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Online threats against pro-Palestinian protesters rise in wake of Sen. Tom Cotton’s comments about protests
Online threats and hateful rhetoric against pro-Palestinian protesters have accelerated since Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas encouraged people affected by the mass protests to “take matters into your own hands,” according to a report obtained by CBS News.
Advance Democracy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that conducts public interest research, says it found that there has been a surge in calls for violence against pro-Palestinian protesters across social media platforms this week after Cotton’s comments, with users threatening to kill or injure protesters.
The report found many of the threats were in direct response to Cotton’s post, as well as to right-wing accounts and personalities who shared the post online, including Fox News commentator Sean Hannity.
“RUN THEM OVER!” one user wrote on Truth Social, the social media platform owned by Trump Media, which is majority-owned by former President Donald Trump. “They are terrorists and should be shot,” wrote another. Others suggested mugging, hanging, executing, zip tying, or throwing the protesters off of bridges they are occupying.
To counter protesters who sometimes glue their hands to roads, one user on far-right social media site Gettr suggested that their arms be ripped off or that they should have their hands cut off.
“I encourage people who get stuck behind the pro-Hamas mobs blocking traffic: take matters into your own hands. It’s time to put an end to this nonsense.” Cotton posted on X April 15, before editing the post six minutes later to add “to get them out of the way.” Cotton accused the protesters of being pro-Hamas, though he offered no proof of this.
Earlier in the day before Cotton’s comments, protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza had shut down major roads and bridges in multiple cities, including San Francisco, Oakland, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. Dozens of protesters were arrested, but there were no reports of violence.
Cotton continued to encourage a vigilante approach in interviews with Fox News and NBC News, telling Fox News that “if something like this happened in Arkansas on a bridge there, let’s just say I think there’d be a lot of very wet criminals that have been tossed overboard — not by law enforcement, but by the people whose road they’re blocking.” He told NBC News that if people are blocked by the protesters, “they should get out and move those people off the streets.”
It is not the first time Cotton has used charged language to describe how nationwide protests should be handled.
In a 2020 op-ed published in the New York Times, Cotton advocated sending in National Guard troops to stop nationwide protests after the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. After monuments around the country were vandalized by protesters, Cotton called those who defaced or destroyed statues during the Floyd protests “mob vigilantes” who “may come for you and your home and your family.”
“The Senator’s comments encouraging violence against protesters are irresponsible and dangerous. They not only complicate the work of local law enforcement, but they have also directly led to a surge in calls for violence against the protestors online,” Daniel Jones told CBS News. “The failure of other elected officials and political leaders to immediately condemn these comments — regardless of political party — only serves to further normalize divisive and violent rhetoric, which is directly linked to real-world violence.”
CBS News reached out to Cotton’s office via phone and email Friday night for comment.
Advance Democracy, founded by Daniel Jones, a former U.S. Senate staff investigator, including on the Intelligence Committee, conducts weekly monitoring of far-right media, foreign state media, and select social media platforms.
Hundreds of cruise passengers and workers fell ill with norovirus on three different ships this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The CDC has logged outbreaks in 2024 on 14 cruise voyages, but three ships were hit in December. This is the only month this year when the CDC has reported three confirmed norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships and there’s still more than a week to go before the month ends. In all, 301 passengers and crew members fell ill during the December outbreaks, health officials said.
Those on Princess Cruises’ Ruby Princess, on a trip around Hawaii’s island, and Holland America’s Rotterdam and Zuiderdam voyages, both in the Caribbean, mostly dealt with diarrhea and vomiting.
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Two Holland America cruise ships hit by norovirus
The most recent outbreak was on Holland America’s Rotterdam ship, which set sail on Dec. 8 and is set to end its Caribbean
trip Friday in Fort Lauderdale.
Officials said 83 of the 2,192 passengers on board and 12 of the 953 crew members were sickened.
“At Holland America Line, the safety and well-being of our guests and crew is our top priority. During the current voyage, a number of guests on Rotterdam reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness,” a Holland America spokesperson said. “The cases have mostly been mild and quickly resolving.”
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In response to the outbreak, there was additional cleaning and disinfection. Sick passengers and crew members were isolated. Stool specimens were collected for testing. The cruise line also consulted with the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program.
Once the Rotterdam ship arrives in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, it will undergo a comprehensive sanitization process before its next trip, according to the cruise line.
There was also a norovirus outbreak on Holland America’s Zuiderdam voyage earlier this month. Over the course of the Dec. 4-Dec. 11 voyage, 87 out of 1,923 passengers were reported ill, in addition to four of the 757 crew members, according to health officials.
A Holland America spokesperson declined to comment on the Zuiderdam outbreak because the voyage had already ended.
Norovirus, the “cruise ship virus”
Princess Cruises also dealt with a norovirus outbreak this month on its Ruby Princess ship during a cruise that started on Dec. 2 and ended on Wednesday. The ship started its journey in San Francisco and toured around Hawaii, according to CruiseMapper.
In all, 103 of 3,001 passengers and 12 of 1,142 crew members onboard reported being ill.
The Ruby Princess was also subject to increased cleaning and disinfection procedures, according to the CDC. Stool specimens were collected for testing and sick passengers and crew members were isolated. The cruise line consulted with the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program.
CBS News has reached out to Princess Cruises for comment.
There are about 2,500 reported norovirus outbreaks in the U.S. each year. Norovirus, which is sometimes called the “cruise ship virus,” causes more than 90% of diarrheal disease outbreaks on cruise ships, according to the CDC. However, norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships account for only a small percentage of all reported norovirus outbreaks.
“Norovirus can be especially challenging to control on cruise ships because of the close living quarters, shared dining areas, and rapid turnover of passengers,” according to the CDC. “When the ship docks, norovirus can be brought on board in contaminated food or water; or by passengers who were infected while ashore.”
This year, the CDC has logged outbreaks on 14 cruise voyages. Norovirus was listed as the causative agent for most of the outbreaks, though one was caused by salmonella and one was caused by E. coli. The causative agent of one outbreak remains unknown.
Norovirus outbreaks are usually more common during cooler months, typically happening from November to April in countries above the equator, according to the CDC.
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