The Ledger

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Domain 07

Incitement, Endorsement, and Encouragement of Violence

Rhetoric and actions encouraging political violence and civil unrest.

20 entries

INCITE-001Tier 2Acquitted by Senate

Second Impeachment: Incitement of Insurrection Following the January 6 Capitol Attack

2021 - 2021

On January 13, 2021, the United States House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump for a second time on a single article charging incitement of insurrection. The vote was 232 to 197, with ten Repu...

INCITE-002Tier 3Investigation Complete

January 6 Capitol Attack: House Select Committee Findings and Criminal Referrals

2021 - 2022

On December 22, 2022, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol released its final report, exceeding 800 pages. The committee's central conclusion s...

INCITE-019Tier 3Documented

Trial by Combat: Rudy Giuliani's Incitement at the January 6 Rally as Trump's Personal Attorney Acting at His Direction

2021 - 2023

On January 6, 2021, Rudy Giuliani, serving as Donald Trump's personal attorney, spoke at the "Save America" rally at the Ellipse near the White House before a crowd of thousands of Trump supporters. D...

INCITE-020Tier 3Ongoing

The Surge in Threats Against Election Workers: How Trump's Targeting of Specific Officials and Processes Generated Thousands of Documented Threats Nationwide

2020 - 2026

Following the 2020 presidential election, election workers across the United States experienced an unprecedented surge in threats, harassment, and intimidation. The Department of Justice's Election Th...

INCITE-014Tier 1Pardoned

From 'Stand Back and Stand By' to Presidential Pardon: The Proud Boys Seditious Conspiracy Arc

2020 - 2025

This entry documents a sequence of events spanning from September 2020 to January 2025, connecting Donald Trump's public statements about the Proud Boys, their seditious conspiracy convictions for the...

INCITE-016Tier 3Documented

Threats to Deploy the Military Against Domestic Protesters: Trump Asked About Shooting George Floyd Demonstrators

2020 - 2022

In the days following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25, 2020, protests erupted across the United States. As demonstrations reached Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump di...

INCITE-015Tier 3Documented

LIBERATE MICHIGAN: Trump's Call to Defy COVID-19 Lockdown Orders and the Armed Occupation of the Michigan State Capitol

2020 - 2020

On April 17, 2020, President Donald Trump posted a series of tweets targeting three states led by Democratic governors that had implemented stay-at-home orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Th...

INCITE-013Tier 4Documented

Radicalizing Effect: Domestic Terrorists Who Cited Trump's Rhetoric in Their Manifestos, Court Filings, and Public Statements

2018 - 2025

Multiple individuals who committed or attempted acts of domestic terrorism in the United States between 2018 and 2022 explicitly cited Donald Trump's rhetoric as a motivation, used language that mirro...

INCITE-005Tier 4Ongoing Pattern

QAnon Embrace: Amplification of Conspiracy Movement Through Social Media, Rallies, and Private Events

2018 - 2024

Beginning in 2018 and escalating through his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump engaged in a documented pattern of amplifying QAnon, a conspiracy movement that the FBI has classified as a domest...

INCITE-003Tier 3No Formal Proceeding

Charlottesville 'Very Fine People on Both Sides' Statements

2017 - 2017

On the evening of August 11, 2017, white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups marched with torches through the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanting slogans including "Jews w...

INCITE-012Tier 3Documented

Promoting Political Violence Through Social Media: 'When the Looting Starts, the Shooting Starts' and the Pattern of Violent Rhetoric on Digital Platforms

2017 - 2024

Throughout his presidency and political career, Donald Trump used social media platforms to promote, endorse, or appear to celebrate political violence. The most significant single incident occurred o...

INCITE-010Tier 3Documented

The 'Second Amendment People' Comment: Suggesting Gun Owners Could Act Against Hillary Clinton (August 2016)

2016 - 2016

On August 9, 2016, at a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, Donald Trump made remarks about Hillary Clinton's potential Supreme Court nominations that were widely interpreted as suggesting t...

INCITE-007Tier 3Ongoing

Dehumanizing and Threatening Rhetoric Toward Political Opponents: From 'Lock Her Up' to 'Vermin'

2016 - 2026

Throughout his political career, Donald Trump has directed threatening, dehumanizing, and eliminationist rhetoric at political opponents, government officials, and perceived adversaries. This rhetoric...

INCITE-018Tier 2Dismissed on Appeal

Nwanguma v. Trump: The Louisville Rally Lawsuit Over Incitement of Violence Against Protesters

2016 - 2018

On March 1, 2016, Donald Trump held a campaign rally at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky. During the event, several protesters were physically pushed, shoved, and s...

INCITE-008Tier 3Ongoing

Embrace and Praise of Authoritarian Leaders: Admiration for Kim Jong Un, Putin, Xi Jinping, Erdogan, Duterte, and Orban, and Authoritarian Self-Identification

2016 - 2026

Throughout his political career, Donald Trump has publicly and repeatedly praised authoritarian leaders who have been documented by international human rights organizations as responsible for politica...

INCITE-006Tier 3Ongoing Pattern

Dehumanizing Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric: From 'Rapists' to 'Poisoning the Blood' Across Three Campaigns

2015 - 2024

Donald Trump has used dehumanizing language about immigrants throughout his political career, beginning with his 2015 presidential campaign announcement and escalating through his 2024 campaign. The r...

INCITE-009Tier 3Ongoing

Amplification of Conspiracy Theories: Ted Cruz's Father and the JFK Assassination, Anti-Vaccine Misinformation, Promotion of Alex Jones, and False Claims About Antifa

2015 - 2026

Throughout his political career, Donald Trump has repeatedly amplified conspiracy theories from fringe sources, lending the authority of a presidential candidate and later the presidency to baseless c...

INCITE-011Tier 3Ongoing

Dehumanizing Language About Immigrants: 'Animals,' 'Vermin,' 'Poisoning the Blood,' and the Use of Eliminationist Rhetoric

2015 - 2024

From the launch of his first presidential campaign in June 2015 through his 2024 campaign and second term, Donald Trump has used dehumanizing language about immigrants that historians, linguists, and ...

INCITE-017Tier 4Documented

The Trump Effect on Hate Crimes: Academic Studies and FBI Data Documented Increases in Hate Crimes Correlated with Trump's Rhetoric and Rallies

2015 - 2021

Multiple academic studies and federal law enforcement statistics documented significant increases in hate crimes in the United States during and after Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and thr...

INCITE-004Tier 3Ongoing Pattern

Rally Violence Promotion: Documented Encouragement of Violence Against Protesters and Political Opponents

2015 - 2024

Beginning during the 2016 presidential primary campaign and continuing through his third presidential campaign in 2024, Donald Trump made a series of documented public statements encouraging physical ...