How much you want to bet Trump's people are paying others to start problems in the protest so they have an excuse to

[Stargazer99]

harm people and proclaim that they were just keeping the "rioters, thieves, etc under control". If that was the real reason this woman trying to get to her home and the reporter from Australia would not have been physically harmed as neither one was doing anything wrong. This situation smells of dictatorship...you will never have to vote again as Trump said.

[C_U_L8R]

1. Straight out of the Traitors Handbook

A fave amongst the MAGA set.
Not too many words, lotsa pictures of their precious peach-coloured putsch-putz

[atreides1]

2. Not a surprise

This happened in 2014: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/12/undercover-officer-pulls-gun-on-oakland-protesters

"An undercover California highway patrol officer who had infiltrated protests against police violence in Oakland pulled a gun on demonstrators after his and his partner’s cover was blown."


There's likely a good chance that some of the "agitators" may be undercover cops, causing problems!

[Silent Type]

3. Certainly possible. Although -- if serious violence does breakout -- would hope we have some proof of that.

"False flag" is an excuse -- though sometimes true -- that seems to date back at least to 1939. Ironically, that was Nazis dressed up in Polish uniforms.

I think the mayors and governors are handling this well so that violence won't break out.

[hatrack]

11. Actually, if Gleiwitz, it was prisoners of the Nazis dressed in Polish uniforms, then murdered . . .

They made sure to do lots of shooting in front of an open microphone during the radio "broadcast" calling on the Poles to attack.

[Faux pas]

4. The people they pay

or just aimless assholes looking to start trouble are called agent provocateurs. I'm pretty sure the "vandals" in LA we some.

[RockRaven]

5. If they are, they are wasting time and money.

The cops and various brownshirts can start shit on their own without consequence and the result is the same.

[Bev54]

6. I don't doubt he has sent in his agitators but I also think they would do it for free for their orange god.

[Torchlight]

7. I doubt he has to pay for their hobby

All he has to do is give a look or a word to his feckless flock, and they'll jump to attention ready to impress him with their patriotic hatred of anything outside the Confederate sensibilities. I'm certain there's a pretty big number of these Good Americans who want only his permission, not his money.

[Easterncedar]

8. I might have thought he wouldn't pay

And truly maybe he doesn’t need to, but he keeps saying over and over that there are paid insurrectionists in the crowds, and he always accuses others of his own misdeeds.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. Cops and other agents generally don't need an excuse to crack down on crowds.

[GenThePerservering]

10. There absolutely will be agent provocateurs

We had them in Seattle during the violence of the last Dump reign, caught on camera and nabbed by locals, just systematically strolling along breaking windows - they didn't even try to mask their actions. Geez, during the Battle in Seattle all we had to worry about was the local anarchists.

We have to be aware - back away and start pointing, take videos (upload to cloud storage), isolate them any way you can, peacefully, start chanting who they are. We've been through this before.

[Mike 03]

12. These rumors are upsetting, and when you add them to the recent meetings in Montana

and Trump's repetitive warnings (foreshadowing?) to protesters, one's imagination can produce some genuinely nightmarish scenarios. I don't think Trump's people will just select random people and rabid MAGA fanatics; I'm pretty sure they have their people backstage (Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, various neo-Nazi groups) who are chomping at the bit to do this work and have maybe been fantasizing and training for years.

Malcolm Nance wrote about a similar scenario in his most recent book "They Want to Kill Americans," which I highly recommend.

As I mentioned in another post, Professor Jason Stanley is basically predicting some kind of semi-staged mass casualty event involving law enforcement, although he DID NOT speak specifically about the upcoming weekend's events. He's someone to take seriously who doesn't casually make such predictions.

Trump almost always foreshadows what he's going to do, and his insistent warnings could be another admission, since he can't keep his mouth shut about anything.

[BlueTsunami2018]

13. I don't think they have to pay anyone.

There have been provocateurs at protests forever. They side with the fascists and they ruin the message of the protestors.

I’m sure there are Poor Boys and Oathkeepers, cops and other assholes all ready to go on Saturday.

[chowder66]

14. The FBI and local police have been known to infiltrate protests. They have also paid informants.

So it is possible...... but there are also people who see protests as a way to commit crime by hiding in the masses. There are those that really hate cops and go nuts. There are those who really could use therapy but instead get it in the street. There are those that are mentally unwell and join in.

They always come out when there are big protests.

[Hekate]

15. Dollars to holes in donuts he did so last time & is doubling down now

[GaYellowDawg]

16. Remember, every accusation is a confession.

If Trump is mentioning "paid protestors," then it's a sure thing that he's had some hired.