“… I asked Bannon if the administration will respond to the Texas shooting and other violence toward ICE officers by bringing law enforcement investigations against groups that are using anti-ICE rhetoric.
“Absolutely,” Bannon replied. He cited Trump’s recent
executive order designating antifa a “domestic terrorist organization,” along with
reports that the FBI may label transgender people or groups as “Nihilistic Violent Extremists,” people who commit violence due to “
deep hatred of society.”
These are “game changers,” Bannon texted me about those measures, adding: “Now you will see the power of the state crush this escalating political violence.”
When I asked Bannon if this means federal law enforcement will or should criminally investigate groups for being “critical of ICE,” Bannon said no. But he suggested investigations will and should target those “taking action” on this front as well as the “media for goading it on.”
The phrase “goading it on” is awfully vague. It seems to mean federal law enforcement should and will investigate those who
can be declared to be “goading” political violence.
Indeed, to illustrate his point, Bannon texted me a
piece from the right-wing Federalist suggesting that the media’s supposed downplaying of leftist violence makes them “active participants” in it. That understanding would open the door for federal investigations of all kinds of groups, including the media, based on speech that
can be labeled incitement to violence.
Think that’s far-fetched? Stephen Miller is telegraphing this too. After the Texas shooting, Miller responded to California Governor Gavin Newsom, who
described masked ICE arrests without due process as “authoritarian.” Miller
tweeted: “This language incites violence and terrorism.”
… While Bannon isn’t an administration official, he speaks to people inside it at the highest levels. This is a clear signal of what top MAGA influencers very much expect—and a clear indication of one way this could all go.…”