Supporters of former President Donald Trump are flooding pro-Trump websites with calls for riots, revolution, and violent retribution following his conviction on 34 felony counts by a New York jury.
The verdict, marking the first time a U.S. president has been convicted of a crime, has ignited a storm of aggressive online rhetoric, according to a Reuters review.
Violent Threats Surge Online
Trump loyalists have inundated platforms such as Truth Social, Patriots.Win, and the Gateway Pundit with threatening posts.
Comments include calls for attacks on jurors, the execution of Justice Juan Merchan, and suggestions of civil war.
One particularly alarming post on Patriots.Win read, “Someone in NY with nothing to lose needs to take care of Merchan,” while another on Gateway Pundit suggested, “Time to start capping some leftys.”
These threats are part of a broader trend of escalating violence and intimidation that began after Trump lost the 2020 election and claimed the vote was stolen.
As Trump campaigns for a second White House term, he has continued to label judges and prosecutors as corrupt, fueling his supporters' hostility.
Trump has passionately denied any wrongdoing and plans to appeal the verdict. He condemned the trial as rigged, calling Justice Merchan “HIGHLY CONFLICTED” on his Truth Social platform.
In response, one supporter posted an image of a hangman's platform and a noose, captioned: “TREASONOUS MOBSTER OF THE JUSTICES SYSTEM!!”
Jacob Ware, co-author of God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America, commented on Trump’s influence over his followers, noting that the former president has an “ironclad ability to mobilize more extreme supporters to action, both at the ballot box and through violence.”
Calls for Radical Action
Some posts suggested that Trump's conviction is proof of a broken political system, advocating for violent solutions.
A poster on Patriots.Win wrote, “1,000,000 men (armed) need to go to Washington and hang everyone. That's the only solution.” Others urged Trump to mobilize his supporters for armed action.
Despite the extreme rhetoric, most posts fell short of the legal standard for prosecutable threats, which require clear intent to act or instill fear.
Nevertheless, experts warn that the verdict could inspire violent actions from Trump's most radical followers.
Amy Cooter, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, expressed concern that some supporters might use the verdict as an excuse to mobilize.
Platforms Respond
All three platforms have policies against violent language, and some posts have been removed.
A spokesperson for Truth Social criticized Reuters for its report, calling it “manipulative, false, defamatory and transparently stupid.”
Representatives for Patriots.Win and Gateway Pundit, as well as a Trump spokesperson, did not respond to requests for comment.
