After the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) searched former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the agency received violent threats on social media platforms.
The unprecedented search didn’t go well with Trump supporters, who expressed support for the former president and flooded online forums with calls for violence against federal agents. Some tweets even mentioned “civil war.”
In the latest development, the leaders of the House Oversight Committee are asking the social media companies to address the issue. They are also demanding these companies take “immediate action”.
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The Washington Post on Friday (August 19) reported that the lawmakers sent letters demanding details about the number of threats against law enforcement.
From big firms like Facebook parent company Meta to the fringe right-wing platform Gab, the letter has reportedly been sent to the executives of eight social media companies.
The letter mentions a “spike in social media users calling for civil war”. It also includes other violence against law enforcement.
The letter also mentioned an incident when a gunman tried to breach the FBI’s Cincinnati field office earlier this month. It states that the online threats are leading to attacks against law enforcement and offers.
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As quoted, the letters written by House Oversight Committee chair Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) and House national security subcommittee chair Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.) read: “We are concerned that reckless statements by the former president and Republican Members of Congress have unleashed a flood of violent threats on social media that have already led to at least one death and pose a danger to law enforcement officers across the United States.”
Recently, the warrant and related materials, unsealed by a judge revealed that FBI agents recovered multiple documents, including those marked “top secret” during the search of Trump’s Florida estate.
The US Justice Department stated that it has probable cause to believe he violated the Espionage Act. The US District Court for the Southern District of Florida unsealed the search warrant and property receipt from the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach earlier this week.
FBI probes Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. The investigation accelerated dramatically when Trump revealed on August 8 that the FBI had raided his home.
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