(PatriotWise.com) — While Miami police and civic leaders raised concerns that the angry rhetoric following Donald Trump’s latest indictment could fuel violent protests outside of the Miami federal courthouse last Tuesday, the few hundred people that showed up to protest for or against Trump were relatively calm, the New York Times reported.
Last Tuesday’s protests were described as “circus-like,” but they did not devolve into the kind of violence that was seen at the Capitol on January 6.
According to Rachel Kleinfeld of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, it is possible that the prosecutions of the January 6 defendants could have had a “real deterrent effect” on the Trump supporters who went to Miami.
She told the New York Times that many Trump supporters are also angry with the former president for not providing “monetary support” for the January 6 rioters “jailed on his behalf.”
For example, while the Miami chapter of the Proud Boys promoted the protest last Tuesday from its Telegram account, none of its members attended last week’s protest.
Kleinfeld said other people may have decided to steer clear of the protest out of fear that the FBI and other law enforcement could have informants or undercover agents among the protesters.
And while last Tuesday’s protests were tame, the rhetoric leading up to Trump’s arraignment was not, according to the Times.
Trump supporter Kimberly Guilfoyle vowed on Instagram that “Retribution” was coming. Meanwhile, Arizona gubernatorial loser Kari Lake said in a speech in Georgia that Trump supporters would stand with Trump, and many of them are members of the NRA.
Rachel Kleinfeld told the New York Times that media figures and politicians should be called out for using violent rhetoric. At the same time, she said it is important to maintain a sense of balance, adding that the public will no longer take real threats seriously if every false threat is “treated as serious.”
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