Why the F.B.I. Should Be Watching Reza Aslan

by Christopher Paslay

The Iranian-American scholar’s threats to “eradicate” President Trump and his supporters should be taken seriously by the U.S. government.

On the morning of August 4^th, Reza Aslan, an Iranian-American scholar, HBO producer, and recipient of the prestigious James Joyce Award, started off his day by verbally assaulting Ivanka Trump. When the First Daughter of the United States addressed the recent shooting tragedies by tweeting, “White supremacy, like all other forms of terrorism, is an evil that must be destroyed,” Aslan responded by tweeting, “Fuck you Ivanka. Seriously. Fuck you and your entire white supremacist family.”

Moments later Aslan turned his anger on White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.  Apparently, Aslan was annoyed that Conway called for unity after this weekend’s tragic shootings.  Here’s what Conway tweeted:   

We need to come together, America. Finger-pointing, name-calling & screaming with your keyboards is easy, yet… It solves not a single problem, saves not a single life. Working as one to understand depraved evil & to eradicate hate is everyone’s duty. Unity. Let’s do this.

Here is Aslan’s response: “You are ‘the depraved evil’ we need to eradicate.”  After conservatives called out Aslan for his threat, Aslan later downplayed his remarks, tweeting:

So then when @KellyannePolls said we need to “eradicate” this evil she meant shoot it in the face? She was threatening the El Paso shooter? We are all so fucking fed up with you racist GOPers and your bad faith bullshit. 

John Cardillo, a conservative journalist and political analyst, came to Conway’s defense, pointing out that Aslan’s tweet was indeed a threat on Conway’s life, tweeting:

There’s really no other way to interpret “eradicate” other than @rezaaslan threatening the life of @KellyannePolls.

Finally, Aslan went full throttle on Trump and his supporters, tweeting:

After today there is no longer any room for nuance. The President is a white nationalist terror leader. His supporters – ALL OF THEM – are by definition white nationalist terror supporters. The MAGA hat is a KKK hood. And this evil, racist scourge must be eradicated from society.

This is the kind of language Reza Aslan, the New York Times bestselling author who was fired from CNN for calling President Trump a “piece of shit,” uses not even 72 hours after two tragic shootings left over 30 people dead.  Not only is his language extremely hateful and inflammatory, but it’s technically a threat against the President of the United States, which is a federal felony under United States Code Title 18, Section 871.  In fact, one could argue it even rises to the level of a terroristic threat, being that Aslan calls for Trump and all his supporters to be “eradicated from society.”  He even states that “there is no longer any room for nuance,” as if his words should be taken very seriously and very literally, because beating around the bush with suggestions and innuendo aren’t getting anybody anywhere; after all, Trump is still in office.         

This is how radical leftists like Aslan work.  Because the media serves as a shield for haters like Aslan — focusing on maligning Trump and his base by misrepresenting their intentions and making them into monsters — Aslan and his ilk are free to trash conservatives and incite division unperturbed, morning, noon, and night.  And then when things come to a head and tragedy strikes, well, everyone can conveniently point the finger at Trump.

Reza Aslan is an angry man, make no bones about it.  Last winter, he attacked Covington Catholic’s Nicholas Sandmann, tweeting, “Honest question. Have you ever seen a more punchable face than this kid’s?”  

Why was Nick’s face “punchable,” Aslan?  Because he was politely standing by as other activists — grown men, not high school students — were rudely invading his space and insulting him and his friends?  But we already know the answer to this question: Reza Aslan wants to punch Nick’s face because he’s white, and when Aslan sees young boys like Nick, Aslan projects his own bigotry onto them, coming to the conclusion that they are smug, spoiled, and privileged, and therefore must be taken down a notch.

Aslan’s cowardly attack on a high school kid aside, imagine if the things he said about eradicating Trump and his supporters were reversed.  Imagine if a conservative scholar and popular television producer tweeted the following about President Obama after the Fort Hood terrorist attack, where a Muslim army major shot 13 people dead (and where Obama refused to condemn Islamic extremism):             

After today there is no longer any room for nuance. The President is a Muslim terror leader. His supporters – ALL OF THEM – are by definition Islamic extremist terror supporters. The Hope and Change poster is a call for Jihad. And this evil, racist scourge must be eradicated from society.      

How fast would the F.B.I. and D.O.J. be involved?  Pretty fast, I can tell you. Especially from an Obama Justice Department that not only went after the Boy Scouts, but also destroyed the career of Tuffy, the rodeo clown who wore an Obama mask at the Missouri State Fair and was summarily fired from his job and banished from working in the state altogether.   

So far nothing has happened to Reza Aslan (other than Nick Sandmann’s lawsuit, which keeps getting dropped by liberal judges).  Maybe A.G. William Barr should make an example of Aslan by holding him accountable for verbally assaulting Ivanka (imagine if someone said of the Obama family, Fuck you Malia.  Seriously.  Fuck you and your entire Islamic extremist family), and for threatening a high schooler with violence, and for making terrorist threats against the President and his supporters.

Aslan’s inflammatory speech should not be ignored.  It’s time for the government to get involved and take a closer look.