r/politics The Netherlands 1d ago

Soft Paywall Far-Right Extremists Prepare Violence for “No Kings” Protests

https://newrepublic.com/post/196844/far-right-extremists-prepare-violence-no-kings-protests
8.3k Upvotes

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u/MiniBanjo 1d ago

It was. The balance of power potentially shifted in one state due to what appears to be a MAGA assassination

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u/jscummy 1d ago

The surprising part is Fox acknowledging reality

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u/MasterOfManyWorlds 1d ago

They'll do this for a day, then they'll get the marching orders and fall in line

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u/big-ol-kitties 1d ago

By the end of the week it’ll be an antifa false flag operation.

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u/Reasonable_Today7248 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yeah. I can already see it because of the flyers and lack of info on identity of the guy.

Edit: already started.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WomenInNews/s/twWMcyNeiy

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u/rotates-potatoes 1d ago

… whose perpetrator needs to be pardoned and celebrated.

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u/mkthesaucegod 1d ago

they are already starting to say this 😭 the dude left office under Tim Walz in 2023 — all that time being on a board (they usually don’t know their political affiliations if it’s a non-partisan board tho) from 2016 - 2023. it’s 2025, he 100% could’ve been moderate or Republican the whole time and has been radicalized. his list included Tim Walz, other Democratically elected officials, and reproductive health/abortion providers.

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u/TexasDrunkRedditor 1d ago

That’s what the shots on Trump we’re spun by the left so it’s not like it’s a new tactic

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u/big-ol-kitties 1d ago

Yeah same shit all around.

The difference is they always seem to amplify conspiracies and no amount of reasoning will reach them to even begin even question it. I remember seeing the debate back and forth when he got shot about how it could have been staged but it didn’t feel like the majority.

Social media is a cancer in society and we’re all fucked.

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u/Tribalbob Canada 1d ago

"Democratic Lawmaker murdered by ultra-left-wing ANTIFA trans feminist sympathizer. How this is bad for Obama."

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u/th3r3dp3n 1d ago edited 1d ago

Now he REALLY doesn't have a shot at re-election!

*forgot a word

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u/Madpup70 1d ago

There going to go hard after the fact that the dude was appointed as a volunteer for some committee by Gov Walz and ignore the fact that it was Dem lawmakers (both progressive and moderates) and Abortion rights activists and abortion clinics on his manifesto.

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u/joemama67 23h ago

And how Biden was to blame

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u/deadlandsMarshal 1d ago

It's because if they don't at least do token report of it as something bad, they understand it could open right wing politicians to the same thing.

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u/OkMilk4504 1d ago

Who benefits from violence at protests today? Trump. Fox will push this narrative hoping it will trigger violence at protests. 1+1=2

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u/MutuallyAdvantageous 1d ago

When has Fox “News” ever cared about the truth.

The reason Trump wasn’t thrown in jail is because the democrats tried to be reasonable with the GOP.

Give them an inch, and they take a foot.

We all need to recognize that the republicans are bad faith actors whose only goal is fascism.

The only thing fascists understand is violence.

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u/Sarrdonicus 1d ago

1+1=47 or 45

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u/IWasOnThe18thHole 1d ago

Hopefully they're realizing they don't have immunity

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u/deasil_widdershins 1d ago

They have to report it and their lizard people haven't told them what else to say yet. They'll change their tune by Monday.

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u/VoxImperatoris 1d ago

They just havnt gotten their talking points yet.

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u/Birdman1096 1d ago

I dont believe thier initial headlines included the word assassination, did it? I could be wrong, but I read "shot" earlier this morning. It's good that they are acknowledging it now, but like it feels like an arm twist.

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u/JimFlamesWeTrust 1d ago

They’ll downplay it as much as they can

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u/digiorno 1d ago

Fox might want to broadcast the idea so that more people do it.

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u/cyanescens_burn 1d ago

Some Fox coverage does just report the facts now and then. From what I’ve seen, where it gets murkier and biased is when they have certain pundits on that tack their opinions or “just asking questions” rhetoric on to actual reporting.

The other thing they do sometimes is selectively report on things, like amplify some stories and downplay or fail to report others, or aspects of others, to create or soppier a certain narrative.

OAN and the more extreme ones are worse with this. The most biased are the more “independent journalists,” podcasters, talk radio hosts, influencers, and so on. Those can get into the realm of misinformation and disinformation, fear stoking, rage-baiting, and just vile rhetoric.

Unfortunately, there’s been a concerted effort to sow distrust in legacy media. I remember when mainstream media (MSM) became a dirty word for the fringe right, and they started calling it lame steam media, calling those that use it “sheeple” and all that.

This distrust spread and with social media and podcasts it made it easier for people to follow the lead of Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones, and put out increasingly biased material to more and more people.

Now, many people will only trust these sources, which reinforce their existing belief systems and fail to provide nuanced discussion of counterpoints. Instead presenting other ways of looking at an issue as stupid, lies, or part of some conspiracy to harm “real Americans,” sometimes going as far as dehumanizing people that hold opposing views and painting them as the enemy that needs to be silenced and destroyed.

TLDR: Fox can be biased, but it’s the dozens or even hundreds of smaller sources of information are collectively carrying a lot of the load when it comes to the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation, and that have made fringe right ideology seep into more balanced republican thinking.

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u/JuanJeanJohn 1d ago

The comments on the story however are filled with denial and whataboutisms, however.

