Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Some communities and groups are trying to de-escalate tensions, often with the knowledge that many people have firearms and are prepared to use them.
In Portland, Oregon, left-wing activist Dre Miller has reached out to leaders of the right-wing Proud Boys to set up an open line of communication to resolve conflicts.
"We need to be able to call a cease fire when things get out of hand," said Miller, 37, an organiser with black rights group J.U.I.C.E. "As a black man I cannot stand back right now. I'm standing up and standing by," echoing words Trump used about the Proud Boys.
The primary "terrorist threat" facing the United States, according to an October 6 Department of Homeland Security report, are lone offenders and small domestic extremist cells who may act out grievances.
An October poll by political scientists including Lee Drutman of the New America think tank published in Politico found around a third of Americans justified violence to advance political goals, double the number in December 2019.
"The most likely outcome is the election happens, there's no major violence, but the risk of serious or even low-level violence is probably higher than it's been in a very long time," said Drutman.
Facebook vigilantes
Would-be vigilantes have organised using Facebook groups and other online platforms, where members share videos of violence and property damage by political opponents alongside misinformation.
Facebook expanded its rules to ban militia groups that celebrate violence in August and pulled down 6500 pages and groups over the next month, but less explicitly militarised communities of hundreds of thousands of people remain online.
"That's what is galvanizing and driving militia groups and other armed individuals to think that they have a role to play in this moment of sweeping social change," said Joan Donovan, a misinformation expert at Harvard.
In Colorado Springs, business owner Michelle Morin has taken self-defense classes and is organising with fellow conservative neighbors to protect each others' homes and send a message to left-wing "thugs" that they are not welcome in her community.
"There's more to self-defense and more to pushing back than guns," said Morin, 51, a registered Republican and firearm owner.
Stephanie Porta is educating people in Orlando, Florida that an election result is unlikely on November 3 and not to panic. She is teaching poll workers and voter protection workers to defuse confrontations should they occur.
"We're training people in de-escalation," said Porta, 41, executive director of social-justice group Organise Florida, who identifies as being "anti-fascist."
Reuters