Violent Protest Sparks GOP Warning on Left-Wing Extremism
Democratic leaders are not merely tolerating increasingly aggressive protest tactics—but actively encouraging them.
Speaker Mike Johnson is sounding the alarm over a disturbing escalation in political protests after a private GOP luncheon was disrupted and allegedly turned violent. The incident, highlighted in a recent Fox News report, involved far-left activists physically confronting Republican lawmakers and aggressive with attendees.
A video obtained by Fox News Digital shows the protesters, who had bought tickets to the event, screaming, “Lawless Lawler” while holding up a sign that read, “Elon’s Puppet” in an apparent reference to cost-cutting efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The disruption quickly turned physical as the protesters wrestled with the event attendees, who were trying to put an end to the disruption.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Johnson blamed Democratic leaders for emboldening activist mobs through inflammatory rhetoric and permissive policies, warning that violent disruption is dangerously close to becoming normalized in American politics.
In his desperation, Chuck Schumer has now crossed a serious red line by telling PBS he is organizing and encouraging radical activists to “go after” Republican members of Congress and “force them to either change their votes or face the consequences!” His recruits are now…
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) March 22, 2025
This tweet came shortly after Senator Schumer appeared on PBS earlier in the week. Facing criticism from his base following a contentious budget vote, Schumer used the interview to rally the left wing of his party and regain political momentum.
“We are mobilizing in New York. We have people going to the Republican districts and going after these Republicans who are voting for this and forcing them to either change their vote or face the consequences,” Schumer said during a recent interview with PBS. “This is a long, relentless fight that we fight every day. And I am confident that we will bring Trump’s popularity, numbers and strength down if we keep at it, and keep at it, and keep at it.”
Lawler’s team swiftly condemned Schumer’s rhetoric.
Ciro Riccardi, communications director for Lawler, told Fox News Digital, “It’s outrageous that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is inciting far-left activists to harass and intimidate Republican members of Congress.”
“Yesterday, he appeared on PBS and declared: ‘We are mobilizing in NY. We have people going to the Republican districts, going after Republicans who vote for this & forcing them to change their vote or face consequences.’ Earlier that day, a bipartisan Rockland Business Association luncheon was violently disrupted by protesters, including known provocateur Walter Masterson from Brooklyn,” Riccardi said in a statement.
Riccardi’s comments underscore the GOP’s broader concern: Democratic leaders are not merely tolerating increasingly aggressive protest tactics—but actively encouraging them. By referencing Schumer’s remarks, Riccardi draws a direct connection between national rhetoric and the chaos that unfolded in Rockland. The presence of known activists like Walter Masterson only adds weight to the GOP’s argument that the disruption wasn’t organic—it was strategic.
To many Republicans, this wasn’t just a protest gone too far—it was a sign that civility is being replaced by confrontation. Speaker Johnson’s warning is clear: when political leaders normalize intimidation for the sake of partisan gain, the line between protest and violence doesn’t just blur—it vanishes. And with it, the foundations of democratic debate and free speech grow weaker.
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I see another “Summer of Love” in the forecast. Business will be good for the rent-a-mob industry.
That is inevitable with this crowd
The good Senator should know that his speech sounded far more commanding in the original German.
The problem for the left is this time, people won’t be putting up with it. You won’t have a Kyle Rittenhouse trying to get away from the nuts and forced to defend himself. This time you will have people lining up and fixing bayonets. (So to speak)
True, but keep in mind that most leftist riots… err, *protests* take place in solidly blue areas. They generally need the support of the Democrat machine that rules those cities, and those Democrats make sure to go after any pesky right-wingers who fight back. Any who fix bayonets will find themselves arrested and prosecuted even as the rioters destroy the city.
Does the left protest any other way? They all act like kids who have never been told NO and basically, they are.
In order to be a TruBeliever™ on the left, it is necessary to dispense with logic and rationality; the requirements to follow the constantly shifting leftist beliefs are to be wholly emotive and free of critical thought.
Much like a pre-teen girl and her peer group, all responses are necessarily overblown and emotion-driven. There is no stopping place for their excesses because they have no internal controls; like children, they require adult supervision to form appropriately socialized behavior.
How far will they go? Think Pol Pot.
Hoffer is sorely missed.
We need to follow Obama’s advice – they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun! Obama was occasionally correct.
It will not be tolerated this time.
By and large, Obama has been wrong. It will be interesting to learn his role in running Biden’s presidency.
Sadly, but not surprisingly, Kaiser’s Maxim remains undefeated: “The left will always, eventually, resort to violence, threats of violence, or glorification of violence to advance its agenda. Always.”
The DemoncRats do what they do best: violence; shades of 1861.
All DOGE is doing is getting rid of waste and fraud. Why are the Democrats so upset about that? It’s almost as if their gravy train is being taken away.
How much of their gravy train has already been squirreled away.? This will need to be investigated.
