The United States is facing a "wave of political violence", and the 2024 presidential election is coming to support | believe | man | Trump | threat | politics | the United States | violence

On October 6, 2018, in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., protesters opposed Cavano's appointment as a Supreme Court Justice.

Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie

According to a special investigation report released by Reuters, there have been 213 cases of political violence in the United States since the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, resulting in at least 39 deaths. Approximately two-thirds of these cases were initiated by lone wolf attackers or occurred between opposing groups during demonstrations and gatherings. This proves that the United States is facing the most severe wave of political violence since the 1970s.

The political atmosphere is tense and tense

The United States will hold presidential elections in 2024, and multiple politicians, including former President Donald Trump, have expressed their candidacy. The opposition and struggle among political parties, as well as the confrontation and blackmail among politicians, are expected to further intensify in 2024. The tense political atmosphere may lead to more violent threats and attacks.

The Associated Press reported on the 13th that FBI agents shot and killed a 70 year old armed man named Craig Robertson in Provo, Utah on the 9th of this month, which is the latest example of the political atmosphere mentioned above. The reason why the FBI wants to arrest him is that he made a violent threat to US President Biden on social media.

According to US media reports, on the eve of Biden's visit to Utah earlier this month, Craig Robertson wrote online, "I heard that Biden is coming to Utah. I want to find my old camouflage suit and clean my sniper rifle." The man claimed to be a supporter of Trump and threatened to eliminate not only Biden, but also Vice President Harris, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and the prosecutor who accused Trump.

According to CNN, this incident is part of an increasingly worrying and violent political environment in the United States, representing a disturbing trend.

Within half a month before this incident, a 52 year old Texas man was sentenced to 3 and a half years in prison for threatening death to Arizona election workers; A 56 year old Michigan woman has been charged with helping her mentally ill son purchase a gun, after the latter threatened to shoot Biden and the Democratic governor of Michigan.

On October 28, 2022, the husband of then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Pelosi was attacked by a man who broke through a window at her home in San Francisco, resulting in a skull fracture, injuries to both hands and right arm. The man takes a right-wing stance and claims to be "tired of lies from Washington.".

Political violence is on the rise again

Many analysts warn that the United States may be heading towards widespread political violence, and some believe that a large-scale internal conflict is entirely possible. Experts are concerned that there may be guerrilla style conflicts in the United States, where small groups or lone wolf attackers may target minority groups, election officials, and even infrastructure.

Gary Lafrey, a criminologist at the University of Maryland in the United States, found through his research on relevant data from 1970 to 2020 that political violence in the United States began to rise in 2016.

Raffles pointed out that since the late 1960s, political violence in the United States has surged for nearly a decade, with several peaks in the 1990s and a resurgence in 2016, but it seems to have not yet reached its peak.

According to a report by CNN, the Chief of the U.S. Congressional Police recently stated that threats against members of Congress have increased by over 400% in the past six years. The 2022 report of the Congressional Police Department stated that the department handled approximately 9600 cases of threatened members of Congress in 2021, compared to approximately 4000 in 2017, an increase of 140% over a period of four years.

The National Urban Alliance of the United States stated in its 2021 report that 81% of elected local officials reported encountering political threats, and 87% believed that the situation was getting worse. "The threat of political violence has indeed increased in the past five years," said Jack Spano, a member of the National Urban Alliance Council and mayor of St. Louis Park, Minnesota

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of nearly 4500 registered voters in May this year, approximately 20% of Democratic and Republican respondents believe that violence is "acceptable" if it is to "achieve a vision for a better society.".

However, this viewpoint makes most ordinary Americans feel anxious and uneasy. In another survey conducted by Reuters/Ipsos in March and April, around 65% of respondents expressed concern about violent behavior occurring in their community due to political differences.

In June 2022, the police arrested a man holding several knives, zip ties, and a gun near the residence of Supreme Court Justice Brett Cavano, who claimed to have planned to kill the conservative Justice appointed by Trump.

In June 2017, a gunman who was dissatisfied with the Republican Party launched an attack on a congressional baseball training ground in Virginia, injuring at least five people, including Republican whip Steve Scalis, and the gunman was killed. Scalis was once on the brink of death.

The Associated Press quoted former senior counterterrorism official Javid Ali of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as saying that lone wolf attackers often act impulsively, which is the most worrying potential threat. "Such threats can quickly become a reality without prior declaration."

Public support is becoming increasingly radical

As federal and local prosecutors may file more lawsuits against Trump in the coming weeks, the public may further escalate.

The Guardian recently published an article titled "Anger and Radicalization: More and More Americans Saying Political Violence is Reasonable", stating that a recent investigation into threats to democracy found that the federal lawsuit against Trump in June "radicalized" support for the use of violence in Trump's name.

This report titled "The Dangers of Democracy" indicates that as the 2024 presidential election intensifies and there may soon be more lawsuits against Trump, more and more Americans support the use of political violence.

Professor Robert Pepper, who led the study at the University of Chicago, said, "The lawsuit has intensified support for Trump, but it is not the only root cause of radicalism. You have also seen the growing anger and radicalism on the left."

A survey conducted by the university in late June showed that the number of Americans who believed it was reasonable to use force to bring Trump back to the White House has increased by about 6 million in the past few months, estimated to reach 18 million. Among them, 68% believe that Trump's election victory in 2020 was stolen, and 62% believe that suing Trump is to harm his chances of running for office in 2024. An estimated 7% of Americans now believe that violence may be necessary to get Trump re elected, up from 4.5% in April.

However, Democrats have also shown support for political violence for another purpose. The survey found that the number of people supporting the use of force to force members of Congress to "do the right thing" increased from 9% in January to 17% at the end of June, with Democrats showing the largest increase. During this period, support for the restoration of federal abortion rights through violence also increased.

Pep said, "As far as the country's radicalization is concerned, things are definitely moving in the wrong direction, and we need to be aware of this because some people hope that suing Trump can reduce their support for him."

The survey also found that nearly 90% of Trump's most radical supporters believe that the federal government is managed by unethical "deep government".

Pep said, "Things are moving in the wrong direction of radicalization, and we haven't even entered the truly intense stage of the 2024 election season.".