Is it true that those planning to vote for Trump are receiving threatening letters en masse?

A few days ago, Americans supporting the current US President began to share on social networks with photographs of a strange letter. The sender hinted that houses where Trump supporters live could be set on fire immediately after the election. We are looking into whether such a mass mailing actually took place.

Usually, an American's political sympathies, especially before elections, are easy to calculate: he may wear a badge or T-shirt in support of one of the candidates, or even put up a corresponding banner on his lawn. Over the past three days, people who posted similar campaigns allegedly began talking about arson threats. Reports of such letters (in other sources - leaflets) came from Kansas, Indiana, California, Pennsylvania, Maine, Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Oregon and New Hampshire. In the last of these states, the police even started an investigation.

A photograph of the letter was actively circulated on social networks. The text reads:

Dear neighbor,

Our group has identified you as a Trump supporter.

Your address has been added to our database as a target that will be attacked if Trump does not concede the election.

We recommend checking that your home is insured, that your policy is current and that it covers sufficient fire damage.

You've received fair warning.

Always remember what exactly You started this civil war.

Be prepared to face serious the consequences of your preemptive actions against democracy.

It is possible that the spread of this misinformation was a kind of reaction to another mailing that Joe Biden’s supporters received. It contained similar threats, but the opposite call was to vote for Trump. Such messages were received by voters in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Alaska, as well as students and employees of the University of Florida - Democratic supporters in this traditionally swing state. Unlike the letter to which this material is dedicated, that mailing was indeed relatively massive, but who sent it is a question. The police and local specialists are now working on this.

It is reasonable to assume that the main purpose of the letter is not to warn of an impending attack (this simply makes no sense), but to influence the final decision of voters and the voting result. A search on social media shows that all users were sharing photos of the same piece of paper: note the characteristic wrinkles and tears. It is unlikely that the sender, before going to the post office, deliberately crumpled and tore hundreds of sheets in the same places. It does not help to believe this letter and the fact that many users do not say that they received such a message, but refer to friends, acquaintances, relatives and colleagues.

We found out that there is a second printed sheet, a photo of which is being distributed on social networks. It is also shown in plot TV channel WMU9 about threats against residents of two towns in New Hampshire. It’s strange that his photo is also in posts about letters received by residents Dallas and state Indiana.

Adding to doubt is the fact that one of the first photographs published political activist, head of the American Conservative Union (ACU) Matt Schlapp on his Twitter. He is also known as a lobbyist and supporter of the Republican Party, and his wife is involved in the Trump campaign. In the spring, Schlapp was already caught spreading false information. In March, he claimed that the owners of the hotel where the ACU conference was taking place carried out 2,000 tests after one of the participants was diagnosed with coronavirus (hotel management subsequently refuted this is a statement). And in April Schlapp toldthat issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants would add up to a million illegal votes against the incumbent (though actually voting can US citizens only).

In his tweet, Schlapp says the letters are being distributed in Kansas City. The local police stated, which has not received a single complaint from residents, and urged to always check the sources of information before disseminating it on social networks. We can only join the Kansas law enforcement officers, because the second part of Schlapp’s message is unreliable: the police didn't find it, contrary to his claims, there was politically motivated intent in driving a car into pro-Trump signs in the yard of a local Republican.

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on topic:

1. https://www.truthorfiction.com/dear-neighbor-you-have-been-identified-as-a-trump-supporter-flyers/
2. https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/522017-police-in-new-hampshire-investigating-threatening-letters-sent
3. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-emails-proud-boys-vote-trump-linked-overseas-servers/