The Atlantic: “Most Americans have a sense of what a protest is – supporters of a cause gather near an important landmark to give speeches, wave signs, and march. Such events, which are generally expected to be nonviolent, are often the most grassroots way of seeking social change. In reality, not all protests are peaceful. If they get out of control, police form a line to counter the protesters, sometimes with piercing brutality.”
“The recent history of MAGA events, culminating in the ‘Stop the Steal’ campaign to overturn the 2020 election, is an extreme aberration. Far from a grassroots movement to right an evident injustice, Stop the Steal is a coordinated disinformation campaign that brings together an all-star cast of Trump’s most loyal supporters. Far from giving voice to the powerless, it is a last-ditch effort to disenfranchise millions for the sake of illegally reinstalling a defeated president of the United States. And disinformation was only the first step. Having lost at the polls, in the courts, and in state legislative chambers, the MAGA movement is trying to get its way through more and more brazen violence and intimidation.”