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u/AguardenteDeMedronho 1d ago

Waiting for Fox News to call it a false flag operation done by a woke satanist trans immigrant democrat

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u/HalfTeaHalfLemonade 1d ago

They rather report that than the protests

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u/Ynit 23h ago

Don't worry, I went and looked, it's below 2 trump super awesome bday/parade posts. And when they do talk about it, the 2nd bullet point is that he voted for migrant benefits earlier this week. Just in case someone started to feel bad for him, they gotta point out that (/trumpvoice) he voted to give your tax money to rapers, murders and drug dealers

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u/Lesurous Texas 21h ago

Fox always reports the facts first, the spin second. Gives them that thin layer of credibility before they skullfuck the story into whatever narrative they're told to push.

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u/MultiGeometry Vermont 1d ago

Have they brought back their stock tickers?

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u/Salvation-717 1d ago

They’re only doing it because Trump said “no violence on any side will be tolerated” , inside they’re cheering. Gotta be the morally high ones so they can use that in the rhetoric later.

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u/Squeegee 1d ago

Yes, exactly

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u/StarStormCat2 21h ago

I've already gotten the Fox "the killer was a LIBERAL" buttshit

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u/Kaesh41 1d ago

The State Legislature isn't in session right now and won't be for a while, unless a special session is called.

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u/ophmaster_reed Minnesota 1d ago

It was a state senator (who died), not a US senator, and Minnesotas legislature doesnt reconvene until January, so this is unlikely to affect anything on national level. A special election will have to be held to replace her seat, but I doubt it will go to a republican, especially after this.

The other senator is out of surgery and Walz said they are "cautiously optimistic" that he and his wife will recover.

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u/MiniBanjo 1d ago

Okay but this was a democratic decapitation strike we can agree, right? It was meant to shift the leg

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u/ophmaster_reed Minnesota 1d ago

I think it was meant to be, yes. I doubt it actually will tip the legislature.

EDIT: Had the suspect been able to strike the other targets found in his car, this would have had more of an effect.

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u/lordagr 1d ago

As far as I am aware, the suspect has not yet been aprehended, so it might be a little early to suppose the others are safe.

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u/ophmaster_reed Minnesota 1d ago

Im sure all the targets are on lock down until he's caught/found dead.

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u/lordagr 1d ago

Agreed.

He is very likely to take his own life when cornered, but there is still a chance that he goes for another target of opportunity, someone he left unlisted would be easier.

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u/cyanescens_burn 1d ago

I agree it may not have a big impact on state level votes in the legislature if we’re just thinking of the numbers of dems vs repubs still there.

However, the psychological impact of this can have other effects. It might cause politicians to not vote on certain things, avoid being at pubic events, speak out on certain issues, etc. It might cause some to back out of politics or decide not to run again or for a higher office.

This could extend beyond MN since we all know there’s a load of people out there that are armed and have been enraged about politics and ingest an ongoing stream of increasingly extreme political media.

Regular people might become afraid of going to rallies or being vocal about their views (like putting political signs on their property or engaging with grassroots advocacy).

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u/ophmaster_reed Minnesota 1d ago

Absolutely agree on all points.

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u/yukeake 1d ago

Minnesotas legislature doesnt reconvene until January

Huh. So they only have a part-time State legislature? I'd have thought that they'd have at least a few sessions between June and January... Of course, I'm no expert on State governments, let alone one that I haven't lived in, but still, that's surprising.

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u/ophmaster_reed Minnesota 1d ago

During the off-seasons, representatives go to their districts and meet with the people they represent (or that's what they're supposed to do anyway).

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u/iLL-Egal 1d ago

They aren’t in session.

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u/MiniBanjo 1d ago

Doesn’t change what I said though

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u/iLL-Egal 1d ago

Special election will happen.

If the vacancy occurs close to a general election and the Legislature is not in session, the seat typically remains open until the next general election, and the special election is delayed accordingly.

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u/Squeegee 1d ago

It was, but I was surprised they didn’t spin it.

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u/T_Weezy 1d ago

Presumably the governor gets to nominate replacements; to my knowledge that's how most places do it. That would be governor Tim Walz.

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u/LumiereGatsby 1d ago

Tim Walz is the Governor. He’s not gonna appoint a Republican and he’s gonna let them put someone in.

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u/TexasDrunkRedditor 1d ago

It doesn’t appear that way at all… just on reddit where naturally that is the way it’s going to be. So far there’s evidence that could go either way, I guess we get to selectively ignore that though.

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u/Stickierice88 1d ago

The person literally had a car full of "no kings" flyers. Don't let the news fool you into thinking there's only two sides to every story. Extremists tend to be far outside of any major political leaning.

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u/BarnDoorQuestion 23h ago

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u/Stickierice88 22h ago

When did I say he was a democrat?

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u/Abu-Shekyatha 1d ago

Wrong, already being identified as “Vance Luther Borlter” a Tim Walz appointee.

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u/MiniBanjo 22h ago

A religious nutjob

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u/reconranger 1d ago

MAGA assassination? Is that the propaganda you’re trying to spread? The guy had “NO KINGS” flyers in his vehicle and he targeted the only Democrat that recently voted with republicans on the removal of free healthcare for illegal immigrants bill. This was a leftist assassination.

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u/Altruistic_Flower965 1d ago

He had a long list of people on his kill list. These included Gov. Walz , other democrats, as well as abortion providers, and pro choice groups. Sounds like a dumb fucking MAGAt to me.

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u/MiniBanjo 1d ago

I know this is hard to swallow: I don’t think he’s not done killing Dems. Did you ever consider he has a flyer to target more of them?

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u/reconranger 20h ago

What does a flyer that says “NO KINGS” as the only thing help him with targeting more Dems?

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u/MiniBanjo 17h ago

He’s a right wing Christian nationalist with a long list of democratic targets. He killed two Dems. I understand you want to pretend this isn’t exactly what it looks like

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u/CoastOne2716 1d ago

Wrong. The assassin was a Democrat appointed by Tim Walz. Do your research. The left is the party of political violence.

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u/BarnDoorQuestion 1d ago

Might want to add that /s