In 2019, Marjorie Taylor Greene told protesters to "flood the Capitol," feel free to use violence
Category: News & Politics
Via: john-russell • 3 years ago • 13 commentsBy: Roger Sollenberger (Salon)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
In a video posted to social media months before announcing her congressional candidacy, Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene called on supporters to "flood the Capitol Building" in a protest against "tyrannical" leaders, telling them that Democratic lawmakers "should fear us" and that "we should feel like we will" use violence "if we have to."
"All of us together, when we rise up, we can end all of this. We can end it," Greene said in the 90-minute rant, which was posted in February 2019 and unearthed on Sunday by Twitter user @zedster. "We can do it peacefully. We can. I hope we don't have to do it the other way. I hope not. But we should feel like we will if we have to. Because we are the American people."
Greene, an adherent of the QAnon fantasy movement whose internet posts about conspiracy theories had by that time already attracted a following, posted the video to recruit attendees for a Feb. 23, 2019, "Fund the Wall" march in Washington. At the time, the Southern Poverty Law Center described the event as Greene's "brainchild," citing national support from right-wing militia group American Defence Force. (It also featured members of Cowboys for Trump, including group leader Couy Griffin, who was recently arrested for his role in the Jan. 6 riots.)
In the video, Greene invoked a sprawling battle that pit "Americans" against an "out-of-control, tyrannical, insane" federal government, declaring that the latter's leaders should be "cowering in fear."
"They are nothing, and they should fear us. ... They should be cowering in fear," she said. "And you know what, if you show up in big numbers on Feb. 23, oh I promise you, I promise you, they'll be struck with fear on the inside." The enemy, she said, was not limited to Democratic leaders — "communist traitors and Islamist lovers" — but extended to a larger apparatus that the future congresswoman described as "all these different agencies and the courts, and all these different offices."
Greene also emphasized the importance of getting inside the Capitol Building: "If we have a sea of people, if we shut down the streets, if we shut down everything. If we flood the Capitol Building. Go inside. These are public buildings. We own them. We own these buildings. Do you understand that? We own the buildings and we pay all the people that work in the buildings."
Greene continued: "Feb. 23 — may be kind of cold. We're gonna go inside. We're gonna be warm. And we're gonna demand that our federal government serve we the people, because we're sick and tired of their ways."
Some protesters did indeed find their way into the Capitol, including Greene, who can be seen among a group haranguing Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., in her office, according to a video posted to Instagram by conservative internet personality and since-convicted criminal Omar Navarro. (At another event that day, Greene referred to Waters, a perennial target of death threats, as a "piece of taxidermy.")
Greene, like fellow freshman Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., has longstanding connections to the QAnon universe and militia groups, both of whom played leading roles in the Jan. 6 attack. Those links have given rise to a deep unease among Democratic colleagues who were targeted in the attack, many of whom have called for Greene's censure or expulsion from Congress. Those calls escalated last week when news broke that in 2019, Greene endorsed executing top Democrats on social media, including "liking" a Facebook post that suggested removing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with "a bullet to the head."
At a press conference convened in response to that story, Pelosi said that Congress will likely need to increase its security budget because "the enemy is within the House of Representatives."
"We have members of Congress who want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence on other members of Congress," she said.
A Greene spokesperson did not reply to Salon's request for comment.
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She's a whackjob and anyone who supports her is complicit in her insanity.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., has longstanding connections to the QAnon universe and militia groups, both of whom played leading roles in the Jan. 6 attack.
Any credible and verifiable evidence for this assertion
It's interesting that the quotation marks have to be carefully removed every time we get to the word "violence." Why is that? Is that because the authors of this article are trying to put words and intent into the mouth of this person that weren't there? It kind of looks that way.
and
I'm not going to watch a 90 minute video to make someone else's case for them. Does anyone have a time stamp for the moment in the video where this woman advocates or encourages violence? Then at least we can talk about something concrete.
The word violence is not in quotes because the headline refers to this statement
"We can do it peacefully. We can. I hope we don't have to do it the other way. I hope not. But we should feel like we will if we have to. "
The word violence does not appear in this quote, yet it appears to refer to violence as "the other way" , as opposed to "peacefully".
I think it is fair to say that she was saying we will use violence if we have to.
The intention to nitpick her comments and say she was "misquoted" falls short. .
But I think it's also fair to acknowledge that she is endorsing peaceful protest first. The call for peaceful protests, but force if necessary is as old as the colonies and is an approach used by all sorts of movements.
I think when you ignore her explicit call for peaceful action, you're the one nitpicking. And based on what I can see here, if you claim she is calling for violence to the point of preferring it over peace, you are being dishonest.
She either said a thing or she didn't. I hate to engage in generalities, but this is a thing I see from the Left far more than I see it from the Right. It's not enough to just go with her exact words. They have to be interpreted as meaning something else that was unsaid. That's sort of inherently dishonest.
