{"id":31625,"date":"2023-09-19T19:48:57","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T01:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/threats-proliferate-on-social-media-after-gun-ban\/"},"modified":"2023-09-20T01:48:57","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T01:48:57","slug":"threats-proliferate-on-social-media-after-gun-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/threats-proliferate-on-social-media-after-gun-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Threats proliferate on social media after gun ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Demonstrators
Demonstrators display open carry firearms at a Second Amendment Protest in response to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's recent public health order suspending the conceal and open carry of guns in and around Albuquerque for 30-days, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in Albuquerque, N.M. (AP Photo\/Roberto E. Rosales)<\/span>Roberto E. Rosales<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
GOP\u2019s heated rhetoric encourages violence, governor says<\/div>\n

A Source New Mexico review of posts on social media by elected officials and other users following the public health order issued in New Mexico on Sept. 8 shows numerous calls for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to be hanged or killed by other means, and for the publication of private information about Lujan Grisham, her family and staff.<\/p>\n

Threats were made in various forums, including the comments section of a website owned by a state representative, and during a rally attended by several state Republican party officials.<\/p>\n

New Mexico State Police say they are aware of threats against Lujan Grisham and her family in the wake of a public health order that temporarily banned carrying firearms in New Mexico\u2019s most populous county, but have not made any arrests.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny credible threats of violence against a public official are investigated, no matter the source,\u201d said Department of Public Safety Secretary Jason Bowie. \u201cIndividuals engaging in this form of threats or intimidation will be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An
An individual carries his assault rifle to a Second Amendment Protest in response to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's recent public health order suspending the conceal and open carry of guns in and around Albuquerque for 30-days, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in Albuquerque, N.M. (AP Photo\/Roberto E. Rosales)<\/span>Roberto E. Rosales<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Open threats at gun rally<\/div>\n

At a rally defying the order in Albuquerque\u2019s Old Town Neighborhood on Sept. 9, a few in the back of the crowd called for killing Lujan Grisham. A woman repeatedly said, \u201chang that b****.\u201d<\/p>\n

One attendee told a reporter unprompted that he\u2019s \u201cto the right of Attila The Hun,\u201d and he thinks we need to bring back public hangings.<\/p>\n

Lujan Grisham has repeatedly pointed to the death of an 11-year-old Albuquerque boy in a road rage incident as an example of the kind of gun violence her order seeks to prevent. A preacher who spoke to the crowd from the Old Town gazebo wondered aloud whether the 11-year-old\u2019s death was a \u201cfalse flag\u201d to give pretext for the governor\u2019s emergency order.<\/p>\n

Among the rally\u2019s attendees were Rep. Stefani Lord, a Republican member of the state House of Representatives from Sandia Park, Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block, state Senate candidate Nicole Tobiassen, and U.S. Senate candidates Eric Knight and Ben Luna.<\/p>\n

In a social media post on Sept. 11, Block compared Lujan Grisham\u2019s gun order to the al Qaeda terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever forget the Islamic extremists who attacked and killed thousands of innocent Americans in Shanksville, PA, the Pentagon, and the World Trade Center 22 years ago. Today, extremists come in all forms to either kill you or take away your rights,\u201d he wrote. \u201cOne extremist a few days ago attacked our constitutional rights. Always stand guard, never forget, and always fight for your God-given rights and your beautiful country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post included pictures of the World Trade Center towers exploding in the terrorist attack next to a picture of Lujan Grisham\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

In an interview, Block said he did not intend the post as a comparison between the governor and al Qaeda.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m talking about extremism on many sides,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat she did was extreme.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he thinks the post was potentially offensive to families who lost loved ones on 9\/11, Block said none have contacted him to complain.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could even say how offensive it is that we have 6,000 more abortions in the state of New Mexico, because the governor is funding them,\u201d he said. \u201cI find it offensive that the southern border is open and the governor took away the National Guard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked on Friday about the heightened rhetoric, Lujan Grisham said it is not surprising but \u201cincredibly disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said any time she talks about gun violence or background checks, there is \u201ca significant uptick\u201d in threats against her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been compared to Hitler, to al Qaeda, to ISIS, you name it. It\u2019s a slurry of slurs,\u201d Lujan Grisham said. \u201cThis is not the kind of discourse I recognize in my state or my community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gov.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announces an order restricting people from carrying guns in Bernalillo County for 30 days during a news conference in the Governor's Office on Sept. 8 in Santa Fe. Eddie Moore\/The Albuquerque Journal<\/span>Eddie Moore<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
State representative\u2019s website hosts threats<\/div>\n

