The Wednesday murder of conservative activists and Trump ally Charlie Kirk shocked fears of the spread of political violence in the United States, with experts warning that conditions that are exacerbated are getting worse.
An unknown attacker shot 31-year-old Kirk in the neck while speaking at an event at a university in Utah. As of Thursday morning, authorities were still searching for the murderer.
Given his efforts to mobilize young voters to support Donald Trump last November, Kirk is believed to have played a key role in his current successful bid for the current president’s second term.
Shortly after Kirk’s murder, Trump called the murder “a dark moment in America,” and then held the “radical left” accountable.
The Republican governor of Utah Spencer Cox also hit what he called a “political assassination.”
Numbers across the political spectrum also opposed murder.
“Attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, mean and condemned,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Meanwhile, Gabby Gifford, a former Democrat who was injured in the 2011 Arizona shooting, said, “The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathy is his wife, two young children and friends.”
“There are always political differences in democratic society, but we should never allow America to become a country that confronts those differences with violence,” Gifford wrote on social media.
As the country is working on news of Kirk’s death, commentators pointed to a surge in US political violence and expressed concern that the trend could worsen.
Their analysis comes amid reports that judges and elected officials are facing an ever-increasing threat there.
Written in the New York Times in June, Robert leads the Chicago Project on Security and Threats, warning that the country could be “on the brink of a very violent era in American politics.”
“Political violence today is happening across the political spectrum, and there is a corresponding rise in the general support for it on both the right and left,” he said.
Within such warnings, here we take a closer look at some of the political violence that the United States has experienced over the past few years.
Violence timeline
Kirk is not the first public figure killed in the United States this year.
In June, Democratic politician Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in Minnesota, and state legislator John Hoffman and his wife were also injured.
Speaking about the shooting, Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz, a Democrat who ran for vice president in the November election, called them “political motivation.”
In the aftermath of the tragedy, both Republicans and Democrats sought calm.
This year, there have also been several prominent acts of violence in the country that appear to have been motivated by Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza.
Two Israeli embassy employees were killed in Washington in May, and after detention the murderer told police “did it for Gaza”; court documents say.
Jewish Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was targeted in arson attack the previous month by suspects police said were politicians’ stances towards the Israeli-Hamas war.
Attempt to assassinate Trump
Political violence in the United States made headlines around the world in 2024 after an attempt to assassinate Trump at a field campaign rally held in Pennsylvania on June 13th that year.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, fired eight rounds from an AR-15-style rifle from the roof of a nearby building, killing one audience member, Corey Comperatore firefighter, and seriously injured two others.
Trump was injured in his right ear after a bullet grazeed him, but otherwise unharmed.
Two months later, Ryan Rouse was taken into custody in Florida after being spotted with a rifle on a Trump golf course.
A former construction worker whose trial began this week has been accused of trying to kill the then-Republican presidential candidate.
Routh’s motivation was initially suspected to be related to his apparent support in Ukraine, but further information emerged showing that he was carrying out a fraud involving people who are promising opportunities to join the Ukrainian army.
Ukrainian authorities have completely rejected their relationship with Rous, who has been accused of committing “trafficking” and running “glyfts.”
A few years ago, a right-wing conspiracy theorist broke into the home of Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic politician who was then the chairman of the House of Representatives.
David Deppa was sentenced to 30 years in May last year for planning to snatch Pelosi’s husband Paul by hammering her.
