Former President Donald Trump has been posting on his Truth Social page nonstop and sometimes using all capital letters for the last three days.
“PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”
“WE MUST SAVE AMERICA! PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!”
With Trump’s announcement on Saturday that he expects he would be arrested in New York on Tuesday, a steady stream of communications has been coming his way ever since.
Yet, despite the fact that the former president is calling on his followers to meet in order to oppose his prosecution, it seems as if they are either unwilling or unable to hear what he is saying. According to specialists who keep tabs on online far-right radicals, three days after Trump’s frantic pleadings, online support for public demonstrations remained scattered, chaotic, and quiet despite the president’s repeated calls for it.
Prominent Trump supporters online are instead driving a different narrative, which asserts that any public events are a “trap” set by law enforcement, and that attending any public events will be counterproductive and will likely result in protesters being arrested.
According to the experts, such response follows a pattern: Extremist groups, in general, often experience a “whipsaw,” in which aggressive action is followed by pushback from law enforcement; this, in turn, results in retreat as the surviving adherents become more paranoid.
The disturbance in the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which was preceded by a call to action at a Trump rally, has resulted in the conviction of around a thousand people. This provides even the most enthusiastic supporters with solid proof that pro-Trump passion may lead to prison time; nonetheless, some conspiracy theorists continue to assert that individuals involved in the riots on January 6 were in some way framed for their actions.
