Incitement, Endorsement, and Encouragement of Violence
Rhetoric and actions encouraging political violence and civil unrest.
20 entries
Tier 2, Formally Charged or InvestigatedSecond Impeachment: Incitement of Insurrection Following the January 6 Capitol Attack2021
On January 13, 2021, the United States House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump for a second time on a single article charging incitement of insurrection. The vote was 232 to 197, with ten Republicans joining all Democrats, making it the most bipartisan presidential impeachment vote in American history.
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceJanuary 6 Capitol Attack: House Select Committee Findings and Criminal Referrals2021–2022
On December 22, 2022, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol released its final report, exceeding 800 pages. The committee's central conclusion stated: "The central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of the events of…
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceTrial by Combat: Rudy Giuliani's Incitement at the January 6 Rally as Trump's Personal Attorney Acting at His Direction2021–2023
On January 6, 2021, Rudy Giuliani, serving as Donald Trump's personal attorney, spoke at the "Save America" rally at the Ellipse near the White House before a crowd of thousands of Trump supporters. During his speech, Giuliani made the following statement: "Let's have trial by combat." The remark came in the context of Giuliani's…
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceThe Surge in Threats Against Election Workers: How Trump's Targeting of Specific Officials and Processes Generated Thousands of Documented Threats Nationwide2020–2026
Following the 2020 presidential election, election workers across the United States experienced an unprecedented surge in threats, harassment, and intimidation. The Department of Justice's Election Threats Task Force reviewed more than 2,000 reports of threats against election workers in the years following its creation in June 2021.…
Tier 1, Adjudicated and Legally ResolvedFrom 'Stand Back and Stand By' to Presidential Pardon: The Proud Boys Seditious Conspiracy Arc2020–2025
This entry documents a sequence of events spanning from September 2020 to January 2025, connecting Donald Trump's public statements about the Proud Boys, their seditious conspiracy convictions for the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and Trump's subsequent clemency for the convicted leaders.
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceThreats to Deploy the Military Against Domestic Protesters: Trump Asked About Shooting George Floyd Demonstrators2020–2022
In the days following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25, 2020, protests erupted across the United States. As demonstrations reached Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump discussed using the military against domestic protesters and, according to his own Secretary of Defense, asked whether the military could…
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceLIBERATE MICHIGAN: Trump's Call to Defy COVID-19 Lockdown Orders and the Armed Occupation of the Michigan State Capitol2020
On April 17, 2020, President Donald Trump posted a series of tweets targeting three states led by Democratic governors that had implemented stay-at-home orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tweets read: "LIBERATE MINNESOTA!" followed by "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" and "LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is…
Tier 4, Credibly Reported Through Investigative JournalismRadicalizing Effect: Domestic Terrorists Who Cited Trump's Rhetoric in Their Manifestos, Court Filings, and Public Statements2018–2025
Multiple individuals who committed or attempted acts of domestic terrorism in the United States between 2018 and 2022 explicitly cited Donald Trump's rhetoric as a motivation, used language that mirrored Trump's public statements, or expressed allegiance to Trump in connection with their violent acts. While Trump did not directly order…
Tier 4, Credibly Reported Through Investigative JournalismQAnon Embrace: Amplification of Conspiracy Movement Through Social Media, Rallies, and Private Events2018–2024
Beginning in 2018 and escalating through his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump engaged in a documented pattern of amplifying QAnon, a conspiracy movement that the FBI has classified as a domestic terrorism threat. The amplification occurred through social media activity, rally programming, and private events at which…
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceCharlottesville 'Very Fine People on Both Sides' Statements2017
On the evening of August 11, 2017, white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups marched with torches through the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanting slogans including "Jews will not replace us." They clashed with counterprotesters near the Rotunda, and several people were pepper-sprayed or struck with lit…
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidencePromoting Political Violence Through Social Media: 'When the Looting Starts, the Shooting Starts' and the Pattern of Violent Rhetoric on Digital Platforms2017–2024
Throughout his presidency and political career, Donald Trump used social media platforms to promote, endorse, or appear to celebrate political violence. The most significant single incident occurred on May 29, 2020, when Trump posted a tweet about protests following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.…
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceThe 'Second Amendment People' Comment: Suggesting Gun Owners Could Act Against Hillary Clinton (August 2016)2016
On August 9, 2016, at a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, Donald Trump made remarks about Hillary Clinton's potential Supreme Court nominations that were widely interpreted as suggesting that gun owners could take violent action against her.
