Trump’s rhetoric could lead to election violence

There’s an expression that seems particularly urgent: Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

It has become trite to note that we live in hyperpolarized times. But it is dangerous not to note that increasingly bitter political polarization is leading to threats of violence — and to violence itself.

About two months before an election that could determine the direction of our country for decades, state and federal law enforcement agencies need to have contingency plans for this drift toward violence.

Early in the coronavirus shutdown and the stay-athome orders, President Trump sent signals to his supporters that were at odds with the recommendations of medical professionals and even his own task force, led by Vice President Pence. He urged supporters to “liberate” various states, notably those with Democratic governors. Soon, armed protesters surrounded and even entered the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan. America suffers from a toxic mix of too many people gullible to propaganda and conspiracies, people in desperate need of mental healthcare and easy access to guns — including military-style automatic weapons.

We cannot forget this terrible example: In February 2017, Nikolas Cruz, then 18, known by school personnel and law enforcement to be seriously troubled, legally purchased a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle. A year later, he used it to kill 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland — the deadliest school shooting since

Sandy Hook.

Recall from the 2016 presidential election that email accounts of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, were hacked by Russian military intelligence agencies and then given to WikiLeaks. Consumers of far-right conspiracy theories claimed that the leaked emails contained coded messages connecting Clinton and Democratic Party officials with a human trafficking and child sex ring operating out of

Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria in Washington, D.C.

Later that year, Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, traveled from his North Carolina home to Washington. His self-proclaimed mission: to investigate and liberate the children trapped in the (nonexistent) basement of the pizza parlor. Welch charged into the restaurant and fired three shots from his AR 15-style rifle. It was sheer luck that no one was injured.

And now Kenosha: Responding to Trump’s call for law and order, Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, left his Illinois home for Kenosha with his semi-automatic weapon and his self-proclaimed mission to protect property from looters. Outrage had boiled over into the streets following a police officer’s disgraceful shooting of the unarmed Jacob Blake, shot in the back seven times. Video footage shows Rittenhouse shooting and killing two people and wounding another.

These incidents are warning us that it is necessary to plan for the possibility of violence surrounding the coming elections.

The president’s regular harangues attacking voting by mail could easily find a responsive audience. His irresponsible language stoking fears of a stolen election could easily incite a deranged supporter to take action to “protect democracy” to prevent Trump from losing — and by means more violent than the riot by Republican congressional staffers who tried to shut down the 2000 recount in MiamiDade.

If someone believes that the election will be decided by fraudulent mail ballots, it is conceivable — given the examples cited above — that some deranged person might bomb a post office box, a mail truck or a ballot drop-off box to prevent ballots from being counted in what they perceive to be a stolen election.

It is also necessary that law enforcement have plans to protect the physical security of the boxes that hold the mailed ballots.

But law enforcement isn’t going to reveal what plans are being made. But while we hope for the best, I also hope they are preparing for the worst.