Donald Trump, stochastic terrorist
I am pleased to note that more newsreaders, national security experts and law enforcement personnel are recognizing and referring to Donald Trump as a stochastic terrorist. If you don’t know what that is, Wiktionary defines it as “The use of mass public communication, usually against a particular individual or group, which incites or inspires acts of terrorism which are statistically probable but happen seemingly at random.”
Think of many of Donald Trump’s tweets and public utterances. Tweets like “Liberate Michigan” or coded utterances to the Proud Boys such as, “Stand back and stand by.” Trump’s apologists tell us that he means to promote no violence or that he’s “only kidding.” If that were true then he’d stop doing it. But he doesn’t stop doing it, he doubles down instead.
Because some of his more violently disposed supporters know exactly what he means and they don’t think any of it is funny, violence and hate crimes continue to happen as a direct result of Trump’s hate speech. Threats against Michigan’s Governor and numerous death threats against various other people (like Dr. Fauci) have been the result.
Consider this recent tweet posted by Trump: “The entire WORLD is being badly hurt by the China Virus, but if you listen to the Fake News Lamestream Media, and Big Tech, you would think that we are the only one. No, but we are the Country that developed vaccines, and years ahead of schedule!”
It is a tweet that is full of blame. It begins by referring to coronavirus as the “China Virus.” Trump wants to transfer the blame for the 323,401 America deaths (as I write this) from himself to China. Hate crimes against Chinese Americans are vastly on the increase because of his predilection to call it China Virus to protect his ego. He also blames the news media for the perception that coronavirus is his fault. Then he tries to take undue credit for the vaccine.
In a series of recent tweets, Harvard professor and former advisor to Homeland Security Juliette Kayyam said,
“For years, the President of the United States Donald Trump has utilized his pulpit, twitter and his WH team to perfect a technique known as #stochasticterrorism, inciting random but predictable violence by supporters.”
“His goal was to promote violence for political gain. That’s terrorism. The first time I used the words publicly was in Oct, 2018 after the serial bomber arrest, but Trump was already a pro.”
Doctor Kayyam understands what’s going on. Part of the problem is the message hasn’t been clear enough:
“We should stop using ‘violence’ to describe what Trump is promoting with words. In fact, he is promoting the unlawful use of violence in furtherance of political or social goals. That is terrorism, a specific type of violence. Trump is promoting terrorism. #stochasticterrorism”
Her most brilliant insight comes with her final tweet on the topic:
“But if you asked me what is Trump’s most successful legacy, on a weekend of DC violence and when statehouses had to protect electors from a violence he cultivated, it would be this: his power to incite terrorism and not have us even call it that.”
Donald Trump is a serial felon whose crimes range from rape to money laundering to murder to treason. But his most devastatingly impactful crime, stochastic terrorism, may be the one for which he is never prosecuted. The implications and consequences of Trump’s terrorist tweets and utterances are far ranging and devastating. They have led to every kind of deadly consequence from active violence to passive resistance of life-saving measures, like wearing a mask.
This is why as soon as Donald Trump is out of office Twitter must ban Donald Trump for life from using their application. They should have done it a long time ago. If they don’t ban him — or at least ban his more provocative tweets — then they will become accomplices in his continued acts of stochastic terrorism.
There are a million reasons why Donald Trump is unfit to be president of the United States, this has been another one. In just 31 days we will be rid of the bastard. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.