In the wake of last week’s events at the U.S. Capitol, major social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook have suspended Donald Trump’s accounts, while alternative social media sites like Parler have been removed by hosting services.

Today on the show, we hear about the involvement of police and military in the events of January 6 and discuss social media’s role in creating environments for fringe movements and what it means that they are (finally) de-platforming Trump and extremists.

Our guests are professor Kurt Braddock, author of the new book Weaponized Words, and journalist Will Carless from USA Today, who covers extremism and was reporting on-the-ground in DC during last week’s attack on the Capitol.

Kurt Braddock is an assistant professor of public communication at American University. He is the author of Weaponized Words: The Strategic Role of Persuasion in Violent Radicalization and Counter-Radicalization (Cambridge University Press, 2020).

Will Carless is a reporter covering extremism for USA Today. He was previously an investigative reporter at Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and has worked as a foreign correspondent in Asia and South America.