The Pi\u00f1on Post, a website run by Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo), has published more than a dozen stories about the executive order, calling it \u201can illegal order\u201d and condemning \u201cgun-grabbing Gov. MLG.\u201d<\/p>\n

Block, an unindicted participant in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection, has called for Lujan Grisham\u2019s impeachment, and called her a \u201ctyrant\u201d in a social-media post. In another post, he encouraged followers to defy the executive order. He also retweeted a post by Senate candidate Eric Knight comparing the gun ban to the circumstances that led to the American Revolution in 1776.<\/p>\n

In the Pi\u00f1on Post\u2019s comments section, Block\u2019s readers demanded blood.<\/p>\n

One commenter opined that \u201c(Lujan) Grisham needs to be taken out back and beaten senseless,\u201d and another wrote \u201clet her swing whilst her feet kick!!!\u201d A commenter compared Lujan Grisham to a rodent and wrote \u201ctoo bad DeCon [rat poison] won\u2019t work on a rat of that size\u201d and another wrote \u201cDon\u2019t worry, I have a shotgun to back up the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to questions from Source NM about the threats hosted on his site, Block said he removed the comments flagged for him by this publication.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get countless comments daily, and I don\u2019t have time to read each and every one missed by the spam or expletive filters,\u201d he said in an email. \u201cI never have, and I never will condone violence against anyone. I totally disavow any and all calls for violence in any form on any platform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Block said he had also received death threats, along with Rep. Lord and state Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Do\u00f1a Ana). He provided a screenshot of a message he said was sent to the three politicians, which did not contain a death threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod knows how to stop gun violence\u2026 Have every gun owner shoot themselves in their head with their own gun,\u201d the message read.<\/p>\n

Some comments threatening violence remained on Block\u2019s site as of Friday evening, including one commentator who seemed to threaten a repeat of the Jan. 6 riot (\u201cIt just means we are one step closer to having fun storming the castle, as they said in the Princess Bride\u201d) and another wishing death on the governor (\u201csomeone please make her \u2018null and void\u2019\u201d).<\/p>\n

Block and Lord penned an op-ed calling for the governor\u2019s impeachment that ran on Fox News\u2019 website on Sept. 16. When Lord posted a link to the article on social media, several commentators advocated violence against the governor in the replies to her post.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to bring the military or the constitution doesn\u2019t mean crap\u2026 have the military drag her out TODAY!\u201d wrote one. \u201cImpeachment since tar and feathering has fallen from favor\u201d wrote another.<\/p>\n

Clements chat filled with threats<\/div>\n

Former New Mexico State University professor David Clements, the state\u2019s most prominent election denier, posted numerous times on social media about the governor\u2019s gun order, claiming she \u201cendangered every law enforcement officer in the city\u201d and writing \u201cCome and get \u2018em. And see what happens\u201d in reference to his guns.<\/p>\n

The violent ideation was even more explicit in a chatroom he maintains on the social-messaging app Telegram. In the days following the order, Clements\u2019 followers made numerous explicit threats of violence against the governor.<\/p>\n

One of Clements\u2019 followers wrote Lujan Grisham \u201cneeds to be put out force ably (sic)\u201d while another called for tarring and feathering the governor. A man claiming to be \u201ca police officer of rank\u201d in Arizona encouraged Clements\u2019 followers to make a citizens\u2019 arrest, while another wrote \u201cher untimely death should be soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clements has openly encouraged political violence, once telling a crowd assembled at Gospel Light Baptist Church in Rio Rancho that voting is useless and politicians should be \u201ctried for treason and have the remedy of firing squads.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we need, and we need to focus on that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Last year, acting on advice from Clements and his wife Erin, the Otero County Commission refused to certify the results of New Mexico\u2019s primary election. Jay Block of the Sandoval County Commission also followed the Clements\u2019 advice and refused to certify election results; he was outvoted by a majority of that commission.<\/p>\n

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and some of her staff were deluged with death threats when her office moved to force Otero County to certify the results.<\/p>\n

