Donald Trump's fans appear to be eager to re-enact a chilling aspect of Nazi Germany, according to a new column.
A letter circulated in Oregon earlier this month called on locals to take action on Trump's mass deportations before his term even began, while a TV reporter was attacked in Colorado by an apparent Trump supporter who questioned his citizenship. Salon columnist Amanda Marcotte noticed some alarming echoes from history.
"This brownshirt impulse has always been a part of Trumpism, as we saw with the rise of the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other paramilitary gangs during the first Trump administration," Marcotte wrote on Monday. "It was one of the earliest and strongest indicators that MAGA is a fascist movement, and they later proved instrumental in the attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2021.
"Since that failed, the organized paramilitary arm of MAGA has died down, though far-right violence against minorities has continued to rise."
The letter that circulated in Lincoln County, Oregon, urged recipients to gather information on "brown folks" in their neighborhood to help the Trump administration round them up for deportation, promising material rewards for helping.
"When the brown folks are rounded up, their properties will be confiscated," the letter promises. "So, within a short term, there will be a whole lot of homes on the market for us white folks to purchase and with the inventory so high — the prices will be very low and affordable."
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Marcotte saw an unsettling resemblance to Nazi Germany, when Jews were kidnapped for the Holocaust and their Christian neighbors ransacked their homes for valuables.
"It's unclear if the letter writer knows this history and finds it inspiring, or if they are unconsciously recreating the Nazi past," Marcotte wrote. "Either way, the main takeaway is whoever is behind this letter doesn't want to sit back and let the Trump administration do their own dirty work. They believe the MAGA masses can be harnessed to help, in a vigilante fashion."
One of the president-elect's supporters was charged earlier this month with assaulting a Colorado TV reporter who has Pacific Islander heritage, and witnesses say the assailant followed his victim for 40 miles, demanding he prove his citizenship and shouting, "This is Trump's America now!" before tackling and strangling him.
"Trump made a lot of bold promises to get elected, leaving his followers with hopes that the U.S. will soon have the racial and religious homogeneity they crave," Marcotte wrote. "With 42 percent of Americans belonging to a racial minority, however, even Trump's outrageous deportation plans will do little to make the U.S. look as white as MAGA wants.
"The frustration [extremism researchers] clocked is likely MAGA's dawning realization that Trump is not going to make their racist dreams come true. Unfortunately, Trump and his mouthpieces have conveyed a 'take measures into your own hands' message to the MAGA faithful. How this will manifest is still unknown, but there's every reason to worry it could get bad."
