High-Profile Right Wingers Declare “War” in Wake of Dallas Police Shootings

On Thursday night, at least one sniper in Dallas opened fire near a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest, killing five police officers and injuring seven others. The shooting marks the deadliest attack on law enforcement in the United States since 9/11. While there has been an outpouring of grief and anger on social media, some high-profile individuals—including a former congressman and a veteran policy adviser to Republican leaders—stirred threats of violence and impending “war” against the Black Lives Matter movement.

From former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, in a post that has since been deleted:

Twitter

More from Walsh:

10 Cops shot.

You did this Obama.

You did this liberals.

You did this #BLM.

Time to defend our Cops. Wake up. https://t.co/Zoc3x2xlMk

— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) July 8, 2016

From Alex Jones, conspiracy theorist and radio show host:

This is the start of Obama/Soros destabilization race war. #Dallas

— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) July 8, 2016

From Frank Gaffney, president of the right-leaning Center for Security Policy and former foreign policy adviser to Ted Cruz:

BLM operatives, Occupy movement anarchists & Islamic supremacists to collaborate in what is being openly discussed as “Revolution inAmerica”

— Frank Gaffney (@frankgaffney) July 8, 2016

The New York Post‘s front page declared “Civil War”—which quickly drew a fierce backlash.

Friday’s cover: 4 cops killed in Dallas tragedy https://t.co/NpUskqqtLt pic.twitter.com/tlqx0P721y

— New York Post (@nypost) July 8, 2016

On his radio show today, right-wing host Rush Limbaugh called Black Lives Matter “a terrorist group committing hate crimes”:

The full transcript of Limbaugh’s remarks: “I found a story from March, I think, of 2015, in which President Obama welcomed two founders of Black Lives Matter to the White House and commemorated them and their efforts and praised them as being better organizers than he is. And… Black Lives Matter was just exactly who they are then as who they are today. They’re a terrorist group. They’re quickly becoming a terrorist group committing hate crimes.”