Toulouse Oliver said Friday threats of physical violence and acts of intimidation have become more and more common toward elected officials \u201cin our polarized political environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to turn the temperature down for the sake of all Americans,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is no place for threats and violence in our democratic republic and I strongly condemn these threats being made against the Governor, her family, and her staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to questions from Source NM, Clements called Lujan Grisham \u201ca domestic terrorist\u201d and a \u201cpower hungry tyrant.\u201d In an email, he said he suspects the threats in his chat were planted by Source NM as \u201cfodder for the article\u201d (they were not), even while advocating armed resistance to the order, writing in the email \u201cThe 2nd Amendment was created for this very purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clements\u2019 assertions about Source NM are wrong.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s been a pattern for years\u2019<\/div>\n

Media Matters For America, a liberal watchdog organization, identified examples of comments from users of the r\/conspiracy subreddit calling for militias in New Mexico to be mobilized and for the governor to be hanged for treason.<\/p>\n

A user on Sept. 9 called the governor a \u201ctyrant,\u201d asking, \u201cCan we\u2026. you know,? Short drop and quick stop.\u201d The phrase appears to be a reference to hanging. Another user on the same day called for the governor to be \u201cpublicly hung for treason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reddit prohibits content that \u201cencourages,\u201d \u201cincites,\u201d or \u201ccalls for violence,\u201d and the site has previously punished subreddits for violating that policy.<\/p>\n

Reddit administrators removed the violating content and users, a spokesperson for Reddit said. But as of Monday, they left the subreddit as a whole intact.<\/p>\n

The r\/conspiracy subreddit is one of the bigger conspiracy forums on the internet, according to Alex Kaplan, a senior researcher with MMFA who first reported on the threats against the governor.<\/p>\n

Kaplan has seen other types of hate speech proliferate on the forum, including antisemitism, homophobia, and transphobia, along with anti-vaccine misinformation, and false flag conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n

Then-governor of Oregon Kate Brown in 2019 received similar threats on the r\/The_Donald subreddit, which Reddit quarantined from the rest of its website after Kaplan wrote about the violent rhetoric.<\/p>\n

\u201cReddit has so far not taken that same response here,\u201d Kaplan said. \u201cIt\u2019s not even just that there were a couple comments. It is a pattern. And it\u2019s been a pattern for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musk calls for governor\u2019s arrest<\/div>\n

Elon Musk wrote on the social media platform he owns that the governor\u2019s actions are \u201cnext-level illegal,\u201d and asked, \u201cHow soon can this person be removed from office?\u201d<\/p>\n

Several hours later, far-right conspiracy theorist Tim Pool posted a video of Lujan Grisham and wrote \u201cPolice should arrest her immediately.\u201d Musk responded \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The leader of a social media company engaging in that kind of heated language can have downstream effects that might encourage violence, Kaplan said.<\/p>\n

He said Musk\u2019s \u201cgeneral attitude towards certain content, certain people has probably emboldened some of the far right on (his site) and elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Musk\u2019s posts, a prominent conspiracy theorist on the website tagged Musk in a threat to doxx Lujan Grisham, her family, and a spokesperson if any New Mexico State Police officer enforced the order.<\/p>\n

The account has been suspended for making violent threats in the past and was boosted by a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona.<\/p>\n

Governor says Trump encouraged fear tactics<\/div>\n

Lujan Grisham said she has long disagreed with elected officials in both parties, but it\u2019s primarily Republicans who \u201cmake those kinds of hateful, directed, spiteful, intentional (statements) \u2014 knowing that that intimidation factor could result in my direct harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she and her colleagues have been targeted by similar rhetoric since 2016, when she was a representative in Congress, and it reached a fever pitch in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

She said former president Donald Trump \u201cinvited that kind of intimidation and fear tactics to prevent elected leaders and policymakers from doing their job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lujan Grisham said many Republicans in New Mexico and nationwide \u201coffer no solutions to addressing public safety in our state, but would rather increase tensions by those reckless statements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaun Griswold and Patrick Lohmann contributed reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Demonstrators display open carry firearms at a Second Amendment Protest in response to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's recent public health order suspending the conceal and open carry of guns in and around Albuquerque for 30-days, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in Albuquerque, N.M. (AP Photo\/Roberto E. Rosales)Roberto E. Rosales GOP\u2019s heated rhetoric encourages violence, governor says […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-31625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31625"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=31625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}