The Marshall Law Chronicles — Episode One
The Marshall Law Chronicles is a report on the state of mind of Republican Americans, what they believe, and why. This report comes from my countless hours observing the political right on TikTok. I have posted the craziest videos on a massive thread on Twitter, but there are hundreds more I see and never post, and it’s given me a glimpse into their minds. This report refers to these conspiracy-ridden and often violent Republicans as Marshalls.
There are only 130 million humans left in America. The other 224 million took the Covid-19 vaccine, and now they are something other than humans. This claim was debunked more than two years ago, but it’s still a prevalent conspiracy with Marshalls. Even though this conspiracy is old, it plays into all the other conspiracy theories they believe.
Daily, I have seen videos of Marshalls who talk about how vaccinated people now act differently than they used to. There is a widespread belief that people who have been vaccinated have also had their DNA patented by the government, which will make them easier to control. This all ties in with their conspiracies about the “New World Order.”
The “New World Order” plays into nearly every conspiracy theory and fear tactic the Marshalls focus on. Of course, the lies and focus on their outrage change and evolve all the time, but let’s talk about what they believe today.
The 87,000 armed IRS agents.
A few weeks ago, a social media post said that the IRS was hiring 87,000 new agents, and the Marshalls took it and ran with it. That claim has now been widely debunked. But it doesn’t matter. Once the right learns of a conspiracy, no amount of debunking seems to talk them down off of the lege.
Unfortunately, this misinformation continued to evolve, and after a few days, all of those IRS agents would be armed.
Then spreaders of misinformation, Ronna McDaniel and Margorie Taylor Greene, told people that these would be IRS swat teams targeting small businesses and average Americans.
Now millions of right-wing Americans believe that armed IRS agents will be coming to their homes to take everything they own, especially their guns. This has led to hundreds of videos on TikTok of Republicans talking about a war on the IRS, Civil War, and violence against the government.
One man said, “The government will take away everything I’ve worked for my entire life. All of my efforts, all of my sacrifices, and all of my hard work were for nothing. I’m not going to let them do it.”
Many Marshalls are talking about waiting until the IRS or FBI knocks on their door. They’ll be met with arms and force and then leave in a body bag. Sure, the government should probably be aware of the dangerous situation they could be facing if they have to knock on that person’s door, but those aren’t the Marshalls we should worry about most.
The ones we should worry about the most are the ones who are willing to make a preemptive strike, like Timothy McVeigh and the January 6 Insurrectionists. They won’t wait until federal agents are knocking at their door.
White Militias and anti-government groups are recruiting.
Most of the Marshalls on social media couldn’t organize their way out of their homes, but many still use social media to find “like-minded” individuals in their own areas to start training with. In addition, some paramilitary groups around the country have been training for years.
Because of January 6, most of America has become familiar with terrorist organizations like Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, but there are hundreds more. The Department of Homeland Security and multiple watchdog groups have long said that right-wing extremists are the biggest threat to America.
These far-right extremist groups have been using social media as a recruitment tool since the early days of Facebook, but in the last several years, it’s become increasingly prevalent. TikTok is no exception.
The extremists target veterans, and they target conspiracy theorists for recruitment. Last year, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs found that military veterans account for 10% of all domestic terrorist attacks. There has been plenty of analysis as to why, but that hasn’t stopped extremists from targeting them.
A lot of the Marshalls talking about the Civil War are veterans.
Heavy religious undertones and overt religious doctrine.
All of the Marshalls are Evangelical Christians. So the people who blabber on about Civil War also talk about Christianity and morality. Remember around the 2020 election when the alt-right spoke about cabals and baby-eating democrats? They’ve never stopped believing that. Instead, the “evil of Democrats” has evolved.
They often talk about how Democrats mutilate children and how the left wants to indoctrinate new generations.
And everything and everyone is demonic. “Democrats are demonic. The LGBTQ community is demonic. CRT is demonic. The government is demonic.”
It’s a running theme. Number three on the “14 Characteristics of Fascism” points to “otherism.” Undoubtedly, the Marshalls from TikTok is part of a larger, much broader fascist movement, and it’s a way that they have now taken a mindset that their neighbors are the enemy. So, when violence comes, they won’t have empathy for the victim.
The “otherism” we now see plaguing our society from social media to school board meetings is part of Pat Buchannan’s 1990s culture war, but it’s evolved into so much more.
Although the left may see the right as stupid or brainwashed, never have they stopped seeing them as people. Unfortunately, the right no longer sees the left as human beings. Instead, they are genetically modified humans or demons straight from the pits of hell. Otherism. Something other than themselves.
All of the Constitutional rights that Republican lawmakers try to strip away in every corner of the country, from women’s rights to voting rights, are based on their religious beliefs. Their base parrots that well.
“Genetically modified demons want to kill babies and turn America into a communist hellhole.” More hate and fuel for the fire.
They still believe old and long-debunked conspiracy theories.
Yes, the Marshalls still think that Trump won in 2020, but more than that, they believe that “Russia interfering in the 2016 election was a hoax.”
Despite the Mueller Report being publicly available on the internet for years, a bipartisan Senate report in 2020, and the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers, Marshalls still believe Russia didn’t interfere in the 2016 election.
They don’t believe that Trump had countless ties with our advisories or any activities he participated in that were less than above the law.
The political right in America has fallen for one Russian disinformation claim after another. Jade Helm. Bioweapons in Ukraine. Studies have shown that Conservatives are 30x more likely than Liberals to share or retweet Russian propaganda. In 2020, the FBI found Russian groups masquerading as U.S.-based right-wing news sites and targeting Conservative voters.
How bad is the Russia problem?
Countless Marshalls talk about Putin being more pro-American than Biden on social media. Several have been posted on the Twitter mega-thread. There are also many TikTok posts from men with Russian accents who talk about American politics from a Conservative perspective.
The Russia problem is bad.
As it gets closer to the election, it only will get worse.
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, where I will continue to share the Marshalls I see on TikTok.
I’ll continue to report back to you what I see. So, stay tuned for Episode Two of the Marshall Law Chronicles.
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