Tom Cotton, 2020: In my NYT op-ed, I was only calling for the use of violence against rioters, not peaceful protesters. Tom Cotton, 2024: Civilians should use violence against peaceful protesters.
Should cops clear major highways and bridges when they're being blocked by protesters? Yes. Should civilians use their cars to drive through protesters' blockades or get out of their cars to assault protesters? No.
@JamesSurowiecki I don’t know who needs to hear this but blocking traffic isn’t any more peaceful than burning down someone’s house
@JamesSurowiecki You missed Tom Cotton 2021: Violent rioters were just doing a tourist visit
@JamesSurowiecki I wonder what sorts of laws there are against trying to move someone off a highway?
Blocking traffic is anything but peaceful. It is a direct assault on commuters, families, and first responders. Make your voices heard but do not commit violence upon the single mother driving to pick up her special needs child from school. Make your voices heard but don’t block the ambulance delivering a heart to a father who is dying in a nearby hospital. Make your voices heard but don’t block the daughter rushing to a hospice facility to say goodbye to her mother. Blocking roadways is anything but peaceful. @TomCottonAR
@JamesSurowiecki Blocking traffic requires violence.
@JamesSurowiecki People who block roadways are not peaceful.
@JamesSurowiecki People who blocks traffic for 5 hours on the Golden Gate Bridge are not peaceful protestors. That’s an act of aggression