Commentary
Are MAGA Thugs Trying To Kill Rick Wilson Of The Lincoln Project?
- by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 16, 2024
File this under dirty and potentially lethal tricks.
Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson woke up at 3:00 AM one day last week to a SWAT team pounding on his door.
Apparently someone -- Wilson calls the perpetrator a “MAGA terrorist” -- called 911, claiming that there had been a murder at his home. I’m not sure where Wilson lives, but under the circumstances I don’t think I’d disclose it if I knew.
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And this wasn’t the first time some idiot pulled this illegal and dangerous prank on Wilson. His theory is that the perpetrators hope he will pop out of bed in a panic (which he does) thinking his home is under attack and run outside with a weapon, where waiting SWAT forces would shoot him dead.
Any rational person realizes how deranged such a stunt is. And it's been going on since 2015, Wilson reports. You would think the SWAT folks would know by now when they get a call like this for the Wilson home to perhaps give Rick a jingle first (annoying as that would be at 3 in the morning) to see if anyone has been murdered in his home recently.
I guess the SWATers feel like they can’t take any chances.
One of things about these pranks that amazes Wilson is “MAGA’s drive to involve law enforcement in these swatting calls. Isn’t this supposed to be the 'party of law and order'?" He doesn’t get why "MAGA would want to make a mockery of these agencies they claim to love and drag an entire unit out on a stormy night to handle a fake call. It’s hypocritical and disgusting. But hey, that’s just MAGA."
As to the fact that such stunts are potentially lethal, Wilson says he isn’t shocked. "Their dear leader calls for violence all the time. He regularly quotes and pays homage to dictators. A third of his base believes it’s totally fine and normal to resort to violence to resolve political disagreement."
And despite the annoyance and potential danger to him and his family, Wilson isn’t going to let up doing all he can do to — legally (unlike his MAGA harassers) — to prevent Donald Trump from winning the 2024 presidential race.
“With less than ten months to go, we can’t take our foot off the gas,” he says. “I’m not stopping and neither are any of us at The Lincoln Project,” which was MediaPost’s 2020 Creative Agency Of The Year.
While I do not approve of SWATTING, it should be noted that MP made no mention of the White House, Press Secretary, and a plethora of news pundits encouraging people to stalk and engage conservative supreme court judges at their homes to try to sway their vote for several key issues.
MP really needs to do a better job presenting an objective and balanced approach towards what it covers.
Typical "whataboutitsm" from a MAGA kool-aid chugger. Peaceful protests, "legal" or not, are wildly different from anonymously weaponizing a SWAT team under false pretenses. Mediapost would be making a huge leap to conflate thee two just to satisy the Trump cult's twisted idea of objectivity.
Hey Artie - Bringing a personal attack against someone you know nothing about is an odd approach. The Lincoln Project is a PAC and describes itself as such. It is not an agency as MediaPost insists on calling it one, and even awarded it an agency prize.
Violence is violence. News pundits and the White House press secretary encouraging the populous to threaten and storm public officials homes in order to sway their vote is just as reprehensible. It's not about whataboutism. Especially when a supreme court judge had someone arrested outside of his home who was armed and threatening to kill Justice Kavanaugh. Violence is violence and a death threat is a death threat.
The increasing amount of politcal commentary from MP, along with its lopsided coverage of trends and events while completely ignoring false statements or misrepresentations from legacy media is what is at issue.
Somebody should check Artie's internet history, sounds like. He may have a lot more in common with the legacy Lincoln Project executive team than just his unhinged hatred of President Orange.
I think I might just respond to this thead with a <facepalm> emoji.
Thank you, Dan.
But this is an opinion piece.