In my book on our age of rage I explore how rage is addictive and contagious. What people do not want to admit in places like Minneapolis is that they like it, they need it. Politicians know that. Even after Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones was shown to have threatened to kill his political opponents and their children, other Democratic leaders continued to support him and he was elected to the highest law enforcement position in the state. Now, Ohio Democratic Attorney General candidate Elliot Forhan appears to be attempting to ride the same rage wave in a video in which he says, “…I am going to kill Donald Trump.”
A video is making rounds on X in which Forhan says, “I am going to obtain conviction, rendered by a jury of his peers, at a standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt, based on evidence, presented at trial, conducted in accordance with due process, resulting in a sentence, duly executed, of capital punishment.”
Forhan continued, “That is what I mean when I say I am going to kill Donald Trump.”
The video shows the thrill of saying (or hearing others declare) that you are going to kill your political enemies. After the thrill-kill statement, Forhan then adds the legal rationale, like a fast-talking commercial warning of product risks. He knows, as with those warnings, people will tune out the perfunctory verbiage. Indeed, like a commercial, he immediately returns to the marketing pitch in saying, “I am going to kill Donald Trump.”
This is protected speech under the First Amendment, but it is also reprehensible rhetoric at a time of increasing social unrest. Forhan is trafficking in rage in the hope that it will secure him a political office.
This pledge to hunt a single individual has worked for other Democratic Attorney General candidates like Letitia James.
Other prosecutors are feeding the rage addiction with their own overwrought and dubious pledges. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has been holding chest-thumping press conferences promising to arrest federal agents, which is highly unlikely given federal immunity protections.
Krasner was back, thrilling the MS Now crowd with a vow to “hunt” down federal immigration agents if they move into the city. He repeated the Democratic mantra that these law enforcement officers are Nazis and Gestapo.
“This is a small bunch of wannabe Nazis. That’s what they are. In a country of 350 million, we outnumber them. If we have to hunt you down the way they hunted down Nazis for decades, we will find your identities. We will find you. We will achieve justice.”
This reckless rhetoric from Krasner (who was in my class at the University of Chicago) is occurring as protesters in cities like Minneapolis have been shown carrying signs reading “Kill Nazis.”
From pledges to kill Trump to hunting down federal enforcement officers, Democratic leaders are attempting to ride the rage wave to midterm victories. It is a call not for democracy but mobocracy. They will find that it will be a short-lived ride. Today’s revolutionaries often turn into tomorrow’s reactionaries.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the author of the forthcoming “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution,” which will be released on Feb. 3 as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
why is it that the man seen spraying Omar with Apple Cider Vinegar (a drink many people injest for good health)was immediately arrested and is in jail but the “peaceful protesters who throw ice balls, frozen water bottles, rocks. bricks and who physically attack Ice Agents are left alone. not arrested or prosecuted only to do it again and again.
. Someone has checked this candidate for registered firearms, FBI?
Trump has a Writing Staff, the Teleprompters don’t generate rhetorical by themselves. Even A.I. can’t come up with the angels that his Staff does. So don’t accuse Donald of making it up on his own. Sure he says bazaar things off the cuff, but it’s not the word-salad of the previous Admin.
I get the rage. I really get the rage. It is a perfect storm of media, change in generational political power, lack of decorum, and a leader the literally drives the other side up the wall. President Trump is like no other I have seen in the last 50 years that makes people lose their minds over him. It almost seems normal to threaten his life. Except it is legal professionals now doing it openly in public. Whether this is 1st Amendment protected or not is not really the question. The question is this the type of individual you want as prosecutor in cases like this? It shows both an utter lack decorum as well as a serious question about his ethics. If he wins and someone kills the President, is anyone confident he could run the case fairly? That is not what you want in an Attorney General.
I cannot have imagined the assassination attempt on President Trump would be openly questioned. Yet it happened. President Trump fuels the fire too with his comments about Omar after the attack on her. I get it is all politics, but enough is enough.
Trump Lies About Omar Attack
The man who tried to attack Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) during a town hall on Tuesday night was armed with only a syringe that had an apparently harmless liquid inside and was quickly detained by authorities.
“She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her,” President Donald Trump told ABC News. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) made similar claims: “That was pretty much all staged,” he said. “At the end of the day, this is the Democrats playing games.”
There is zero evidence that’s the case. The 55-year-old who was arrested for third-degree assault against Omar has a criminal record and a digital trail of supporting Trump.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/01/28/ilhan-omar-attack-trump-political-violence/
^ DNC paid troll. Ignore. ^
ATS – given Jusse Smollet and the massive Somali Fraud in MN – you will have to accept that the rest of us re suspicious STILL
And they just because YOU say something – does not mean we beleive you.
Whether this attack is fake or not – the man doing it should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
As to the WaPO artilce – it is behind a paywall and WaPo is not exactly trustworthy.
