A prominent pro-Trump forum was thrust back into the spotlight on Tuesday after the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot detailed the calls for violence made by users in the run-up to Jan. 6.
During the hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) highlighted how users on numerous social media platforms, including the Donald.win, openly called for violence ahead of former President Donald Trump’s planned rally in Washington, D.C.
After one user asked what gun laws existed in the nation’s capital and whether they should be outright ignored, another commenter weighed in with remarks around violence toward law enforcement.
“Cops don’t have ‘standing’ if they are laying on the ground in a pool of their own blood,” the user wrote.
The forum, which was originally known as The Donald, began on Reddit but was banned in June 2020 for repeated violations of the platform’s policies. The website Donald.win would eventually take its place, offering a home to Trump’s most fervent supporters.
The mention of the Donald.win during the hearing is not surprising. As revealed exclusively by the Daily Dot last September, a hack of the Donald.win’s web host Epik showed that the FBI had issued a subpoena for data on the forum in the wake of Jan. 6.
Raskin also noted numerous comments that appeared on the Donald.win after Trump urged his followers to descend on the nation’s capital for a “wild” rally. One user in specific outlined items members of the forum should bring.
“Body armor, knuckles, shields, bats, pepper spray, whatever it takes,” a post said.
According to Mother Jones, maps of the Capitol were floating around the forum before Jan. 6 as well.
Another commenter called on his fellow forum members to join their local Proud Boys chapter, while one user suggested bringing handcuffs to seemingly arrest politicians under the false belief that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from Trump.
Other sites mentioned by Raskin as being filled with calls to violence included 8chan and its predecessor 8kun as well as the notorious imageboard 4chan.
The Tuesday hearing also included new testimony from the former president’s allies, who allegedly begged him to concede the election. Others, such as former national security adviser Mike Flynn, reportedly encouraged him to continue questioning the results.
