It was 21 years ago today that 19 al Qaeda operatives carried out Osama bin Laden's fatwa to kill as many Americans as possible and succeeded in killing nearly 3,000.
A majority of those casualties came as a result of the two airplanes which were navigated through the North and South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. There were other deaths at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Passengers aboard United Flight 93 had thwarted the hijackers' goal of navigating that flight into the U.S. Capitol.
In the years that followed there would be other attacks perpetrated on U.S. soil by radical Islamic terrorists albeit on a smaller scale - the Boston Marathon Bombing in April 2013, the San Bernardino attack in December 2015 and the Orlando Nightclub Shooting in June 2016. The threat of radical Islamic terrorism against U.S. civilians has receded over the past several years I suspect this is a matter of buying time. After all, it was only last month when author Salman Rushdie was attacked on U.S. soil by a man carrying out a fatwa issued by the government of Iran ten years before he was born. There will come a time when radical Islamic terrorists will again attack U.S. soil and that of our allies.
However, I believe the next 9/11 inspired attack on American soil won't be committed by radical Islamic terrorists, but rather by supporters of defeated former President Donald Trump. Before I go further I do believe that most people who wear MAGA hats will manage to go through life without taking another as is the case with most Muslims. But there is a critical mass in both groups who are willing to kill innocent people in the name of a false idol, ideology and grievances mostly imagined or greatly exaggerated.
On September 11, 2001, al Qaeda terrorists failed to breach the U.S. Capitol. On January 6, 2021, supporters of defeated, former President Trump succeeded in breaching the U.S. Capitol at the behest of the defeated, former President in the name of preventing the peaceful transfer of power. I believe this is only a harbinger of things to come in the not too distant future.
Prior to the 2020 election, I feared Trump supporters would commit violence at the polls. When this did not come to pass, I let my guard down and thus underestimated the events that would follow on January 6th. I will not do so again.
As such I do believe there is a distinct possibility of Trump supporters deliberately murdering people at the polls either in the 2022 midterms and more likely during the 2024 presidential election. I can envision simultaneous attacks at polls in Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Phoenix and perhaps other cities. If Trump supporters feel comfortable asking, "When do we get to use the guns? How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?," then how long will it be before they give us an answer?
Let us also keep in mind how Trump supporters view Kyle Rittenhouse, a man whose only claim to fame is killing two people and getting away with it. Trump supporters treat him as a hero and give him standing ovations. Don't be surprised if he is received with another standing ovation at the 2024 Republican National Convention. If Trump returns to office what is to stop him from giving Rittenhouse a Presidential Medal of Freedom?
Trump supporters do not view the men Rittenhouse killed as fellow Americans, let alone human beings. Given that adulation Rittenhouse receives there is a powerful incentive among Trump supporters to go even further. And why stop at election violence? Supposedly "woke" companies such as Disney could be targets. In which case, it is not inconceivable there could be an attack at Disneyland or Disney World.
Then let us also consider the FBI. Last month, a Trump supporter tried to shoot up the FBI's Cincinnati office. Keep in mind that radical Islamic terrorists tried to destroy the World Trade Center in 1993. Who can say another set of Trump supporters won't try again and next time succeed?
Naturally, I hope none of this comes to pass. But given the rage with which Trump and apologists have driven his base with conspiracies and lies I have a very bad feeling we have only seen the beginning. January 6, 2021 joined September 11, 2001 as a day of infamy and more infamous days will soon follow.
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