Donald Trump, now a convicted felon awaiting sentencing in his New York trial, is claiming that the jury not smiling at him is proof that the trial was a rigged and biased affair, The Daily Beast reports.
“You heard me say long before the verdict that Mother Teresa couldn’t get a fair trial here. I said that, and no, you couldn’t. I never saw a glimmer of a smile from the jury. No, this was a venue that was very unfair,” Trump complained to Greg Kelly, a host on the right-wing cable channel Newsmax. “It’s a tiny fraction of the people [who] are Republicans, and it’s very unfair. And then we had a judge who was very unfair."
Trump is barred, under a gag order, from going after jurors, witnesses, court staff and Judge Juan Merchan's family due to concerns over their safety. But he has already violated the order 10 times and sent clear signals to surrogates and supporters, who are not only expressing Trump's thoughts on his behalf but also trying to dox and threaten the 12 New Yorkers who voted to convict him. NBC reported that Advance Democracy, a public interest nonprofit, found potential juror addresses posted on a far-right pro-Trump forum, in addition to violent threats against Judge Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“We need to identify each juror. Then make them miserable. Maybe even suicidal,” wrote one user. “1,000,000 men (armed) need to go to washington and hang everyone. That’s the only solution,” wrote another user.
“I hope every juror is doxxed and they pay for what they have done,” added another person, posting on Trump's Truth Social platform. “May God strike them dead. We will on November 5th and they will pay!”
Far-right groups who participated in the January 6 attack of the Capitol are also agitating for retaliation. “Now you understand. To save your nation, you must fight. The time to respond is now. Franco Friday has begun,” one Proud Boys chapter posted on Telegram, referring to Francisco Franco, the fascist dictator of Spain who purged at least 200,000 people his regime viewed as enemies of the state.
Trump is asking Merchan to lift his gag order, possibly so he can get in on the action as well. According to The Washington Post, his lawyers are arguing that the gag order is violating his First Amendment rights and his right to speak as a political candidate.
