Prosecutors in Trump classified documents case are facing threats
Individual prosecutors involved in the classified documents case against former president Donald Trump are facing substantial harassment and threats online and elsewhere, according to extremism experts and a government official familiar with the matter.
At the same time, two officials said, federal agencies have not observed a general increase in threats against law enforcement in the weeks since Trump was indicted in South Florida — a sharp contrast from the surge of violent rhetoric in the days after FBI agents searched the former president’s Florida property last August.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues. The FBI has called threats against law enforcement “reprehensible and dangerous,” and says it is working closely with other law enforcement agencies “to assess and respond to such threats.”
Experts in political extremism say organized threats of violence against government institutions are generally down since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, in part because people have realized they could face legal consequences for taking action.
Still, experts say they frequently observe violent rhetoric targeting people who are blamed for undermining the former president — not just prosecutors involved in the criminal investigations surrounding Trump but also swing-state election workers refuting false claims of voter fraud.
Far-right Trump supporters are posting the names of prosecutors and government workers online and yelling them at demonstrations, threatening them and sometimes revealing details about their personal lives, the experts said. [Continue reading…]