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CBS News
10 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Former Coast Guard officer charged with threatening to kill President Trump
Examining the rise of political violence in the U.S. after Minnesota lawmaker's killing A former Coast Guard lieutenant and sharpshooter has been arrested for allegedly making threats to kill President Trump. A 19-page Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit lists out scores of alleged social media threats by Peter Stinson, who served 33 years in the U.S. Coast Guard through 2021, and also served as a Federal Emergency Management Agency instructor. The social media posts quoted in charging documents, which span from 2020 to 2025, include online statements that suggested using a gun, a knife and poison against Mr. Trump. In several cases, Stinson allegedly said he didn't have the skills to kill Mr. Trump himself, but said he's willing to "serve in a support capacity" or raise money for a "contract hit." Federal investigators also allege within 48 hours of the 2024 attempted assassination of Mr. Trump in Butler, Pa., Stinson posted: "Just three inches and today would be a different day," followed by criticisms of the shooter's skills. Prosecutors allege Stinson made a series of menacing social media posts last week, including on Wednesday writing, "When he dies, the party is going to be yuge." Stinson was charged with making threats against the president. On Monday afternoon, a federal judge ordered Stinson to be detained pending further hearings in his case in Virginia. Investigators said Stimson "has self-identified as a member of ANTIFA," a loosely affiliated political movement short for "anti-fascist." Stinson's defense attorney declined CBS News' request for comment. Federal prosecutors have routinely brought charges in recent years over threats against Mr. Trump, former President Joe Biden and other government officials. People charged with threatening a president can face up to five years in prison if convicted — though judges often sentence criminal defendants to less than the maximum sentence. Mr. Trump faced two assassination attempts last year. Threats against politicians and public officials have grown more common in recent years, authorities say, ranging from members of Congress to judges and prosecutors. Earlier this month, a Romanian man pleaded guilty to leading a ring that targeted dozens of members of Congress and a former president with bomb threats and "swatting" calls — in which a person makes a false 911 call with the goal of drawing a massive police response. And CBS News has previously reported that federal judges have been targeted by "pizza doxxings," an unnerving trend in which an unknown person orders an unwanted pizza to somebody's home address — possibly to send a message that they know the victim's address.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Populism, Political Violence, and the Collapse of Civil Discourse in America
For centuries, the United States of America has been hailed as a paragon of pluralism and free speech. Unfortunately, earnest political discourse has become largely impossible in America, and politically motivated violence has steadily subsumed the U.S., due to the fact that Americas media have relentlessly attempted to misconstrue populism as the epitome of extremist ideologies and an imminent, evil, threat to all free people and democratic societies. In fact, the American media must abandon its dishonest campaign to misrepresent populism as a looming threat to democracy, in order to restore earnest political discourse and communication and prevent politically motivated violence from imploding the American state. Since the advent of Trumps first presidency, the American media has consistently deployed populism as a catch-all term for neo-Nazis, racists, and all species of bigot, in an attempt to delegitimize President Trump and discredit the American peoples stunning rejection of the political status quo and Hillary Clinton in 2016. Furthermore, post-2016, populism has been transformed into a euphemism for tyrannical or authoritarian regimes, as well as fascism, and any politics that are anti-democratic or violate human rights. In contrast, throughout the modern era, left-wing ideology has been emphatically hailed as the driver of all socio-political progress since the Enlightenment and invariably associated with the democratic ideal, as well as a constant desire to protect and cultivate the fundamental human rights. In fact, over the past decade, left-wing politicians such as Canadas former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have consistently been lauded as champions of liberty and human rights, in spite of any fascist, anti-democratic, politics and explicit human rights violations. As a result, American media have engineered a political spectrum wherein a person or political actor becomes increasingly evil and antithetical to democracy as their political beliefs and personal ideology become progressively populist; and, conversely, a person becomes increasingly good and virtuous inasmuch as their personal beliefs and political ideology become left-wing and liberal. In truth, for over a decade, the American people have been discouraged from earnest political discourse and dialogue, due to the fact that American society has been subsumed within a political ecosystem wherein populism is not merely a competing ethos, but rather an enemy that must be eradicated and destroyed, along with its adherents, due to the fact that it is dangerous to the wellbeing of any democracy and person. Therefore, politically motivated violence and terrorism have become commonplace in America. For example, under the pretense that they are protecting Americas democracy and championing the liberal ideal, left-wing extremists and organizations such as ANTIFA have frequently attacked pro-Trump rallies and Trump supporters, as well as countless so-called populist rallies, since the outset of Trumps first presidency in 2016. Furthermore, Tesla factories, dealerships, and vehicles across the United States are currently being attacked and destroyed by left-wing extremists, in an overt attempt to terrorize the Trump administration and President Trumps senior adviser, Elon Musk, as well as Tesla owners and Trump supporters in the U.S. Moreover, the attacks against Tesla, Musk, and the Trump administration have come mere weeks after a would-be assassin sought to infiltrate the White House and murder President Trump. In fact, Trumps 2024 presidential campaign was punctuated with various assassination attempts by deranged leftists intent on "saving America." For instance, on Sept. 15, 2024, Ryan Routh attempted to murder Donald Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida. And on July 13, 2024, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks nearly assassinated Trump and severely wounded three innocent supporters at a rally in Pennsylvania, ultimately killing one. Since the advent of the American nation in 1776, the U.S. has existed as a paragon of personal liberty and free political discourse. Unfortunately, since 2016, earnest political discourse has become impossible in America and politically motivated violence has inundated the country, as the left has attempted to misconstrue populism as the epitome of all extremist ideologies and a threat to free people and democratic societies. It is clear that if the American media does not abandon its dishonest and dangerous efforts to misrepresent populism as an ever-looming threat, then compassionate political discourse and communication will retreat in America and politically motivated violence will replace civil dialogue, imploding the American state into open anarchy. William Barclay is a political theorist and private consultant. His work has been published by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Palgrave-Macmillan, The Hill Times, and the Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, among others. Follow him on Twitter/X @WillBarclayBBC.
