Post by Repat Van on Aug 16, 2023 13:17:03 GMT
Basically what it says on the tin.
America coming on done. It’s surprising to see political violence coming from a modern day, developed country. But then I remember that the USA has only been a proper democracy for about 50-60 years then this level of turmoil makes sense.
www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-politics-violence/
In contrast to the 1970s, much of today's political violence is aimed at people instead of property — and most of the recent deadly outbursts tracked by Reuters have come from the right. Case in point: the Trump supporter who shot a neighbor he suspected of being a Democrat.
The Nov. 5 killing of Anthony King was among 213 cases of political violence identified by Reuters since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump on the U.S. Capitol. Three academics who reviewed the cases say they add to growing evidence that America is grappling with the biggest and most sustained increase in political violence since the 1970s.
The violence has killed at least 39 people, including King, roiling many aspects of American life, from small gatherings to large-scale public events. Some deaths followed one-on-one disputes, such as a fatal brawl last year between two Florida men arguing over Trump’s business acumen. Others happened in public settings, such as the shooting of five social justice protesters in Portland last year by a man immersed in far-right political rhetoric. Politically motivated mass killings claimed 24 of the lives, including the May 2022 shooting of 10 Black shoppers in Buffalo by a white supremacist who called for a race war.
Political violence surged for nearly a decade starting in the late-1960s – 1970 alone saw more than 450 cases, LaFree said. But it had become relatively rare by 1980. There were a few spikes in the 1990s, including the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing that killed 168 people, in what the Federal Bureau of Investigation describes as the nation’s worst act of homegrown terrorism. Political violence started to climb again in 2016, LaFree added, and “it doesn’t seem like we’ve hit the top of the wave yet.”
This wave differs in both its aims and its means.
In the early 1970s, American political violence was perpetrated more often by radicals on the left and focused largely on destroying property, such as government buildings, said Rachel Kleinfeld, who studies political conflict and extremism at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank. “There were many, many bombings, but usually at night, or after called-in warnings,” she said. “The goal was not to kill people; it was to affect decisions” by policymakers.
In contrast, much of today’s political violence is aimed at people – and most of the deadly outbursts tracked by Reuters have come from the right. Of the 14 fatal political attacks since the Capitol riot in which the perpetrator or suspect had a clear partisan leaning, 13 were right-wing assailants. One was on the left.
The recent violence coming from the right, Carnegie’s Kleinfeld said, “is focused on stopping people or ending people’s lives.”
What is the cause for the rise and why is it that Left wing agitators target property whereas right-wing assailants target people?
America coming on done. It’s surprising to see political violence coming from a modern day, developed country. But then I remember that the USA has only been a proper democracy for about 50-60 years then this level of turmoil makes sense.
www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-politics-violence/
In contrast to the 1970s, much of today's political violence is aimed at people instead of property — and most of the recent deadly outbursts tracked by Reuters have come from the right. Case in point: the Trump supporter who shot a neighbor he suspected of being a Democrat.
The Nov. 5 killing of Anthony King was among 213 cases of political violence identified by Reuters since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump on the U.S. Capitol. Three academics who reviewed the cases say they add to growing evidence that America is grappling with the biggest and most sustained increase in political violence since the 1970s.
The violence has killed at least 39 people, including King, roiling many aspects of American life, from small gatherings to large-scale public events. Some deaths followed one-on-one disputes, such as a fatal brawl last year between two Florida men arguing over Trump’s business acumen. Others happened in public settings, such as the shooting of five social justice protesters in Portland last year by a man immersed in far-right political rhetoric. Politically motivated mass killings claimed 24 of the lives, including the May 2022 shooting of 10 Black shoppers in Buffalo by a white supremacist who called for a race war.
Political violence surged for nearly a decade starting in the late-1960s – 1970 alone saw more than 450 cases, LaFree said. But it had become relatively rare by 1980. There were a few spikes in the 1990s, including the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing that killed 168 people, in what the Federal Bureau of Investigation describes as the nation’s worst act of homegrown terrorism. Political violence started to climb again in 2016, LaFree added, and “it doesn’t seem like we’ve hit the top of the wave yet.”
This wave differs in both its aims and its means.
In the early 1970s, American political violence was perpetrated more often by radicals on the left and focused largely on destroying property, such as government buildings, said Rachel Kleinfeld, who studies political conflict and extremism at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank. “There were many, many bombings, but usually at night, or after called-in warnings,” she said. “The goal was not to kill people; it was to affect decisions” by policymakers.
In contrast, much of today’s political violence is aimed at people – and most of the deadly outbursts tracked by Reuters have come from the right. Of the 14 fatal political attacks since the Capitol riot in which the perpetrator or suspect had a clear partisan leaning, 13 were right-wing assailants. One was on the left.
The recent violence coming from the right, Carnegie’s Kleinfeld said, “is focused on stopping people or ending people’s lives.”
What is the cause for the rise and why is it that Left wing agitators target property whereas right-wing assailants target people?
