Americans Brace For Inevitable Post-Election Violence

In a little less than two weeks, we’ll be done voting. At least for president, anyway. Sure, there are going to be some run-offs here and there, but the lion’s share of the election will be over and we’ll have to deal with the aftermath.

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Unfortunately, there’s ample reason to believe that aftermath won’t be particularly peaceful, either.

Across the nation, many are bracing for what may well be inevitable post-election violence.

More than one-third of the nation is expecting the election in two weeks to create “anarchy and chaos” resulting in potentially lethal violence.

Unprovoked, several of those quizzed about the election by the group conducting regular “barometer” readings of America’s readiness to return to normal after the COVID-19 crisis mentioned concerns about gun violence, attacks by batons, and fire bombings.

“We have not seen this alarming level of concern since we began surveying consumers at the beginning of April. People are preparing themselves for the worst possible post-election outcomes with the ongoing pandemic in the background adding to their anxiety,” said Ron Bonjean, a partner at ROKK Solutions, one of three firms conducting the “Back-to-Normal Barometer” Secrets regularly tracks.

“These results are chilling and indicate an America profoundly on-edge,” said Rich Thau, president of Engagious, who with Sports and Leisure Research Group and ROKK has conducted the survey for months.

It found that 37% are anxious over the possibility of chaos. And the survey follows other recent findings that 61% are worried about a second civil war, and some 58% are stockpiling necessities just in case.

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Honestly, I think those 37 percent are pretty damn smart. Then again, I’m part of that percentage, so of course I do.

At this point, we need to brace ourselves for the reality that violence may well be the response to the election results. After all, while the polls appear to put Biden firmly in control of the election, this is what we saw four years ago and we all remember how that turned out.

Further, there are other metrics we’re seeing showing little actual support for Biden. In particular, the turnout for campaign events suggests widespread and vehement support for the president and little for his challenger. Anecdotally, I’ve heard from people all over the nation about how they’re not seeing yard signs for Biden but plenty of signs for Trump.

Of course, as a friend and state representative once reminded me, yard signs don’t vote.

As I see it, if Trump wins, there will be riots. I know this because we saw riots four years ago and people are even more pissed that Trump is able to convert oxygen to carbon dioxide now than they were then. So yeah, riots.

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If Biden wins, though, I suspect we’ll still see riots. I don’t necessarily think the right will riot, but instead I see it like the riots that follow a sports team winning a championship. Some people will be so smug and self-righteous that they’ll take things too far and then you end up with a riot.

So yeah, I see riots as coming and as inevitable, and that’s before anyone tries to pass any legislation.

I don’t see it getting much better from there.

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