"The assassination of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old right-wing activist who led Turning Point USA, in Utah on Wednesday was horrifying and upsetting. Kirk was fatally shot in the neck while speaking at Utah Valley University. He was the father of two young children. Yet, as shocking as Kirk's killing was, the fact that there was this kind of assassination is sadly not that unexpected."
"We have known this for a long time. Writing in The New York Times in June, University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape argued that "since the beginning of President Trump's second term in January, acts of political violence in the United States have been occurring at an alarming rate." Pape cited the assassination of Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and the attempted assassination of one of her colleagues; the arson at the home of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro; and the killing of Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC."
"He also noted that this surge in violence, which dates back to the polarization that started with Trump's candidacy in 2016, also manifested itself in the January 6 insurrection, the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband, and the assassination attempts against Trump, among many other cases."
Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old activist and father of two, was fatally shot in the neck while speaking at Utah Valley University. The killing was publicly confirmed hours later and prompted immediate condemnations that labeled it another instance of gun violence. The United States is experiencing a surge in political violence that has accelerated since the polarization beginning with the 2016 presidential campaign. That surge has included assassinations, attempted assassinations, arson against public officials, and attacks tied to events such as the January 6 insurrection. The increase in violence is linked to political polarization and a failure to implement effective gun-control policies.
Read at The Nation
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]