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceDehumanizing and Threatening Rhetoric Toward Political Opponents: From 'Lock Her Up' to 'Vermin'2016–2026
Throughout his political career, Donald Trump has directed threatening, dehumanizing, and eliminationist rhetoric at political opponents, government officials, and perceived adversaries. This rhetoric has escalated over time, moving from campaign rally chants to public suggestions that political enemies deserve imprisonment or death.
Tier 2, Formally Charged or InvestigatedNwanguma v. Trump: The Louisville Rally Lawsuit Over Incitement of Violence Against Protesters2016–2018
On March 1, 2016, Donald Trump held a campaign rally at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky. During the event, several protesters were physically pushed, shoved, and struck by Trump supporters in the crowd. Three individuals who attended the rally to protest peacefully, Kashiya Nwanguma, Molly Shah, and…
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceEmbrace and Praise of Authoritarian Leaders: Admiration for Kim Jong Un, Putin, Xi Jinping, Erdogan, Duterte, and Orban, and Authoritarian Self-Identification2016–2026
Throughout his political career, Donald Trump has publicly and repeatedly praised authoritarian leaders who have been documented by international human rights organizations as responsible for political repression, extrajudicial killings, suppression of press freedom, and the elimination of democratic opposition. Trump's praise has…
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceDehumanizing Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric: From 'Rapists' to 'Poisoning the Blood' Across Three Campaigns2015–2024
Donald Trump has used dehumanizing language about immigrants throughout his political career, beginning with his 2015 presidential campaign announcement and escalating through his 2024 campaign. The rhetoric is documented through video recordings, official transcripts, and contemporaneous reporting.
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceAmplification of Conspiracy Theories: Ted Cruz's Father and the JFK Assassination, Anti-Vaccine Misinformation, Promotion of Alex Jones, and False Claims About Antifa2015–2026
Throughout his political career, Donald Trump has repeatedly amplified conspiracy theories from fringe sources, lending the authority of a presidential candidate and later the presidency to baseless claims. This pattern spans multiple topics and is documented through Trump's own public statements, social media posts, and media…
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceDehumanizing Language About Immigrants: 'Animals,' 'Vermin,' 'Poisoning the Blood,' and the Use of Eliminationist Rhetoric2015–2024
From the launch of his first presidential campaign in June 2015 through his 2024 campaign and second term, Donald Trump has used dehumanizing language about immigrants that historians, linguists, and genocide scholars have identified as consistent with the rhetorical patterns that have preceded mass violence in other countries and…
Tier 4, Credibly Reported Through Investigative JournalismThe Trump Effect on Hate Crimes: Academic Studies and FBI Data Documented Increases in Hate Crimes Correlated with Trump's Rhetoric and Rallies2015–2021
Multiple academic studies and federal law enforcement statistics documented significant increases in hate crimes in the United States during and after Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and throughout his presidency. While the relationship between political rhetoric and hate crimes involves complex causation, the body of evidence…
Tier 3, Documented Through Primary EvidenceRally Violence Promotion: Documented Encouragement of Violence Against Protesters and Political Opponents2015–2024
Beginning during the 2016 presidential primary campaign and continuing through his third presidential campaign in 2024, Donald Trump made a series of documented public statements encouraging physical violence against protesters, political opponents, and journalists. The statements were made at campaign rallies, in television interviews,…