As America heads toward the final months of the president’s second year in office, Trump Derangement Syndrome seems to be reaching epidemic levels across the country. Those affected by the disorder are so consumed by their hatred of the president that they feel driven to attack him or anyone they deem to be in support of him. TDS was a huge problem shortly after President Trump was elected. It’s becoming a serious issue again.
For those of you keeping score, in just the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen a knife attack on a Republican congressional candidate in California, a threat of mass murder against supporters of President Donald Trump gathering at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., a GOP office in Wyoming attacked by an arsonist, and a conservative journalist going into hiding after receiving serious death threats.
During a festival in Castro Valley, Calif., 35-year-old Farzad Fazeli approached Republican congressional candidate Rudy Peters at his booth “in an aggressive manner and made disparaging, profanity-laced remarks about the Republican party and President Donald Trump.” He then allegedly pulled out a switchblade knife and attempted to stab Peters. Luckily for the candidate, the knife malfunctioned and the pair ended up in a physical struggle. Fazeli fled the scene, but was soon apprehended by police.
In another disturbing incident this week, a right-wing activist was threatened on Twitter by an individual whose account had the Democratic Socialists of America logo as its avatar. The threat was in response to an innocuous tweet from Trump supporter Cassandra Fairbanks about a meeting at Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
“Who is going to the MAGA meetup tonight?” Fairbanks tweeted. “I am coming with a gun and i [sic] expected to get numerous bloodstained MAGA hats as trophies,” read the response from “dreamstarjustic” with a picture attached of a pistol. Washington D.C. Metropolitan police on Tuesday said that they are investigating a threat of mass murder against the Trump supporters.
Last week, fire and vandalism damaged the Albany County Republican Party headquarters in Wyoming. Albany County GOP Chairman Ben McKay said that a “Make America Great Again” sign that was hanging in a window was broken during the incident. The Wyoming GOP released the following statement:
The Wyoming Republican Party condemns the forced entry and vandalism that took place last week at the Albany County Republican office. We applaud the Federal Bureau of Investigation for involved with the investigation of this erroneous crime. Furthermore, after learning the space above the office is an occupied residence, the felony arson must be deemed as an incredibly dangerous and potentially lethal act. The crime scene also shows evidence of being politically motivated. Patriotic items such as our United States flag and other symbols of freedom near and dear to our republic were damaged or destroyed.
The forceful and malicious damage sustained to this private property is extensive and intentional. The Wyoming Republican Party seeks full prosecution of the individual or individuals responsible for this attack and views this act as one of desperation by extremists illegally expressing their opposition. We believe our values represent the people of Wyoming and will be undaunted in continuing to help Republicans win elections.
And this week, conservative journalist and PJ Media contributor Denise McAllister had to go into hiding after receiving death and rape threats over multiple forms of private communication, PJM’s Tyler O’Neil reported.
In a particularly bizarre act of violence, a TDS sufferer in Nevada turned a gun on himself in a campus bathroom and shot himself in the arm on the second day of classes — to protest President Trump.
Mark J. Bird, a longtime College of Southern Nevada sociology professor, is now facing felony gun charges for “discharging a gun within a prohibited structure, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and possessing a dangerous weapon on school property,” according to court records. The professor was discovered outside of the bathroom bleeding from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The incident happened on the morning of August 28.
Inside the bathroom, campus police found a $100 bill taped to a mirror along with a note that said, “For the janitor,” according to Bird’s arrest report. On the floor of the restroom was a black-and-white, .22-caliber pistol and one spent shell casing.
The sociology professor was hired Aug. 26, 1993, and was an emeritus faculty member at the time of the shooting, college spokesman Richard Lake said. Bird was not scheduled to teach any courses during the fall 2018 semester.
Bird was employed with the college as of Tuesday, although Lake said it was not clear what disciplinary actions, if any, would be taken against him.
A 911 call was made after several CSN employees and at least one student saw Bird stumble out of the bathroom, bleeding, before he collapsed, the report said. None of the witnesses — who later told police they only recalled hearing “a loud noise” — initially knew that Bird was armed and had shot himself, according to the report.
One college employee told police that he held Bird’s hand to calm him down as others tried to stop the bleeding. While waiting for authorities to arrive, Bird said he had shot himself in protest of President Donald Trump, police noted in their report. The report did not elaborate.
After the shooting, a campus-wide alert was sent throughout the campus to let students know that the scene was secure and the firearm had been recovered. But students and faculty were apparently left in the dark, which apparently led to “a number of rumors” about what happened.
“They never really told the students much about it except that it was resolved on the actual day of the shooting,” said Robert Manis, president of the college’s faculty union, Nevada Faculty Alliance. “When you don’t give the full details, then rumors go crazy. It’s unfortunate because it made the students and faculty very afraid and allowed rumors to proliferate.”
On his show today, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh proposed that mental health facilities be reopened to take care this epidemic of TDS sufferers. And he was only half joking.
“We don’t need prison reform. We need massive mental health reform,” El Rushbo said. “We need to put back all of those state mental health facilities that have been shut down and open them for any leftist that wants to admit himself. They’re going crazy! This guy shot himself in the bathroom to protest Trump! This guy’s a professor. He’s teaching kids!”
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