A US governor accused Trump of encouraging 'domestic rebellion' after his 'LIBERATE' tweets were hailed by far-right extremists

• Donald Trump's "LIBERATE" tweets, denouncing the coronavirus lockdown in various US states, were criticized by the Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington for "fomenting domestic rebellion and spreading lies."
• The president tweeted support for the anti-lockdown protests in Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia.
• Far-right social media began to buzz with claims that Trump was signaling his support for the "boogaloo" - a term extremists use for a planned armed insurrection, NBC reported.
• Experts on far-right networks have warned that extremists want to exploit the coronavirus crisis.
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Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington has accused Donald Trump of seeking to encourage a "domestic rebellion" with his series of tweets calling to "LIBERATE" various US states, which received a rapturous response from the far-right.

"The president is fomenting domestic rebellion and spreading lies - even while his own administration says the virus is real, it is deadly and we have a long way to go before restrictions can be lifted," Inslee wrote.

Among far-right supporters of Trump, the tweets were taken as a signal that he approved of armed insurrection, according to an NBC report.

The tweets, from the president's account on Friday, appeared to attack the coronavirus lockdown restrictions in three states: Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia. Trump called on his millions of followers to "save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!"

In those states, residents, some carrying weapons, have gathered in large groups — in defiance of state orders and medical expertise — to protest the stay-at-home orders and social-distancing guidelines.

Far-right social media quickly responded to the "LIBERATE" tweets with speculation that Trump was advocating what they call "the boogaloo." The slang term refers to a second civil war, and has gained currency among extremists in recent months.

According to NBC, the Network Contagion Research Institute, a nonprofit group that tracks hate speech on social media, had reported a surge in traffic from far-right groups and their supporters referring to "the boogaloo" in the hours after the Trump tweets.

The fear that extremists will seek to exploit the coronavirus crisis has been mounting. Hatred against Asian-Americans has been growing.

In March, Timothy Wilson, a white supremacist from Missouri who was planning to blow up a hospital, was killed in a shoot-out with police.

"Wilson considered various targets and ultimately settled on an area hospital in an attempt to harm many people, targeting a facility that is providing critical medical care in today's environment," the FBI said in a statement, as reported by NPR.