Fear over bid for vote vigilantes
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s ever-louder accusations of a “rigged” system and calls for his supporters to monitor minority-heavy communities for voting irregularities has national security and election experts on edge that his likely loss could trigger violence.
Trump has repeatedly argued that the election is being “stolen” from him, finding new if flimsy examples each day as Election Day approaches. He’s called on his backers to show up as poll watchers in urban areas, where he claims Democrats plan to rig the election against him.
He has also repeatedly insisted that this election is his supporters’ last chance to save the country, upping the ante that they’ll take desperate measures — especially if he refuses to concede and claims the election has been stolen from him.
“You are creating a powder keg. This is potentially a very dangerous situation, said Carol (Rollie) Flynn, a former CIA analyst and terror expert who has authored papers on what triggers lone-wolf terrorists.
“I would not at all be at all surprised by violence,” Flynn continued, warning that she’s worried for the first time in her life that Election Day violence she’s seen while working abroad might happen at home. “If he has a segment of his supporters, and I’m sure it’s a minuscule segment who are these sort of loner, violent actors, I could see a scenario where one of them say ‘it’s time for action.’ That’s a hallmark for lone-wolf actors.”
A CNN survey released Tuesday found that 50% of likely Trump voters and 46% of Republicans overall say they’re either “not too confident” or “not at all confident” that votes will be “accurately counted” in this year’s election.
Those who have studied domestic terror are alarmed by Trump’s rhetoric.
“Those comments have the very strong potential to lead to real violence." said Mark Potok, an expert in right-wing hate groups and domestic terrorism at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
One silver lining: While talk of a “Second Amendment remedy” has bounced around the alt-right in relation to a Clinton win, he’s seen scant evidence from monitoring white supremacist message boards in recent weeks that there is any organized effort to mobilize for Trump’s request to “observe” at urban election sites.