The role of Russian propaganda and tactics in the 2016 election can’t be understated.

It happened. They interfered, and it was on both sides. Denying that for the sake of defending one or the other party is detrimental to the well-being of us all, no matter the party affiliation.

The goal, quite obviously, was chaos. They need us to be at each others’ throats, unstable, and without unity.

The emerging information from social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter is showing just how deep the efforts of the Russian government ran.

A new report tells how Facebook has uncovered accounts originating from the Russian Internet Research Agency, a troll farm, simultaneously called for violence against Black Lives Matter groups and law enforcement officers.

Examples of those conflicting accounts coming from the same source:

 An account called “Being Patriotic” said Black Lives Matter activists who don’t respect the flag should “be immediately shot,” according to CNN.

Blacktivist, another Russia-linked group, posted in November 2016: “Black people have to do something. An eye for an eye. The law enforcement officers keep harassing and killing us without consequences.”

A third group, Secured Borders, said the only way to deal with “dangerous illegal aliens” is to “kill them all.”

“If you get deported that’s your only warning. You come back you get shot and rolled into a ditch… BANG, problem solved,” a post by the group said.

“The state department needs to be burned to the ground and the rubble reduced to ashes,” read another post.

Mark R. Jacobson, a Georgetown University professor and expert on Russian influence operations has said basically the same thing I just said.

They (the Russians) don’t want opposing sides at the table for civil debate. They want chaos.

“They want violent clashes,” he said.

And we’ve been all too ready to appease them.

This week will see executives from major social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, and Google testify publicly about what they know of how Russia used them to interfere in the 2016 election.

To date, Facebook has revealed that a firm connected to Russia bought over $100,000 in political ads during the 2016 election period, and Twitter has announced the discovery of over 200 accounts linked to Russian interference in the 2016 election.