FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago reignites conservative calls for a civil war in the US

• Trump supporters are calling for a civil war after the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago.
• Experts say that political violence will heighten in the US ahead of the midterm elections.

The FBI's search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida is renewing calls among conservative groups and his supporters for a civil war in the US.

"An attack on Trump is an attack on True American Patriotism," one Twitter user wrote on Tuesday. "Civil War will end up being Biden's Government vs American Patriots."

Another Trump supporter wrote on Tuesday, "Why would FBI Raif's Trump's home but Biden's and Clinton's they never touch. Civil war is coming folks, and it will not be pretty."

Kari Lake, the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for Arizona governor, threatened to invoke the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution over the FBI search if elected in November.

It's not the first time Trump supporters or extremist groups have threatened to ignite a civil war as the country remains bitterly divided by politics. Political scientists have warned the public for months that this could happen soon.

"It is possible that there will be other instances of violence like we saw on January 6," Carole Emberton, a history professor at the University at Buffalo who specializes in the American Civil War, said in a previous interview with Insider. "When you have politicians who are riling everyone up and law enforcement that is sort of wishy-washy or weak in its response, then I think you have a really volatile mix that emboldens these kinds of groups to continue with what they're doing."

Jay Ulfelder, a political scientist who studies civil wars and served as research director of the Political Instability Task Force, previously told Insider that a civil war could become a reality because Republicans have "normalized" extremist rhetoric.

"When that gets normalized, then it's much easier to recruit people into those organizations … that would have been considered extreme or have radical views," Ulfelder said.

Renewed calls for a civil war came after Trump announced on his social media platform Monday evening that the FBI had raided his Mar-a-Lago resort. CNN reported that the FBI search was a part of their investigation into the handling of presidential documents.

Other Republican lawmakers in several states have also embraced the idea of their state seceding from the US.

For instance, in New Hampshire, 13 Republicans voted last March to support a measure that would make the state independent from the US. Ultimately, the measure did not gain enough votes to pass the state House of Representatives.

Republican State Rep. Matthew Santonastaso previously told Insider it was just a matter of time before states began to secede.

"A national divorce is inevitable," Santonastaso said. "The government is nothing but an illusion we all hold in our minds. If the people decide to reject their government, then there is little the federal government can do to stop it."