believes this, it's obvious what they're doing: Creating a face-saving excuse not to risk prison. No matter how much Trump may laud the January 6 insurrectionists, their fate has lingered as a warning to the rest of MAGA about what's coming if they commit more violence in Trump's name."
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Trump has openly wished for rallies to disrupt his Manhattan criminal trial before he was convicted of 34 felonies, but Marcotte argued that his supporters feared the consequences too much to engage in mob violence outside the courthouse.
"There are many reasons for this, but at the top of the list was the widespread fear among right-wing radicals of going to prison, which feels a lot more real now that hundreds of their brethren went to lock-up for the insurrection," she wrote.
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While the actual ruling is more nuanced and may not even make an impact of the former president's own prosecution under that same charge, the coverage of the court's decision in that Jan. 6 case sends a different message to MAGA followers.
"The ruling led to headlines that made it sound like a big win for the January 6 rioters," Marcotte wrote. "Words like 'strike down' and 'improperly charged' featured heavily in headlines. Yes, headline writers did try to soften the blow with words like 'some' and 'limits scope.' For those who live in the alternative reality constructed by MAGA media, however, these modifiers will likely mean little. They've been hearing for years from Trump, Republican politicians, and talking heads like Tucker Carlson that they were done dirty by the Biden Justice Department. Many are likely ready to round this up to a total victory — and a reassurance they won't be prosecuted for future violence."