This was one of the favorite tactics of southern segregationists governments. It’s why freedom riders buses were bombed and so many organizers were disappeared and murdered. It’s ‘good’ (effective) if the state’s goal is to let civilians do the dirty work of eliminating dissident
there are a lot of ways for the state to suppress dissident speech. one particularly bad one is by having armed agents of the state stand by and do nothing while partisan-aligned thugs or paramilitary groups beat you because of your speech, and then have the DA decline to prosecute the assaulters.
This!! It's part of why anti-abortion "bounty hunter" laws are such a good ( ~ good ~ ) deal for the state of Texas. Voluntary civilian enforcement of state oppression (or the threat thereof) saves fascist states time, money, and resources and creates an enthusiastic class of state stooges.
