(Headline USA) After two years of targeting conservatives with everything from false-flag operations to two-tiered levels of justice to bogus accusations of “domestic terrorism,” FBI Director Christopher Wray got his feelings hurt by the pushback against the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago, a defacto attack on democracy itself.
The director had strong words Wednesday for supporters of former President Donald Trump who—he claimed—have been using violent rhetoric in the wake of his agency’s search of Trump’s Florida resort–home.
Wray, who was appointed as the agency’s director in 2017 by Trump, called threats circulating online against federal agents and the Justice Department “deplorable and dangerous.”
“I’m always concerned about threats to law enforcement,” Wray said. “Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you’re upset with.”
Reactions included the ubiquitous “Lock and load” and calls for federal agents and even U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to be assassinated.
On Gab, one poster going by the name of Stephen said he was awaiting “the call” to mount an armed revolution.
“All it takes is one call. And millions will arm up and take back this country. It will be over in less than 2 weeks,” the post said.
Another Gab poster implored others: “Lets get this started! This unelected, illegitimate regime crossed the line with their GESTAPO raid! It is long past time the lib socialist filth were cleansed from American society!”
Apart from a Secret Service encounter outside the White House—the details of which remained unclear—there have been no reports of violence having been acted upon as the clandestine agency’s longstanding reputation as a force of good gives way to deep levels of distrust over its political corruption and its own illegal activity.
But it wouldn’t be the first time that Wray and the Biden Justice Department have bristled over Americans exercising their First Amendment rights to free expression, which have included many calls to defund and decentralize the federal agency he oversees.
The Justice Department recently sought to reclassify symbols of American history—such as the Revolutionary War-era Gadsden flag—as symbols of terrorist hate speech.
Wray made the remarks following a news conference during a long-planned visit to the agency’s field office in Omaha, Nebraska, where he discussed the FBI’s focus on cybersecurity. He declined to answer questions about the hours-long search Monday by FBI agents of Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida resort.
The search of Trump’s residence Monday is purportedly part of an investigation into whether Trump took classified records from the White House to his Florida residence, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department has been investigating the potential mishandling of classified information since the National Archives and Records Administration said it had received from Mar-a-Lago 15 boxes of White House records, including documents containing classified information, earlier this year.
Even if that is true, though, the agency violated many norms in the process by refusing to show the search warrant to Trump’s legal counsel and forcing them to wait outside, as well as cut the security cameras, while federal agents rifled through private parts of the house including former First Lady Melania Trump’s private wardrobe.
Wray and his agents have yet to come forward with any explanation for what they may have taken and why.
Additional reporting revealed that the judge who approved the warrant was a radical leftist Obama supporter who had represented Jeffrey Epstein and had previously recused himself from a case involving Trump and Hillary Clinton on the basis that he could not render an impartial verdict.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
