On the brink: Six factors put US at risk of a mass atrocity

Talk of insurrection and civil war in the United States is common — but the country could be even closer to violence than we think

A Black Lives Matter protester carries an American flag as teargas fills the air outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland. Picture:  AP

Strange as it is to say, but it is no longer uncommon to hear talk of insurrection, martial law, and civil war in the United States. The arrest of militia leaders in Michigan on charges of planning to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer and incite the overthrow of the state’s government suggests how far far-right politics in America is prepared to go.

Apocalyptic warnings that next month’s election will descend into crisis are coming hard and fast.