November 1 that the bimonthly website of the US Foreign Policy published an article entitled “U.S. Election Violence is a Clear and Real Danger” on October 29.
The author is Georgetown University Professor Daniel Byman and the United States Colin Clark, senior researcher at the Sufan Center. The full text is excerpted as follows:
Journalists covering election violence are generally more worried about Kenya than Kenosha in the United States. In some fragile countries, the widespread domestic unrest and political violence that accompany elections and the clamor for civil wars are commonplace.
But in November this year, the situation was different. As Americans vote for their next president, experts and government agencies warn about the danger of violence.
We agree that violence is likely to occur. Some scenarios may be staged on election day, all of which are disturbing.
Polling stations may encounter coordinated attacks, launched by small groups of organized terrorists.
This type of attack may be the most deadly, but the possibility of such a scenario is low.
Uncoordinated attacks may occur, that is, attacks by radical individuals.
These individuals act primarily independently, although they are responding to a common narrative of election fraud.
Considering that the rate of gun support among the American people is very high, even a single attacker is capable of causing large-scale destruction.
Election day may also bring attacks on individual political leaders.
Just like the kidnapping conspiracy of a far-right paramilitary group against the governor of Michigan.
Locations related to the conspiracy theories spread by the “Anonymous Q” organization may be subject to terrorist attacks. Think of the man who went to a pizzeria in Washington with a weapon.
He intends to stop the imaginary “group engaged in child prostitution.” The related conspiracy theory is called “Pizza Gate”, which is bizarre (and falsely) accusing Hillary and a secret elite group of operating a child prostitution group in the basement of a certain pizzeria.
Some of Trump and Biden’s respective supporters held tit-for-tat demonstrations, some of which may evolve into physical conflicts. This kind of tension can be felt personally.
and the enthusiasm of both sides has been stimulated to a level that was unimaginable before, and this country will definitely face a confrontation.
Isolated incidents may be magnified online, exacerbating the sense of lack of law and political confusion, thereby inciting imitation violence, clamor for sabotage, and ignoring the law or worse.
