Wed, Jan 04
|Washington
Profs & Pints DC: Implicit Orders, Explicit Violence
Profs and Pints DC presents: “Implicit Orders, Explicit Violence,” a look at the growing use and dangers of indirect incitements to harm, with Kurt Braddock, assistant professor of communications at American University, scholar of extremism and terrorism, and author of Weaponized Words.
Time & Location
Jan 04, 2023, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Washington, 801 E St NW, Washington, DC 20004, USA
About the event
When Donald Trump told an extremist group to “stand back and stand by,” or when U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar posting an animated video of him decapitating a political opponent, they were using a relatively new kind of political communications strategy: implicit support for the use of violence against political enemies. Conversely, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul was attacked by a hammer-wielding intruder, or when a shooter recently killed 5 people at the Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub Club Q, many alleged that the perpetrators were incited by hateful political speech demonizing the intended targets.
Increasingly common over the past five years and coming mainly from politicians and pundits on the far right at a time when America’s political climate has become more polarized and aggressive, implied support for political violence goes beyond the sort of spirited debate and disagreement that American democracy was founded upon. Does it represent just…