Political violence in the United States has increased significantly in recent years, and is not concentrated in just one specific group. After the recent attack during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, where shots were fired near Donald Trump, the president’s press secretary blamed the Democratic Party and the press for what happened.
According to analyst Fernanda Magnotta highlights, in the CNN 360°that political violence in the United States “is not concentrated around just one group, it is not incited by just one group. In fact, what the data shows is quite the opposite. It is, in general, quite diffuse, not monopolized.” According to the expert, this phenomenon is “fueled and amplified by polarization, which is an unquestionable reality in the country, and by the fact that there are social networks and a certain “.
Alarming increase in numbers
According to FBI data cited by the analyst, episodes involving political violence have more than doubled in the United States in the last ten years. “We are talking, in this case, about threats to federal authorities. So, in 10 years, between 2016 and 2026, these threats have more than doubled,” explained Magnotta. In just a single year, the specialized police that protect members of Congress reported more than 8,000 threats, approximately three times more than a decade ago.
Another worrying fact mentioned by the analyst is that around 20% of Americans believe that political violence can be justifiable in certain specific circumstances. This scenario becomes even more serious in a country where it is facilitated, which increases the risk of violent attacks.
Roots of the problem
According to research carried out by Princeton University and the Brookings Institution, cited by Magnotta, when there is more aggressive political rhetoric, space is opened “for the perception of legitimacy of violence”. The expert explains that “as politicians explore these emotional elements in their electorate, this practically becomes a path seen as possible or acceptable.”
Although there are initiatives to contain political violence in the United States, such as against this type of action and the classification of these acts by the American courts “in the harshest terms”, Magnotta emphasizes that such measures are insufficient if the underlying problem is not faced: “a society that drinks from the source of polarization, which, in turn, drinks from the source of inequality itself, of a series of problems that the United States has, which are systemic problems”.
