More people support using violence to "make society better". Foreign media: Political violence in the United States is the most serious in over 50 years. Trump | Political violence | United States

In the increasingly polarized United States, the issue of political violence is also intensifying. According to Reuters on August 9th, an increasing number of cases indicate that political violence in the United States has reached its most severe level since the 1970s, causing friends to turn against each other and neighbors to turn against each other. The poll results also show worrying signs: an increasing number of Americans support using violence to "make society better", while 65% of respondents worry about being subjected to violent behavior due to political beliefs.

Shooting neighbors due to political stance

On November 5th last year, when Kristen King's husband Anthony was shot three times in the head and lay dying in the yard, the 911 operator asked Kristen: Do you know who the killer is? What is the motive behind the killer?

Christine sobbed and replied, "The attacker was her neighbor." His name is Austin Cooms, and he has been bothering my husband four times because he thinks he's a Democrat. "

In the United States, election disputes and dissatisfaction are intensifying tensions between the Democratic and Republican parties. The hostility between the two parties has spread to communities, causing friends and neighbors to turn against each other, even drawing guns.

The tragedy that occurred to Anthony King also drew people's attention to the Okyana community where he lived. This community is located in Butler County, a relatively impoverished area in southwestern Ohio, United States.

Butler County was built in the late 18th century and is plagued by closed factories and storefronts. Problems such as industrial decline and drug addiction have devastated the people here. Like the Cooms and Kim couple, most of the residents here are white.

Since 1952, Butler County has voted for Republican presidential candidates in almost every election, with only one exception. The loyalty of Butler County also helped Ohio gradually transition from a swing state to a Republican stronghold.

In Okiyana, a community of approximately 390000 people, Democrats are often seen as non mainstream, and residents generally do not have a favorable impression of Democrats.

Local Republicans often label themselves as supporters of "God and the country," while Democrats are seen as "doing devil's work.". Some scholars refer to this mentality as the new "political sectarianism" in the United States, where both parties demonize each other as traitorous enemies.

Near Cooms' house, you can see many banners supporting Trump, some with the words "Let's go Brandon," while others with the words "Let's go Brandon," which are insulting slogans used by conservative Democratic President Biden.

According to interviews with people around Cooms by Reuters, respondents stated that 27 year old Cooms claims to be a staunch conservative and Trump supporter.

His schedule is very regular, often driving his red pickup truck to Hamilton County, 13 kilometers away. There, he often goes to a tavern called Terry B's Tavern. The drinkers in the tavern are all fans of Trump, often talking about the beauty of Trump's presidency, and some even jokingly refer to this place as the Republican Party's "subsidiary office.".

At the tavern, Combs once told his good friend Patty Bates that he didn't like his neighbor because he had said he was a Democrat. "I hope he never tries to come under my window or break into my house," Combs said. "I will shoot him."

Ironically, Cooms' suspicion of his neighbor's political stance is just wishful thinking.

According to the Butler County prosecutor, Kim's family stated that they are not Democrats and rarely talk to Cooms. Records show that the murdered Anthony Kingston has been a Republican for over a decade.

The prosecutor also stated that Combs had admitted to shooting in prison and was charged with murder. But he refused to plead guilty, and his lawyer also argued that this case was not related to politics, but rather caused by a "mental illness". In March of this year, the prosecution and defense reached an agreement to allow him to receive up to a year of mental health treatment before being tried.

The most severe level since the 1970s

The tragedy of Anthony King's murder is just a microcosm of the escalating political violence in the United States.

Taking the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot as a milestone, Reuters conducted a statistical analysis of political violence over the past two years. The statistical results show that there were a total of 213 political violence incidents in the United States during this period.

These violent incidents have resulted in at least 39 deaths, including Anthony King.

Some violent incidents are one-on-one, such as last year when two men in Florida had a dispute over whether Trump had business acumen, and one of them stabbed the other to death. Some violent incidents also occurred in public places, such as last year when a right-wing man opened fire on five protesters advocating social justice in Portland, causing multiple deaths and injuries. A politically motivated large-scale shooting incident resulted in 24 deaths, including the shooting of 10 African Americans by a white supremacist who called for a racial war in Buffalo in May 2022.

It is reported that political violence incidents reported by Reuters must meet the definition of "physical attacks carried out by ordinary people, related to elections or party disputes, or driven by clear ideologies, with premeditated intent.". Some incidents initiated by police or government officials or without premeditation are not included in the calculation.

After analyzing the case, scholars believe that political violence in the United States has reached its most severe level in recent years since the 1970s, and the purpose and means are different from before.

According to Gary Lafrey, a criminology expert at the University of Maryland Baltimore in the United States, political violence in the United States skyrocketed from the late 1960s to the 1970s, with over 450 incidents occurring in just a few years. But after 1980, political violence became relatively rare. However, after 2016, political violence incidents began to rise again, and it seems that we have not yet reached the peak of this wave of violence.

Rachel Kleinfeld, a researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the United States, stated that in the early 1970s, political violence in the United States was more carried out by left-wing radicals, mainly targeting government assets such as government buildings. Its purpose is not to kill, but to influence decision-making.

Compared to more than 50 years ago, the majority of violent incidents today are committed by right-wing extremists, and the targets of attacks are people rather than official assets. Reuters found that out of the 14 clearly partisan and deadly political violence incidents that have occurred since the Capitol riot, 13 of the perpetrators were right-wing individuals, with only one being left-wing.

Be prepared for more political violence

Why is there another surge in political violence in the United States?

Reuters reported that the reasons may be complex. Based on various perspectives, the widespread financial anxiety among Americans, the dramatic changes in people's lives caused by the pandemic, the anxieties brought about by the constantly changing racial and ethnic population structure in the United States, and the increasingly radical political rhetoric during the Trump era may all be contributing factors.

What is even more concerning is that the traditional political divisions between the right and left have given way to a new perspective, where members of opposing political parties are all "evil forces" determined to destroy the political and cultural foundations of the United States.

A disturbing phenomenon is that more and more Americans are supporting violent means to achieve political goals.

After conducting a poll of nearly 4500 voters in May this year, Reuters/Ipsos found that approximately 20% of the surveyed voters believed that violent behavior was "acceptable" if it was to "fulfill my vision for a better society.". According to poll results conducted by Reuters in March and April, approximately 65% of respondents are concerned about violence in their community due to political beliefs.

A poll conducted by The Guardian in June also showed that an increasing number of supporters from both parties expressed that it is reasonable to resort to violent means in order to achieve the political issues they support. Among them, 16% of Democrats support the use of violent means to restore federal abortion rights, which is about twice the rate from six months ago. Meanwhile, the proportion of respondents who support using violent means to bring former President Trump back to the White House has increased by 50% compared to April.

Robert Pepper, a professor at the University of Chicago who was responsible for this survey, said that the survey results showed that the American people were more radical than in April, and "things are definitely moving in the wrong direction.".

Recently, Trump has been criminally charged again for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. This is the third time since stepping down in 2021 that Trump has been criminally charged.

Analysts have warned that Trump's multiple lawsuits are further igniting partisan disputes in the United States, and the country needs to prepare for more political violence.

Eric Nisbett, a professor of political communication at Northwestern University in the United States, believes that the latest accusations are uniting more conservative voters around Trump. This effect also increases the possibility of political violence continuing to mainstream among American voters. As rallies become more frequent during the election period, political discourse further heats up, and more voters are also mobilized, the danger of political violence will greatly increase in the coming months.