Under the law, domestic terrorism involves activities that are “dangerous to human life,” that are in violation of federal criminal law—and, on top of that, have the intent to intimidate a population, or to affect the “conduct” or “policy” of a government by “intimidation or coercion.” We’ve seen this throughout history, even recent history: When you put people in opposition like that—when you portray them as the enemy, when you describe them as kind of threatening a person’s way of life or things that they hold dear—that creates the conditions under which people are more likely to resort to political violence, and it becomes more and more the norm. It feels very much of a piece with the Trump administration treating blue states as the enemy of the federal government and even the American people.
Author: Mark Joseph Stern
Published at: 2026-01-20 22:08:30
Still want to read the full version? Full article
