Why Trump supporters are wary of joining protests he called for

Donald Trump called for protests against his possible imminent criminal indictment, and police in major cities are preparing for unrest.

But the prevailing message from some of his most fervent supporters is: stay home.

It’s a contradiction that makes sense after investigating pro-Trump spaces online.

On mainstream social networks, messaging apps and Trump’s own Truth Social, rumours are swirling.

There’s breathless chatter about double agents and “false flags” - attacks carried out with the intention of blaming opponents for the violence.

Many of the former president’s steadfast supporters believe that the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021 was instigated not by Trump fans and far-right groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, but instead by federal agents or left-wing “antifa” - anti-fascist activists who hoped to discredit Mr Trump.

They point to the presence, revealed in court documents, of confidential FBI sources in the crowd that day.

But that’s very different to saying there was a plot by federal authorities to spark violence. While there’s no evidence of that - and voluminous evidence that the more than 1,000 people arrested in connection with the Capitol riot were Trump supporters - fringe news sites have been filled with wild speculation and suggestions about “deep state” plots.

Some of the coverage has even filtered up to more mainstream outlets such as Fox News.

The rumours, and fear of a repeat of the events of January 2021, have dissuaded many of those who would be out on the streets protesting over Mr Trump’s possible arrest.

Ali Alexander, a far-right activist who organised protests leading up to the Capitol riot, announced that he wasn’t planning to protest and said that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of Infowars was also staying home.

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican known for her loyalty to Mr Trump, repeated similar concerns:

The same sentiments were rife in proTrump Facebook groups, on Telegram channels, on sites like 4chan, and on Truth Social.

“Most of the chatter I’ve seen about protests is that they’re all going to be crawling with feds or set ups by the deep state to pull off false flags and make ‘peaceful protestors’ look bad,” says conspiracy theory expert Mike Rothschild.

Mr Rothschild, author of The Storm is Upon Us, a book on the QAnon conspiracy theory, noted that a protest on Monday held by the New York Young Republican Club drew only a few dozen supporters.

“I think some of this is genuine paranoia over being arrested, and some of it is that there’s just fewer people with the fanatical devotion to Trump that drove January 6th,” he says.

In contrast with his messages prior to the Capitol riot, Mr Trump has not been specific about a focal point or timing of any potential protest.

But there are indications that talk of violence against Trump’s opponents is rising. Advance Democracy, a non-partisan research group, found a spike in mentions of violence trebled on Truth Social after Mr Trump declared on Saturday that he would be arrested and urged his supporters to “PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”

Law enforcement seem to be taking such

Gwyneth Paltrow in court as ski crash trial starts

Gwyneth Paltrow is in a US court as a civil trial begins over claims she seriously injured a man in a “hitand-run” skiing accident in Utah in 2016.

The actress is being sued by retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, who has alleged Paltrow crashed into him at the Deer Valley resort in Park City.

He claims she skied “out of control”, causing “a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries”.

Ms Paltrow has counter-sued, claiming he hit her with a “full body blow”.

Opening statements in the jury trial are expected to be made on Tuesday, with proceedings scheduled to last for eight days. The Oscar winner is expected to testify.

Mr Sanderson, 76, is seeking damages of $300,000 (£245,000), having had a previous claim for $3.1m (£2.5m) dropped.

The original claim, filed in 2019, said: “This case involves a hit-and-run ski crash at Deer Valley, Utah, where defendant Gwyneth Paltrow skied out of control and hit the back of Terry Sanderson, another skier, who was downhill, knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries.

“[Ms] Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured.”

The filing also claimed that a ski instructor, who had been training Ms Paltrow, saw Mr Sanderson injured but also made no attempt to help him.

It also claimed the instructor did not send for help and later accused Mr Sanderson of having caused the crash in threats and the possibility of large protests seriously. a “false report to protect his client”.

New York police are bolstering security around the courthouse where Mr Trump would be arrested. Police in Los Angeles are preparing for a pro-Trump protest on Tuesday outside a federal building, the LA Times newspaper reports.

In Washington, police say they have no specific information about pro-Trump protests but civil disturbance officers are on standby.

On Saturday, Mr Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Waco. The central Texas city was the site of a raid on a Christian cult in 1993 which resulted in the deaths of 82 cult members and four federal agents, an incident that has long been a rallying cry for antigovernment and anti-law enforcement groups.

Mr Sanderson previously said he waited for almost three years to file the lawsuit because he could not function properly because of the concussion, and also had some problems with lawyers.

Ms Paltrow later filed a counterclaim, alleging that Mr Sanderson had hit her.

The claim says she was shaken by the collision and stopped skiing with her family for the day.

It added that Mr Sanderson apologised to her and said he was fine.

Fungal infections spreading in US at ‘alarming’ rate, says CDC

Adeadly fungal infection that is hard to treat is spreading rapidly at an “alarming” rate, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

US cases nearly doubled in 2021 from 756 to 1,471, says the CDC report.

Healthy people are not at risk from Candida auris but those with weak immune systems or using medical devices like ventilators or catheters can suffer severe illness or die.

The majority of cases tested were immune to anti-fungal treatment.

For this reason the CDC has called it an “urgent antimicrobial resistance threat”. Many patients are in hospitals and elderly care homes.

One in three patients with invasive infections die but it can be difficult to assess the exact role Candida auris played in vulnerable patients, said CDC epidemiologist Dr Meghan Lyman, the report’s lead author.

The infection was first reported in the US in 2016. The most rapid rise in cases was from 2020 to 2021, according to CDC data which was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Another reason for concern was the increase of cases that became “resistant to echinocandins” which is the antifungal medicine most recommended for treatment of the infection.

The CDC attributes the rise to poor infection prevention at healthcare facilities and enhanced screening efforts.

It also may have worsened due to strain on healthcare and public health systems during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Lyman, told CBS News the rise “emphasises the need for continued surveillance, expanded lab capacity, quicker diagnostic tests, and adherence to proven infection prevention and control”.

Other countries have also been seeing an increase in Candida auris cases.

Last year, the World Health Organization included it on its list of “fungal priority pathogens”. Source: BBC