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When President Trump advocates violence against political opponents and protest groups, extremists hear approval for their actions. Trump鈥檚 聽against protesters and coincides with the president鈥檚 and the Republican Party鈥檚 history of encouraging harm against Black Lives Matter protesters. Right-wing extremists have previously responded to such calls with violence and have already responded favorably to Trump鈥檚 tweets threatening 鈥渟hooting,鈥� raising fears that some may act amid the violence and tension surrounding public health closures amid the ongoing global pandemic.

Since February 23, at least four unarmed, black men and women have been killed. Three of those deaths were at the hands of police.

George Floyd died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest. The incident comes on the heels of the , a Louisville, Kentucky, woman shot in her home by police March 13, and Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed in Brunswick, Georgia, on Feb. 23, by two white men armed with guns while Arbery was jogging. Sean Reed 聽at the hands of Indianapolis police on May 6. These incidents are reminiscent of the 聽that birthed Black Lives Matter, a decentralized protest movement aimed at stopping the extrajudicial killing of African Americans.

Republican politicians and pundits quickly took aim at the movement and related protests. Former Alaska governor and 2008 vice-presidential nominee , 鈥�#鈥嶣lackLivesMatter is a farce and hyphenating America destroys us.鈥�

In October 2015, Fox News host Sean Hannity criticized the movement and likened .

Like other Republican leaders, Trump has previously criticized Black Lives Matter, 聽host Bill O鈥橰eilly, 鈥淚 think they鈥檙e trouble. I think they're looking for trouble.鈥�

Trump has responded to Black Lives Matter protests at his campaign rallies by endorsing violence. Trump supporters tackled, shoved, punched, kicked and shouted racial epithets at a black protester holding a 鈥淏lack Lives Matter鈥� sign at a 2015 聽in Birmingham, Alabama. Rather than criticizing the incident, then-candidate Trump responded by stating of the victim, 鈥淢aybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.鈥�

Trump鈥檚 baleful response did not go unnoticed in extremist circles. The Trump campaign鈥檚 charged rallies and demonization of migrants energized white nationalists, who saw Trump鈥檚 candidacy as an opportunity to normalize their views and to engage in increasingly hostile ways toward minority communities and political adversaries under the cover of Republican politicians鈥� rhetoric.

At a March 1, 2016, rally, Trump screamed at Black Lives Matter protesters who interrupted his speech: 鈥淟ook at these people. Get out of here. Get Out. Out. Out Out! Get out.鈥� Supporters in the crowd pushed and shoved a black woman.聽, then the leader聽of the neo-Nazi Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP).

Heimbach ultimately served 聽for his role in the incident. As part of his defense, Heimbach claimed that he acted at the behest of Donald Trump.

As reported by Gizmodo, in January 2017, Fox News鈥� 聽originally shared on Fox correspondent Tucker Carlson鈥檚 website The Daily Caller. The video features multiple incidents where black 鈥渓iberal protesters鈥� were run over in the streets by moving cars. The video, which has since been deleted from both websites, instructs viewers to 鈥渟tudy the technique鈥� as 鈥渋t may prove useful in the next four years.鈥�

On Aug.聽12, 2017, after a state of emergency canceled the planned 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, James Alex Fields drove his car around a police barricade and accelerated into a crowd of protesters, many of them carrying signs reading, 鈥淏lack Lives Matter.鈥� Several individuals were injured, and one, Heather Heyer, died from her injuries. President Trump initially responded to that day鈥檚 events by defending white supremacist protestors he referred to as 鈥� ,鈥� though 聽denouncing white supremacism and racism as 鈥渆vil.鈥�

During Fields鈥� trial, authorities testified that Fields had used social media to share memes that 鈥渁dvocated using a car to run over protestors in the streets.鈥�

Trump鈥檚 latest tweet condoning violence聽occurs in the midst of a spike in antigovernment groups attending lockdown protests and advocating for a second Civil War, referred to as the 聽鈥淏oogaloo鈥� groups have already co-opted the deaths of unarmed black Americans to justify their antigovernment activism, listing Breonna Taylor, George Flord, Ahmaud Arbery and Sean Reed alongside movement 鈥渕artyrs鈥� such as Duncan Lemp. Many of these groups have called for violence against law enforcement in the aftermath of the , an antigovernment activist from Maryland.

In 2015, members of the antigovernment militia group Oath Keepers聽armed themselves to the teeth for , over the death of 18-year old Michael Brown, a black man, ratcheting up the tension in an already heated environment.

Antigovernment groups鈥� 鈥渟olidarity鈥� with black Minneapolis residents has strict limits. In one , two armed antigovernment activists who described themselves as 鈥渉eavily armed rednecks鈥� stated: 鈥淪olidarity for Floyd and we hope people stop looting. If there were more of us we could go stop them from looting.鈥�

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