COLUMN

We Were Warned

Activists have known for years that far-right online chatter can turn into real-world violence

Jessica Valenti
GEN
Published in
3 min readJan 8, 2021

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Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

As insurrectionists stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, encouraged and inspired by Donald Trump, I was struck by how many people were apparently surprised. Pundits and politicians alike remarked how “unbelievable” the terrorism was, how shocking it was to see law enforcement’s lack of preparedness. Chief of DC Metropolitan Police Robert Contee even said on Thursday that there had been “no intelligence” to suggest Trump’s mob of supporters would attempt a breach of the U.S. Capitol.”

That’s just not true. For weeks — months, even — extremist Trump supporters had been openly discussing violently overthrowing the government. Some said they were telling their families goodbye because they expected to be killed in the melee. How is it possible that officials didn’t see it coming when those explicitly laid plans were out in plain view?

Part of the problem is that law enforcement and people in power still don’t see online…

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Jessica Valenti
GEN
Writer for

Feminist author & columnist. Native NYer, pasta enthusiast. I write about abortion every day at abortioneveryday.com