As to Trump’s remark – “Probably” is not a statement of fact – it can not be a lie.
Can those of you on the left learn to use words properly.
I do not give a schiff about your gramar or spelling but when you call every conjecture, guess, remark about trends and patterns and probability a LIE – particularly when the Truth is not REALLY know.
The good shooting was justified, But YOU jumped to conclusions and said it was not – was that lying ?
The Pretti shooting was actually justified multiple ways
+ Pretti reached for his gun – while it had been removed when he reached for it – neither Pretti nor the officers who shot him knew that.
+ A shot was fired – likely a accidental discharge from Pretti’s gun when it was removed.
His gun was barely more than a Saturday night special and it was modified and it was KNOWN to go off accidentally and it had no safety.
Frankly Pretti is very lucky that he did not shoot himself before this.
+ An officer shouted “Gun, Gun,Gun” –
It is also true that Pretti was continuing to resist arrest – that is NOT a justification for the use of deadly force,
but it an additioal reason that the items I listed above are each ALONE justifications for the use of deadly force.
We also now have multiple videos showing that Pretti was a HotHead with a gun.
Unless the ICE officer KNEW of those prior incidents – or ones we have no video of – those can NOT factor in to the officers judgement.
The use of deadly force can NOT be justified by knowledge you do not have until after the fact.
But it is Clear to the rest of us that Pretti was a disaster waiting to happen.
It is unfortunate for him that he was not arrested when he damaged the ICE SUV.
But that did not occur because while absolutely a crime – it is a state crime and Minnesota is not prosecuting crimes committed by rioters.
Had they been there doing their job and separating protestors from Federal agents Pretti would have been arrested and that would have saved his life. Even his parents were concerned that he was in over his head.
Regardless Pretti was an agitator, a lawless rioter – not a protestor.
That too is not justification fro his shooting
But it does establish its inevitability.
Trump Lies About Omar Attack
You seem not to understand the word “probably”.
Trump’s comment is that of a sleazy infowarrior — a morally-repugnant provocateur. What was all that “I want to unite, not divide”? He talks like a spoiled brat who lies compulsively and never gets disciplined for acting out.
That said, I mostly support his policies, but he gets a C- on communication. I pity the Iranians who took him at his word. Words have consequences.
Unfortunately, this is also smear on local LEO – and those leaders performing it should be ashamed. The on-the-street LOCAL officers are stained. The reality is that the State and Local leadership (Walz, Frey, Elliot, Colonel Christina Bogojevic, head of the Minnesota State Patrol, and even some of the local Police Chiefs…) have been encouraging “Peaceful Protests” in a manner that can also be construed as vicious and complete obstruction of lawful action.
In reality, local officers are not either responding to violent mob obstruction, or even dispatched for presence when those actions are incurred, or protecting the property on which they are occurring – being ordered to not respond or withdraw.
Both the “peaceful protestors” (for “peaceful” tactics currently utilized, and their leadership advocate the removal of law without legislative, judicial, or even ethical and moral consideration. In other words, lawlessness.
(For ambush tactics, specifically the in use refer to https://www.benning.army.mil/mcoe/199th/~catd/mtfc/content/pdf/mtfc-studentbattlebook.pdf)
“This is a small bunch of wannabe Nazis. That’s what they are. In a country of 350 million, we outnumber them. If we have to hunt you down the way they hunted down Nazis for decades, we will find your identities. We will find you. We will achieve justice.” — Larry Krasner, Philadelphia DA, today (1/28/2026) in a press conference.
In the 2025 election, the Soros foundation’s political action committee contributed approximately $1.45 million to support Larry Krasner in his bid for re-election as Philadelphia District Attorney. This backing mirrors previous support, as Soros had already contributed around $1.7 million in Krasner’s initial campaign.
. When noninvolvement becomes obstruction , failure to intervene becomes obstruction. Someone is beating a person on the subway, no one intervenes or failure to intervene with CPR George Floyd.
Non-involvement , homeless dying from winter, choking and H maneuver , there are many examples.
The DHS agents are in peril daily. In Trump v. Illinois several justices expressed deeply held thoughts and an understanding of peril and could not send in ICE, BORTAC without protections such as the NG and indeed the peril of rioters. These Justices are decent men.
Minnesota leadership failed and DJT wisely withdrew to regroup. It’s an odd strategy to equate ANY targetted group with the WWII Jewish Holocaust. It’s truly remarkable. People illegally, unlawfully within the US are the same as the Holocaust?
It’s difficult to understand isn’t it.
When Obama was POTUS, he agreed with deporting all illegal aliens. Now that he’s not POTUS, he’s against it.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/2010-obama-clip-goes-viral-where-he-defends-deportations-even-those-just-trying-earn-living
NotSoOld: As “beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,” so does truth and fact lie in the ears of the listener, or equivocate in the mouths of the speaker.