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The backlash to Allman鈥檚 threatening tweet was not immediate; it was not until this past weekend that public outcry seemed to hit a critical mass.听听听

This week on听, Allman鈥檚 rising career as a Saint Louis radio talk show host and television commentator quickly came crashing down. As news spread of his tweet, companies quickly withdrew their advertising dollars. Local听听and television stations booted him from the airwaves and shortly thereafter he听听his resignation from the television conglomerate Sinclair Broadcast Group.听

Allman鈥檚 termination can be interpreted as a positive step toward more factually-informed and civil discourse. However much of the coverage surrounding the controversy has largely overlooked Allman鈥檚 history of propagating far-right extremism and failed to raise questions like, 鈥淲hy did it take so long to remove an individual with a history of espousing fringe ideas and welcoming extremists to his show?鈥� and 鈥淗ow did a person with his views get such a platform to begin with?鈥澨�听

Allman鈥檚 incendiary language comes at a time of right-wing populist backlash to the March for Our Lives, a movement calling for greater gun safety and gun control since the February 14 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead and 17 more wounded.

The Parkland student activists have been the subject of a constant barrage of conspiracy theories, smears, online harassment, and violent threats reminiscent of the abuse that unfolded after the听听elementary school shooting in 2013.

The difference between then and now is that individuals who pushed those extreme narratives and conspiracies theories were usually confined to the political fringes of the far-right. However, for many years such rhetoric and conspiracy-fueled politics听听from the margins into听. Donald Trump鈥檚 then-candidacy and now presidency听听that trend.

Allman has contributed toward the larger mainstreaming of previously fringe far-right ideas.听

Perhaps the most recent example occurred on April 4, over a week after his tweet, when he invited notorious anti-Muslim extremist听Pamela Geller听on his radio show. She听听about an 鈥渆nemedia鈥� friendly to Obama and hostile to Trump and effectively blamed Muslims for the rise in London鈥檚 reported crime.听

Geller has been on Allman鈥檚 radio show at least听听since 2010.

Allman has also had Jim Hoft, editor of the conspiracy-laden far-right blog听Gateway Pundit, speak on his radio show听听of times since at least 2013. Hoft has made听听补苍诲听听factual errors furthering his far-right views. (In 2017, Allman boasted that he was set to attend the 鈥渁lt-Lite鈥�-organized 鈥溾�� with Hoft celebrating Donald Trump鈥檚 presidential inauguration.)

Allman himself has also propagated conspiracy theories often heard from so-called听鈥淧atriot鈥� movement听extremists like听Alex Jones. He has previously made outlandish and unsubstantiated claims such as alleging that听听exists in Missouri and around the U.S., that Planned Parenthood engages in 鈥溾�� and that after the Las Vegas mass shooting gun safety activists were 鈥�.鈥�

Since his fall, Allman has kept a low profile and his tweets are now private. However, as observers have pointed out, he is far from the only individual who has engaged in an ideologically-driven and conspiracy-fueled effort to attack the Parkland student activists. Whether or not his downfall is an isolated case or the beginning of a counter-movement toward greater civil and fact-driven public discourse, remains to be seen.听

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