Why the hell are you defending this nutcase ?
Utterly Ridiculous.
I showed her exact words. She exactly said that she didnt want to "have to" use the "other" way. It does not take a brilliant mentality to see that the "other way" means non-peaceful , aka violent. All it takes is basic reading comprehension.
"we should feel like we will if we have to"
I suppose that now you want to parse whether "we will if we have to" correlates to "feel free to", because that is what you do.
A better question - the one I am asking - is why are you attacking her?
I'm not defending her John. I have no interest in defending her. I never even heard of her before this past week. But I'm not going to be outraged based solely on someone else's partisan say-so. This article's author wants me to be outraged over something she said, but apparently she did not say it. You seem to think I should be outraged anyway.
If you have a case to make against this person, just do it honestly, without exaggerating the facts. That's all I'm looking for. Is that so hard?
No objection there. So why are you ignoring the part where she says explicitly that she doesn't want to have to be non-peaceful?
And let's look at what you do. You condemn someone for something they didn't say while refusing to acknowledge the importance of what they actually said. That is dishonest on its face. Then when someone else comes along and wants the facts clarified, you accuse them of defending the allegedly violent person and her alleged call for violence. That is also dishonest on its face.
If the accusation can't stand up to the most basic scrutiny (i.e. "what did she actually say?) then the accusation is likely bogus.
Why are you still dredging up the past?
Why can't we leave well enough alone?
Why can't they just get away with it?
In case you couldn't tell - I was being sarcastic
The new face of the Republican party it seems.
www.insider.com /marjorie-taylor-greene-jewish-lasers-space-conspiracy-theories-theory-history-2021-2
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's history of spreading bizarre conspiracy theories, from space lasers to Frazzledrip
https://i.insider.com/6018131e6dfbe10018e01061?width=500&format=jpeg&auto=webp 500w, 700w, 1000w, 1300w" sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 900px" >
In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., sits in the House Chamber after they reconvened for arguments over the objection of certifying Arizona's Electoral College votes in November's election, at the Capitol in Washington Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool, FileRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's election to Congress came after she spread conspiracy theories on social media for years.
The Georgia Republican, elected in November, has supported the QAnon conspiracy theory and associated falsehoods, claimed that mass shootings were "false flag" events, and made other outlandish allegations. In addition to espousing beliefs in these conspiracy theories, Greene showed support in 2018 and 2019 for the execution of Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, CNN reported .
House Democrats have filed a resolution to strip Greene of committee assignments, NBC News reported .
Former president Donald Trump sang Greene's praises, writing in an August tweet that she was a "future Republican Star" and "strong on everything."
When asked for comment regarding all of Greene's claims that are referenced in this article, a spokesperson told Insider, "Aren't you in the 'news' business? None of this is new."
Here's a list of false claims Greene has spread online.
The QAnon conspiracy theory
The QAnon conspiracy theorists hold signs during the protest at the State Capitol in Salem, Oregon, United States on May 2, 2020. John Rudoff/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesGreene's apparent belief in QAnon, a baseless far-right conspiracy theory alleging Trump was fighting a "deep state" cabal of pedophiles, was widely reported ahead of her election to Congress. QAnon has been linked to several crimes and the movement played a huge role in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.
In a 2017 YouTube video , Greene called "Q," the anonymous figure whose cryptic messages on 8kun (formerly 8chan) lead the QAnon movement, a "patriot."
Greene said "Q" is "someone that very much loves his country, and he's on the same page as us, and he is very pro-Trump." The last message from "Q" came on December 8, and many people have suspected that Jim Watkins , the owner of 8kun, is "Q" himself, or at least associated with the figure.
Read More: The QAnon conspiracy theory and a stew of misinformation fueled the insurrection at the Capitol
"There's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it," Greene said in the video.
Many of the other conspiracy theories Greene has espoused are linked to the QAnon community.
The Pizzagate conspiracy theory
Kori and Danielle Hayes at a Pizzagate demonstration, outside the White House in Washington, DC on March 25, 2017. Michael E. Miller/The Washington Post via Getty ImagesCNN reported that in a 2017 blog post, Greene shared a link to a far-right website that suggested "Pizzagate," the 2016 conspiracy theory alleging that Clinton and aides ran a child-trafficking ring out of a DC pizza restaurant, was real.
"Shockingly, the website tells about information that was only whispered about and called conspiracy theories," Greene wrote, according to CNN.
"Pizzagate" was the precurser to QAnon, which originated in 2017.
Greene has expressed belief in the existence of "Frazzledrip," a fictitious video that conspiracy theorists claim shows Hillary Clinton and aide Huma Abedin sexually assault a child before slicing off her face and wearing it as a mask.