My guess is not as much as we think. The Democrats seem to have assumed that the gravy train would keep running forever. They hid their funding behind dense thickets of agencies and NGOs, but they don’t seem to have saved for a rainy day. Maybe they thought that the second Trump admin wouldn’t be much different than the first, that he wouldn’t go after their base sources of funding. Oops.
Again, just my guess, but it’s based on things like the sudden resignation of ActBlue execs.
Well, when one considers the vast increase in wealth that almost universally follows a term or ten in Congress, I’d say their gravy train has been quite effective over time. And yes, they ARE all knicker-be-knotted at the prospect of this “Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train” (reference to an old country song about political grift and graft.)
Democratic leaders are not merely tolerating increasingly aggressive protest tactics—but actively encouraging them.
“Democratic leaders”?
Don’t call them that.
Democratic leaders = Leaders of democracy
Democrat leaders = Leaders of Democrats
Just like it’s not the Democratic Party (the party of democracy); it’s more correctly phrased as the Democrat Party (the party of Democrats).
Leave off the “ic”. They haven’t been about democracy in a long time.
We know X is formally Twitter. Stop saying that for the love of God.
Schumer has clearly snapped. There’s no reasonable way he doesn’t know that his words will be heeded and taken literally by his supporters, but here he is, saying them anyway.
“… going after these Republicans who are voting for this and forcing them to either change their vote or face the consequences.
“Forcing”? “Or face the consequences”?
Knowing how his supporters will interpret those words and what they are likel to do, when does this cross the line from free speech to inciting violence?
(To say nothing about intimidating opponents into changing their votes. “Election interference”, anyone? Does Schumer think he’s a mafia boss now? “Nice party you have here. Be a shame if something … happened to it.”)
Schumer is being coached by a handler or two.
1. Only when it is both subjectively intended and objectively likely that the listeners will immediately commit a crime, without thinking about it and making their own decision, but completely as a result of having been emotionally whipped up. If it’s only likely that they’ll take the time to think about what he said and reach their own conclusion that they should break the law then it’s not incitement.
2. Even if it did cross the line, he’d have full congressional immunity, since he’s speaking in the course of his role as a legislator. Unlike in the UK, congressional immunity here applies both on and off the house floor, and extends even to staffers.
There is no far-left. There is the left. There is no moderate left. There is the left. There are no liberals on the left. There is only the left.
There are not many on the left. Just a few loud ones.
A poll shows 39% of Democrats think violence is acceptable.
That 39% better be ready for an in kind response.
They should print T-shirts to that effect, so we can accommodate them.
Isn’t there a Republican leader in the Senate who could discipline Schumer for his behavior? I mean, I know the Republicans don’t have any power in the Senate (snark!) but isn’t there someone on their side who is supposed to do things?
Someone?
Anyone?
Maybe a little “conversation in the cloakroom”, in the same manner as what those of us in the Navy called a “paint locker discussion”.
Or a little wall-to-wall counseling might be in order.
.
That’s the Army technique as I recall…
;-{)}}}
Yes. This.
Schumer:
“We have people going to the Republican districts and going after these Republicans who are voting for this and forcing them to either change their vote or face the consequences.”
Riccardi:
“It’s outrageous that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is inciting far-left activists to harass and intimidate Republican members of Congress.”
What Schumer is doing is an attempt to disenfranchise voters in Red districts by intimidating their elected representatives to stop representing them. He’s not talking about the Dems in Red districts going after Republican members of Congress, he’s talking about Dems from Blue districts going into Red districts to disrupt the electoral franchise of Republican voters. This demands censure, if not ejection from the Senate.
It is also another case of an old person urging the young and naive on to do their deeds for them,
Republicans are the Majority party in the Senate — despite what Lawler’s comms director, Ciro Riccardi, is quoted as saying above — so one would think they could.
The question is, will they?
And if past history is any guide, the answer is, no, they don’t have the spine for it.
I do hope to be pleasantly surprised, but I’m not gonna hold my breath.
No, there isn’t. Only the full house can discipline a member.
The House can do what the House does. Schumer is in the Senate.
Or does the full House need to vote to sanction a Senator?
And even if the full chamber needs to vote to sanction one of its members, cannot the Speaker (in the House) or Majority Leader (in the Senate) call for such a vote?
The Democrats have always been the party of criminals and violence. They are just very open about it these days.
One day these Democrat mobs will run into a group of people well prepared to deal with their violent outbursts.
This is nothing less than insurrection and coordinated insurrection. I don’t know if sitting congressman can be arrested but I’m guessing no they can’t. At a minimum any congressman who incites violence should be sanctioned and then impeached.
Whatever protections congress has should also be stripped away. No more should they allow to spew whatever they want safe in the knowledge they are free from any consequences other than losing their next election.
The protection they do have, complete immunity for anything said in chambers, should be strictly followed. That is, they should have no immunity for things they say and do when not within the Capitol Building itself. They need the immunity to allow unfettered discourse when, for instance, debating bills. But they are obviously abusing their immunity, so the immunity should be narrowly interpreted. It was not meant to be license to encourage (direct? Trump was accused of “directing” violence for far more gentle language) violent attacks against other elected officials by sending mobs after them across district lines, nor to defame people with attacks of “Nazi” and “Racist.”
