It is not like violence directed against politicians and other politically active people is a new thing. It has been in the background my whole life. Born in 1948 so the first was the attempt against Truman by the Puerto Rican nationalists followed by shooting up the House. Then came the 60s with JFK, RFK, MLK and numerous violent attacks on civil rights activists. Then Wallace, Ford (twice), Reagan. More recently Giffords, the Congressional baseball attack, Rand Paul, Kavanaugh and Trump (twice). While there were a few nuts in the mix, notably the attempted assassins of Reagan, Ford and Giffords, most of these have been ideologically motivated. Moving abroad we have Bolorsio, Abe, Fico, and the numerous attack on AfD politicians. The roots of this lie back in the 19th century with the development of Propaganda of the Deed theory by socialists and anarchists, notably Baukunin. I have to note that the non-nut category is populated mostly by the far left with the anti-civil rights violence being the major exception. The latest shooting has two political narratives that are highly partisan though the recent report about the assassin's letter saying that Walz put him up to killing Klobachar may move this to the nut category.
Not to leave out Congressman Steve Scalise, in 2017, one of four people shot, by an extremist during a practice session of the Congressional Baseball Game.
It is not like violence directed against politicians and other politically active people is a new thing. It has been in the background my whole life. Born in 1948 so the first was the attempt against Truman by the Puerto Rican nationalists followed by shooting up the House. Then came the 60s with JFK, RFK, MLK and numerous violent attacks on civil rights activists. Then Wallace, Ford (twice), Reagan. More recently Giffords, the Congressional baseball attack, Rand Paul, Kavanaugh and Trump (twice). While there were a few nuts in the mix, notably the attempted assassins of Reagan, Ford and Giffords, most of these have been ideologically motivated. Moving abroad we have Bolorsio, Abe, Fico, and the numerous attack on AfD politicians. The roots of this lie back in the 19th century with the development of Propaganda of the Deed theory by socialists and anarchists, notably Baukunin. I have to note that the non-nut category is populated mostly by the far left with the anti-civil rights violence being the major exception. The latest shooting has two political narratives that are highly partisan though the recent report about the assassin's letter saying that Walz put him up to killing Klobachar may move this to the nut category.
Not to leave out Congressman Steve Scalise, in 2017, one of four people shot, by an extremist during a practice session of the Congressional Baseball Game.