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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 2d

About 1,000? Can y'all even count? There were far more than that.

Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 5d

Watching JD Vance act like a soulless partisan hack is disgusting. A month after wanting to ruin people’s lives for expressing schadenfreude at Charlie Kirk’s death, now he’s dismissing the “pearl clutching” response to Young Republicans celebrating rape and laughing about gas chambers. Pathetic.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 14d

The partisan civil war has already begun. The goal is not ideological, it is unassailable power.

Opinion | Trump Is Not Afraid of Civil War. Neither Is Stephen Miller.

www.nytimes.com

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 14d

Friendly reminder that the “attention” in “Thank you for your attention to this matter” is the point. Trump wants to distract you. From the Epstein files. From the failing economy. From the authoritarian consolidation of power. From his declining health. Stay focused.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 21d

7.) Finally, they are of course named after the abolitionist John Brown, an American hero who was willing to give up his life in the fight against slavery. Erasing history and bringing back the Lost Cause myth will never change that.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 21d

6.) The best historical analogy for JBGCs might be the vigilance committees that popped up all over the North in the 1850s to help protect Black people from those attempting to profit off the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 21d

5.) Some JBGCs will provide armed protection for marginalized community members and the businesses that support them. They are defensive and not offensive in nature.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 21d

4.) Many JBGCs offer gun safety resources and provide mutual aid for the larger community.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 21d

3.) Because of that, JBGCs reflect the values and goals of local members. Most focus on offering left-leaning gun owners a shared space away from the more rightwing, conservative gun culture.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 21d

2.) The first JBGC started over 20 years ago in Lawrence, Kansas. Others have taken the name, but there is not a national organization. They are a VERY loose network of local groups, some of which now exist under the name Redneck Revolt.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 21d

1.) JBGCs are NOT domestic terrorists.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 21d

Since the rightwing mediasphere is trying to turn John Brown Gun Clubs (JBGC) into the radical left boogeyman, here are a few things to know since I have written about the groups.

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Reposted by Jay Childers

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 25d

This weak, brazen attempt by Stephen Miller both to chill free speech and to set up a premise to criminalize it — and, to be clear, this is the very type of speech most central to First Amendment protections — would be laughably embarrassing if this man did not have the power that he has.

Stephen Miller &
@StephenM
This language incites violence and terrorism.
America
@america • Sep 24
California Governor Gavin Newsom calls ICE arresting illegal aliens
"authoritarian actions by an authoritarian government".

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 25d

Violence: "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation." (WHO)

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 25d

With all this talk of what is and is not violence (looking at you DHS), seems like a good reminder is in order. And if you didn't know, the World Health Organization has a really solid definition that covers a lot of ground--and does not include video recording law enforcement...

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 27d

They have their prophet and now they have their martyr, so this is not about politics for a lot of them. This is a faith movement, a religious movement. I don’t see how calls for more debate and civility are going to help. This requires a massive social and political countermovement.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 27d

It will also likely lead to more extreme actions, including violence, because the martyr talk only makes their faith in Trump all the more unbreakable. They still see the failed assassination attempt against him as a “miracle” and proof that he was destined to be re-elected.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · 27d

I worry people aren’t taking the Charlie Kirk martyr language seriously. It’s clear many MAGA folks really believe they are fighting a deeply religious battle. This martyr talk will lead to “higher law” arguments that completely dismiss the Constitution.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · Sep 19

Watching Trump go after Kimmel and others is a stark reminder of how disgusting it is when a bully pretends to be the victim. Truly pathetic.

Reposted by Jay Childers

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · Sep 18

This is the playbook, folks.

If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away.

Do not be quiet in this moment.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · Sep 17

Reading the comments made by the FCC Chair about Jimmy Kimmel, it really seems this administration does not like free speech or free markets. One worries they may just not like freedom at all.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · Sep 17

A performative politics that treats ideological opponents as enemies to be destroyed instead of adversaries you are competing with will always tend toward violence. And so much of what passes for politics these days is performative.

Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · Sep 15

Doing research on abolition rhetoric and political violence in the U.S., I spend a lot of time each day reading newspapers and speeches from the late 1850s. I really, really wish that didn’t feel so relevant for what is happening today.

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Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · Sep 11

If we make it a week without some MAGA nut shooting up a “radical left” college campus, I will be relieved. Trump pouring fuel on the fire and pretty much declaring war on a large swath of the American people seems very not good.

Jay Childers @jaychilders.bsky.social · Sep 10

Thinking this afternoon of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and the response to her political assassination in June.