A prominent Trump supporter, right wing radio host and pastor, Rick Wiles has just called on the president to use bullets to “put down an insurrection” in Portland.
For the last two months, there have been ongoing protests around the US around racial justice and equality. In response, Trump has threatened to send in federal agents to arrest protesters – and videos of such incidents have been circulating on social media.
In the last couple of weeks, conservative personalities have suggested that there should be more severe violence against protesters, including Rick Wiles, who hosts a radio show and is well known as a conspiracy theorist.
Wiles was recently addressing the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on his radio show, the TruNews programme – and called on the president to make use of 'Bama bullets' which he alleges had been stockpiled by the Obama administration.
He said:
Mr. Meadows, please tell President Trump that he is now in possession of Obama bullets — 2 billion ‘Bama bullets. You’re in possession of them now,.You got the ‘Bama bullets and you can put down the [insurrection] … you can put it down. You have the ‘Bama bullets in your hands.
At the time, the bullets were a source of consternation for right-wing commentators – they thought that it was the sign of the Obama administration gearing up for some kind of civil dispute.
In reality, they were part of a contract that the Homeland Security Department had signed, to purchase 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition for use by law enforcement agents, over a period of five years. Politifact fact-checked the claim too and found it to be false.
These bullets are called hollow point bullets, and they are typically not used to kill, but to injure. Regardless, Wiles believes it to be true – and has said that he wants Trump to use them on protesters around the US.
Wiles also claimed that these bullets were apparently stockpiled in order to put down an insurrection.
You don’t have to tolerate this anymore. They were purchased for the purpose of putting down an insurrection. Well, you got one, so put the hollow-point bullets to good use and get out there and put down this communist revolution so the rest of us can live our lives peacefully.
Wiles has previously attracted criticism after saying that Trump supporters will hunt down Democrats, and his YouTube channel was banned after he promoted anti-semitic conspiracy theories.