The Fulton County
Sheriff's Office in Georgia
says that
federal investigators are now helping
track down the origin of threats
that have been made
to the grand jury
that voted to indict former President
Donald Trump and 18 others this week.
Personal information
of those members of that
jury has been posted online.
It has sparked serious safety concerns
for these everyday Americans.
Who were just simply doing
their civic duty.
Officials are now
also tracking threats against officials
in Fulton County.
They are also increasing security
for the district attorney there.
Funny Willis.
Joining me now tonight is Robert Pape.
He is a professor of political science
at the University of Chicago
who studies and tracks
these threats to democracy.
And that is why, Robert,
you were the perfect person
to have on this.
I mean, as we know,
these jurors were just simply
doing their civic duty.
Anyone could have been called
to be on this jury.
And now you're seeing anonymous people
on these mainly far right
websites calling for violence
against them. I mean, in 20, 23.
Is this just the price you pay
for playing your part in democracy?
Well, I'm
afraid it's the price
we're going to have to get used to.
This is something
we must take extremely seriously.
Kate one. For two reasons.
First, our surveys
at the University of Chicago
for two years have been tracking
support for political violence
in the American public.
And what we're seeing
is with the indictments,
what we're seeing is a surge of violence.
Support for Donald Trump up 50%
Today, there are 18 million people
who agree that the use of force
is justified
to restore Donald Trump
to the presidency.
There is a second reason to be concerned.
There have been multiple attacks
and multiple armed threats
against the call them enemies of Trump.
Just over the last year,
literally a year ago this month,
there was an assailant
who attacked the FBI office in Cincinnati
out of retaliation for the FBI
raid at Mar a Lago.
And just before he died in the shootout,
he posted on Truth Social
that he wanted
everybody to know
that he's doing this for Trump.
The Pelosi attacker last last October,
your audience knows about that.
Just six weeks ago, though,
there was an assailant
who came to Obama's house
in Washington, D.C., armed.
And fortunately,
that threat was diffused.
And of course, last week,
there was another assailant
who was making violent threats
to President Biden.
Threats he had been making in March,
the police came they talked to him,
told him to stop it.
He started again
the day
Biden was coming to Utah
and he brandished a gun.
And rather than stop
making those threats,
we need to see that
the combination of the rising sentiments,
violent sentiments for Trump,
that these indictments are triggering
and the existing pattern
we already have
of lethal violence
against the enemies of Trump.
This really means
we must
take the threats to the jurors
very seriously in Georgia
and be prepared that this won't be over
for the jurors.
I mean,
not even when the trials are over.
And clearly in Georgia,
I mean, the FBI has been brought in.
You referenced
that there was also
the woman in Texas
who was arrested and charged yesterday
because she had threatened
to kill a judge
overseeing one of Trump's cases.
Some people will listen to this
and say, well, what about the
the man who showed up?
Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home.
But I do also you know, you referenced
Trump supporters
and those who are driven
and say that, you know,
the violence justifies the mean.
This is something Trump said today
about the charges against him.
They want to silence you.
And they mean silence.
They are I think they're sick people.
I think they are people
that have no idea how the world works
and they have no idea
the anger they cause.
What impact do comments like that
have on his supporters?
This is inflammatory rhetoric,
and this is exactly the kind of rhetoric
that those attackers, the four
I just
mentioned,
were steeped in before their attacks.
But just important to know, one,
that if violent rhetoric can encourage
political violence
in calming
rhetoric can also discourage it.
And we have an important opportunity
next week for political leaders to set
an example on August 23rd next Wednesday.
The Republican primary debate
is going to be covered nationally.
Every person on that stage
should be asked
to stand up
and stand together
they're against violent threats,
whether they come
from the right or the left.
And specifically the threats
we're now
seeing surging
against the jurors in Georgia.
And if they won't make that pledge
to stand up to political violence,
if it really is okay for
Trump supporters to essentially threaten
to assassinate those jurors,
they should be called into account.
Why is that? Okay.
We'll see if they are indeed asked that
or what they have to say about it.
Obviously, it's not an issue
that's going away.
Robert Pape,
thank you for joining us
with your expertize tonight. Thank you.