Amid the erosion of political norms that has afflicted the United States over the past decade, some commentators have sought consolation in the belief that politically-motivated violence remained below the levels of the late 1960s and early 1970s. That comfort has now largely evaporated.
The assassination attempts against Donald Trump during last year’s presidential campaign, the killing of two Democratic legislators in Minnesota, the arson attack on the home of Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, and the murder of a healthcare executive in New York were the most striking examples of an alarming pattern. Reuters reports that incidents of political violence are now at their highest in more than half a century.
The murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a university campus in Utah on Wednesday represents a new and shocking marker of this trend. Kirk may not have enjoyed the international celebrity of some of his allies on the American right, but he was a central figure in the return of Donald Trump to the presidency for a second, non-consecutive term. Through his organisation Turning Point USA he helped to whittle away Democrats’ traditional advantage among younger voters. His uncompromising positions on race, sexuality and other contentious issues drew fierce criticism, yet he also sought out debates with ideological opponents – something increasingly rare in contemporary American politics.
Reactions to his killing laid bare the country’s deep political fracture. Senior figures in both parties swiftly condemned the murder, but the House of Representatives descended into procedural squabbling as members failed to agree on a collective statement. Online, political opponents exchanged insults and blame. Some gun-control advocates pointed sarcastically to Kirk’s long-standing opposition to tighter firearm laws, while conservatives accused progressives of having contributed to his death. The temperature was heightened by graphic footage of the shooting, shared widely on social media. And the selective use of the most outrageous online posts by partisan news outlets to tarnish the other side added further to the rancour.
RM Block
At moments of national trauma Americans traditionally look to their president to restore a sense of common purpose. But Donald Trump, visibly shaken by the death of a close ally, was quick to blame the media and the “radical left” for the killing. The political environment he himself has shaped – and in which he has thrived – offers little or no space for calm or moderation.
Kirk’s murder is another escalation of America’s grim spiral into political brutality, where abuse increasingly substitutes for argument and distrust corrodes the institutions meant to mediate disagreement. Tragically, there is little reason to believe it will be the last.
