To the Editor:
The voluminous list provided by Mr. Shields makes responding to each assertion impossible here, but briefly: internment of Japanese American citizens, widely supported by both Parties, was an unconstitutional disgrace; John Wilkes Booth was a member of the “Know-Nothing Party”; Lee Harvey Oswald was not a registered voter; Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock, was consumed with right-wing anti-government conspiracy theories and Second Amendment rights; people did die on January 6 in a violent attack on the Capitol and the perps weren’t Democrats..
Mr. Shields is, however, correct that the Southern Democrats of the 1800’s-1900’s were generally committed racists. So, how did it happen that the South is now largely Republican? Did racist Southern Democrats surrender their prejudices to the Party of Lincoln?
One surprising assertion was that I make “bizarre attempts to paint conservatives as violent.” The retaliatory list of Democrat Offenses followed. Let’s be clear: MAGAs are not “conservatives.” When you use violence to attempt to overthrow a legitimate election, you are a radical. So, let’s talk about an imminent test of MAGA political violence.
Two events will enlighten us on MAGA intentions regarding violence:
First, former Republican president Trump asserted that he would be arrested Tuesday of this week on charges of filing false election documents involving payment of hush money to two women. It’s a strong case with relatively minor status considering the other pending investigations. Trump falsely characterizes this legal action against him as a “dark attack” on the country itself and urges ACTION. NYPD has observed an up-tick in MAGA sites discussing armed gear.
Right-wing broadcaster Pete Santilli argued that the US military should execute former President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder if former President Donald Trump is arrested. Is he just a singular nut?
Second, on the day he predicted an indictment, Trump scheduled a rally for Saturday, March 25, the 30th anniversary of the Waco TX Massacre, “the most violent homegrown terrorism event in the nation’s history” (predates Oklahoma City). Did Trump choose that place and anniversary because he wants to honor the dead? Or because he wants to invoke an event where a cultish leader stockpiled weapons and challenged the authority of the federal government?
Will MAGA Republicans answer a call to violence for either event? I’ll be very happy to be wrong.

Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore, Ca.