Jarry Reid:
“So the word is out that he has not paid any taxes for ten years,” Reid said on the Senate floor in August 2012. “Let him prove that he has paid taxes, because he hasn’t.”
Also Harry Reid:
“Well, they can call it whatever they want,” Reid said. “Romney didn’t win, did he?”
He flat out lied without any consequences.
Unless you count the ass=kicking someone gave him and got away with.
And no, it surely wasn’t Romney, though I wouldn’t put it past Romneys wife;
Congressional immunity is in the constitution. And the courts have said it applies whenever a member is speaking in his role as a legislator, even off the floor. And that it extends to staffers as well.
There’s still some more/less normies that vote d/prog consistently. The level of Cray Cray in their political party and refusal of any Adults or party Elders to shut down the insanity is pushing these normies away. When the d/prog leadership refuses to clearly, loudly and repeatedly condemn the anarchist Tranny loons setting Tesla dealerships on fire its hard for normies to continue their affiliation.
These “normies” you claim are being pushed away by the Democrat leadership — how do they vote?
Are the Democrat leadership’s antics enough to make them hold their collective noses and vote Republican? Or do they still vote to re-elect the same Democrat leaders time and time again?
I predict you will see a lot of, “I just can’t vote for that loon, although I can’t vote for the eeeeeevil Republican either.” I’ll take that.
Some stayed home, but others pulled the lever for Trump. Plenty of conservative ish d/prog voters who are waking up. Lots of religious minded among d/prog core constituents who have been voting d/prog their whole life.
The Tranny Cray Cray, the boondoggle spending and open borders as just three issues really seem to be motivating a shift away from reflexive d/prog voting habits. Take a look at share of ‘black’, ‘latino’ and non college educated whites from 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024. Pretty big movement.
Why are they still calling Chuck Schumer the Senate Majority Leader? The GOP has 51 votes in the chamber!
If Schumer were the Majority Leader, he wouldn’t be griping and inciting violence and riots. He’d just use the power of his office to stamp down any Republican priorities.
But he’s not Majority Leader. Hence his tantrums.
The author of this piece should have stated who “Lawler” is.
We have people going to the Republican districts and going after these Republicans who are voting for this and forcing them to either ” CHANGE THEIR VOTE OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES. ”
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best be careful chucky–believe me, a lot of folks in this world walk softly and carry big sticks–many of them would be happy to teach you the lesson regards inciting others to violence while thinking you”re personally untouchable–a lesson you have yet to learn
Isn’t incitement a felony? Seems like the DOJ should open an investigation.
This is not incitement. Incitement is very carefully defined, and it has to be or the laws against it would be unconstitutional. See Brandenburg.
Also he has congressional immunity for anything he says in his role as a legislator.
To be fair that’s not what the Constitution states in the Speech and Debate clause ‘…privileged from arrest…. and for any speech or debate in either House…’ One expanded it to Congressional aides.
The Judicial add on/expansion from the early 70s in the cases this arose are IMO not well reasoned. The plain reading of the clause seems to show it is primarily about a period of temp immunity from arrest or detention which would preclude these elected officials from performing their duties, would indirectly disenfranchise the Citizens of their State/CD. In addition it the very specific language ‘…in either House..’ seems to limit where the temp immunity applies to the floor, the chamber and committee committee.
IMO the clause applies to arrests or detention and speaking about legislation/policy issues while acting as a legislator engaged in legislative actions on the floor, in the Chamber, in committee. To apply it to other things like defamatory language v Citizens is not in the text and is entirely a creation of the activist ‘living constitution’ cabal in the Judiciary.
A legislator’s job is to make laws, not to tell people to try to intimidate other legislators. So telling his constituency to confront the opposition and bulky them is not immunized speech. It’s incitement to assault. Big difference.
The calls for violence by the minority against the majority only work in highly dysfunctional democracies like the Weimar Republic. When the Left goes from damaging themselves to damaging others they will be suppressed everywhere except for the urban enclaves where they have localized majorities. The hard part will be to stand by while they oppress dissent in those areas, and wait until the refugee crisis creates anarchy behind. We cannot fight them on their own turf until they have turned that into a wasteland.
Hitler was able to take over despite having only a 30% electoral base because had enough paramilitary resources to intimidate the majority for long enough to seize despotic power over the rest of the government. If the Left plans on launching an actual insurrection they will need more than a few dozen activist Federal Judges to do it, Provided that the Supreme Court continues to abdicate from their responsibilities, the President can simply defy the Lower Court obstructionists, and federalize control of the State National Guards if necessary to defang any Blue State Governors who want to pull an Orval Faubus. Massive urban rioting will force their hands eventually, especially after the mobs take down a couple of them in their frenzies. Things could get ugly, but the Left simply doesn’t have the means to wage a full fledged Civil War.
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