Recent data shows a troubling shift in US political climate‚ with violence becoming a more-accepted way to reach goals. The University of Chicagoʼs research (started bout 3 years ago) shows that both right-wing and left-wing groups support force when peaceful methods dont work
Studies point to a deep-rooted issue: many Americans think the system is broken and dont trust elections; they see top politicians as threats to democracy‚ Studies by the Universityʼs Project on Security and Threats show that violence isnt just for extreme groups anymore — its becoming normal for regular people too
The past few years saw many attempts to harm leaders. Donald Trump faced two assassination attempts last year‚ while Nancy Pelosiʼs husband got hurt in their home. Barack Obama and Brett Kavanaugh also had close calls. This level of violence hasnt been seen since the early 80s (when Ronald Reagan was shot)
Mass-shootings targeting specific groups have grown too:
- Tree of Life synagogue attack about 6 years ago
- El Paso Walmart shooting in mid-2019
- Buffalo market shooting in 2022
Street protests turned violent in different ways. The 2020 protests after George Floydʼs death saw some riots; the Jan 6 capitol attack had about 2000 people fighting police. Recent pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protests (since late-2023) led to more conflicts
Government data shows big changes — domestic terrorism went up 357% from 2013 to 2021‚ with both far-right and far-left groups involved. Threats to Congress members jumped five times higher around 2017 (when Trump became president) and stayed high since then
While 75% of Americans still reject political violence‚ the rest think its ok sometimes. Leaders media and regular people need to speak up against this trend and focus on voting instead of force