According to a report obtained by CBS News, online threats and hateful rhetoric against pro-Palestinian protesters have increased following Republican Sen. Tom Cotton’s encouragement for people affected by the protests to take matters into their own hands.
Advance Democracy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, found a rise in calls for violence against pro-Palestinian protesters on social media platforms after Cotton’s comments. Users have been threatening to kill or injure protesters, with many of the threats directly linked to Cotton’s post and shares by right-wing accounts and personalities like Sean Hannity of Fox News.
Some users on Truth Social, owned by Trump Media, suggested violent actions against protesters, including shooting, mugging, hanging, and throwing them off bridges. There were also suggestions to rip off protesters’ arms or cut off their hands to counteract protesters gluing their hands to roads.
Cotton’s initial post on X April 15 encouraged people to take matters into their own hands to deal with the protests, accusing the protesters of being pro-Hamas without providing evidence. Despite dozens of arrests during protests demanding a Gaza ceasefire, there were no reports of violence.
In subsequent interviews with Fox News and NBC News, Cotton continued to advocate for a vigilante approach toward protesters, suggesting that people should physically remove protesters blocking roads. This is not the first time Cotton has used charged language regarding nationwide protests.
Daniel Jones, founder of Advance Democracy and a former U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee investigator, criticized Cotton’s comments for encouraging violence against protesters and called on other elected officials to condemn such rhetoric to prevent further normalization of divisive and violent language.
CBS News reached out to Cotton’s office for comment, but there was no response. Advance Democracy, led by Daniel J. Jones, conducts weekly monitoring of far-right media, foreign state media, and select social media platforms.
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