Online threats against pro-Palestinian protesters rise in wake of Sen. Tom Cotton's comments about protests

Online threats and hateful rhetoric against pro-Palestinian protesters have accelerated since Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas encouraged people affected by the mass protests to "take matters into your own hands," according to a report obtained by CBS News.

Advance Democracy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that conducts public interest research, says it found that there has been a surge in calls for violence against pro-Palestinian protesters across social media platforms this week after Cotton's comments, with users threatening to kill or injure protesters.

The report found many of the threats were in direct response to Cotton's post, as well as to right-wing accounts and personalities who shared the post online, including Fox News commentator Sean Hannity.