The vulgar conspiracy theory spread on YouTube in 2018, as the Washington Post reported. YouTube videos claiming that "Frazzledrip" existed were viewed millions of times that year, the Post found. "Frazzledrip" folklore remains popular in the QAnon community.
Greene made Facebook comments about "Frazzledrip," which were recently reported by left-leaning nonprofit Media Matters for America (MMFA) , in May 2018.
Greene posted a picture of the mother of a slain New York Police Department detective, Miosotis Familia, and a commenter said that Familia had "watched a horrific video" allegedly seized from the laptop of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, Abedin's ex-husband. The commenter said that the video showed Abedin and Clinton "filleting" a child's face, according to screenshots obtained by MMFA.
Greene liked the comment, and replied, "Yes Familia." In a subsequent comment, she said, "Most people honestly don't know so much. The msm disinformation warfare has won for too long!"
Denials that 9/11 and mass shootings took place
A recently resurfaced video shows Marjorie Taylor Greene harassing Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg on Capitol Hill before she became a representative for Georgia. Twitter/@fred_guttenbergGreene has baselessly questioned whether the deadly shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida, actually took place.
In several 2018 Facebook comments, Greene agreed with other users that the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was a "false flag" event. MMFA reported the comments , which have since been deleted from Greene's Facebook page.
When another commenter in 2018 claimed that "none of the School shootings were real," the September 11, 2001, attacks were staged by the US government, and that the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was staged, Greene agreed.
"That is all true," she said in a comment, according to screenshots reported by MMFA.
All of those claims are false and have been debunked .
A recently resurfaced video from earlier that year shows Greene accosting David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland shooting, who was 17 at the time, in Washington, DC. Hogg was in town to advocate for gun control at the Capitol. Greene followed the teen down the street, calling him a "coward," just weeks after the shooting at his high school killed 17 people.
In a Facebook post later that year, Greene claimed that Pelosi "tells Hillary Clinton several times a month that 'we need another school shooting' in order to persuade the public to want strict gun control."
Linda Beigel Schulman, the mother of one of the Parkland shooting victims, told MSNBC in an interview aired Sunday that she spoke to Greene on the phone, and the congresswoman admitted to believing that the shootings had actually taken place.
Schulman said Greene refused to join her on MSNBC to publicly make the admission. "For Congresswoman Greene, politics trumps truth, because lies and conspiracy theories are more important to her than honesty," Schulman said.
The conspiracy theory that space lasers controlled by a Jewish family caused wildfires
Perhaps the most shocking of all of Greene's conspiracy theories is the idea that lasers in space had caused the deadly Camp Fire in California in the fall of 2018. The Camp Fire was the deadliest wildfire in California's history .
QAnon believers and other conspiracy theorists popularized the space laser theory, and Greene posted about it on Facebook, MMFA found .
Greene said she believed the Rothschild investment bank was involved in the creation of the lasers. "Could that cause a fire? Hmmm, I don't know," she said of laser beams in space. "I hope not! That wouldn't look so good for PG&E, Rothschild Inc, Solaren or Jerry Brown who sure does seem fond of PG&E."
Rothschild is controlled by the Rothschild family, a wealthy Jewish family from Germany that has for centuries been the subject of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Such claims play a huge role in QAnon, which is partly based on anti-Semitic tropes.
Read More: QAnon builds on centuries of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that put Jewish people at risk
The conspiracy theory that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had been replaced by a body double
In February 2019, while Greene was a conservative commentator, she was a guest on a streaming show on a pro-Trump website, and a viewer called in to suggest that a recent public appearance of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was actually a body double. "I do not believe that was Ruth. I don't think so," Greene responded, MMFA first reported .
The claim that Justice Ginsburg had previously died and was replaced by a body double was hugely popular in the QAnon community in the summer of 2019, as Travis View, the co-host host of the "QAnon Anonymous" podcast, has reported .
The false claim that Trump won the 2020 presidential election
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wears a "Trump Won" face mask as she arrives on the floor of the House to take her oath of office on opening day of the 117th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021 Erin Scott/Pool via APGreene was one of numerous Republican lawmakers to deny the validity of President Joe Biden's election win, even wearing a "TRUMP WON" mask on the House floor on January 3.
She has repeatedly tweeted about her belief that Trump won the election and encouraged her constituents to hold onto that idea. In a December 23 tweet , she said, "The people re-elected Donald Trump. Now, it's time to #FightForTrump." She shared a petition supporting the Stop the Steal movement, which inspired the January 6 rally that led to the deadly Capitol riot.
Claims that Trump won the election sparked the frenzy that led to the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6. More than 200 people have already been arrested on charges related to the insurrection.
I suppose that some Democrats are hoping that she is indeed the Future of the Republican Party!
(Why? Well for starters that would make it much easier for Democrats to win elections!!!
)
She sounds pretty nutty. Is there a "squad" like her or is it just the one?