The public sentiment on political violence in the US reveals a significant divide. While many express frustration and anger towards political leaders, particularly directed at Obama and the Democratic Party, others commend Bernie Sanders for advocating peaceful dialogue. A strong theme is the skepticism of leadership's role and the media's influence in fostering division, alongside a deep-seated belief that political violence is an intrinsic part of American history, further complicating constructive discussions on the topic.

Democratic Party

Republican Party

Obama

Bernie Sanders

What's the big red circle near New York City?

Chorchapu

Holy crap, the Bourbon Street thing was this year? Seems like ages ago. This year is so fucking long and horrible.

BlueGreenMikey

PA Governor Shapiro and his family were firebombed at the governor’s mansion and that doesn’t show here. Does that not meet the criteria?

Professional-Brick61

fyi abt the fertility clinic it was one of the dumbest attacks ever lmao the guy was hella antinalatist and stuff like the and he wanted to destroy the clinic and all the embryos in there so like no one could have kids or smth like that. He achieved fuck all and in the "Attack" which was a car bomb he was the only fatality, the car was gone and the clinic walls were damaged, no embryos at all were damaged. bro achieved literally nothing

FrozenUruguayBallbac

CrazyRabbitEyes

koreamax

This map seems to omit the Boulder, CO firebombing of the Israeli hostage rally that killed one.

justanotherthrxw234

What makes something qualify as "political"

5peaker4theDead

Missing the firebombing of the governors residence in PA

dmac1977

Why are only four of these labeled? It seems like either all or none should be.

Salsalover34

we are seeing an unprecedented level of lone wolf terrorism, not just organized groups but radicalized individuals

this makes sense in a way because counterterrorism has gotten really good at dealing with organized terrorism both domestic and abroad especially after 9/11, but this is a different beast

organized terror can be fought, or even infiltrated by agents, it has leadership and a command structure, lone wolves have no attack surface and are everywhere.

watain218

The Minnesota lawmakers death and Israeli embassy staff being killed is absolutely insane as well. With Kirk’s death, this past year alone is rivaling the political violence of the 60s. Which is terrifying

Mindless_Bid_5162

oduzmi

Was the cyber truck blowing up at Trump tower on Las Vegas early this year not count?

Geomaster53

I’m stunned Isis killed 14 people in the US, and I never even heard about it

thegreatshark

Russian and Chinese bot farms are in full swing stoking the fire, too. The political violence is a symptom of a much deeper societal problem. We should all defend each other's first amendment rights.

ZenHeat619

thespaniard1992

What's the one in the middle of Lake Erie?

Altoid_Addict

Jaystraef172001

Full_Relief_4233

The CDC attack?  Should we assume that's the circle in Georgia?

ety3rd

chchchchia86

And where is the Jewish lady who was fire bomb and later died, in Colorado springs, by a Hamas supporter?

Wide-Yesterday9705

I just watched a really powerful video from one of my favorite small YouTubers. He quoted Aaron Burr after killing Hamilton. "The world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me." I just want you all to know, even though I'm a Republican, there is enough room in this world for all you Democrats too. I love you as a Christian.

Peace.

ItsYoBoyBryce

You should also include attacks on ICE facilities, since they’re politically motivated too.

Minimum-Enthusiasm14

What is the cluster in Chicago (or slightly south)?

bender445

South Texas? All i found was the BP shooting in McAllen but no one died (except the perpetrator, if that counts)

OkMuffin8303

Could the color shades be any closer together?!

thirtyseven1337

What about the Tesla dude who blew himself up in a cybertruck?

hotsaucevjj

What's the big red circle on New Jersey about?

Mundane_Opening3831

They scrubbed this research from the official gov sources, luckily it's archived here [https://archive.is/1t1rm](https://archive.is/1t1rm) 

Don't believe their lies.

Qubit_Or_Not_To_Bit_

babydemon90

Can we get a map like this,  but for Mexico?  From my understanding, it's not a good place to be political.

GotMilk711

bigDogNJ23

Murkeddot23

VitalMaTThews

You know whats cool about facts? When you don't like them, you can just apply an arbitrary filter so only the ones you do like get counted. Then convince yourself you're right and everyone else is uneducated.

Its terrifying how frequently this kind of pseudoscience goes viral and pursuades millions of people.

Lendari

This is missing the arson of PA Governor Shapiro's home.

Maaster_Mind

TubbyToby

Don’t forget the Hortmans beautiful dog who was just too sweet to be a service dog. The psycho conservative republican murdered a sweet innocent puppy and two innocent politicians. Who’s calling for violence?

kittyfresh69

Who really thinks America is not politically violent? I think people just have short memories reinforced with wilful ignorance.

cynica1mandate

If we look historic examples, German population was conditioned for years before sunk into abyss of genocide and antisemitism. In my own lifetime I witnessed how certain media in former Yugoslavia spent years in brainwashing masses how “others” are subhuman and need to “cleansed”. Unfortunately, living in the USA for 21 years now I can smell the same hatred in the air.

Infinite_Patience852

In a society that was founded on violence?! No way!

AffectionateStudy496

Saw a teacher saying earlier: "when kids ask me about this in school should I just say "political violence is always bad.... anyways back to teaching the American Civil War."

FortunatelyAsleep

War is economic and political violence.  We spend a trillion annually on it. 

tk2old

It’s a good thing Americans didn’t use political violence against the British in 1776.

General-Winter547

Suddenly nobody is talking about the Epstein Files

slade797

Imma be honest, a civilized society *should* be based on diplomacy, reason, and not on hatred and violence.

But so far, despite the protests, strikes, and boycotts, things keep getting worse and the powerful get richer and richer.

So like... at what point does peaceful protest pay off? I promise I'm not saying this as some sort of wannabe revolutionary, I've legit been trying to figure out what's the next step, especially when we've seen drastic positive reaction to a certain billionaire being executed.

Again, I'm just looking logically where it's like... protest, protest, protest = nothing, media wont cover it, even tiktok wont cover it unless posters call it a music festival

CEO gets shot = suddenly the awful practice gets 180'd. And it's \*terrifying\* because logic might dictate that the violent action gets immediate results over the other. I keep thinking, holy shit, like.. what path can we get on to a peaceful and just society?

Vysce

It's so strange that conservatives weren't parroting this line when those Minnesota lawmakers were shot a couple of months ago.

irrevocable_discord9

Buddy, are you just now tuning in?

The guy who died was unmoved that Pelosi's husband was attacked years ago, and suggested bailing out the would-be assassin. Cheering for political violence is the *norm* for the right wing in America.

Where was this concern before now? The mainstream left isn't even happy he was shot, just not empathetic for the guy who thought empathy was bad.

The discourse around this is braindead, like right wingers are so desperate to finally get a chance to virtue signal that they cannot even take ten seconds to think about what they're saying.

ErinetaDR

The country was founded in violence and reformed by violence.

samgam74

Let's see ... they got JFK, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, Fred Hampton, George Jackson, Bobby Hutton. They blew up MOVE in Philadelphia. They got Wellstone and JFK Jr. But you get 1 low end right winger, the heavens open and the wrath of Satan descends all across the land. Come on now

Mundane_Locksmith_28

Political violence is how we became a country, and we have had a consistent track record since lol. Mfs just forgot what real danger looks like

Ok-Claim444

&gt;"Political Violence is un-American and fundamentally wrong" might not hold up.


It never held up in the first place. Political violence is American as apple pie, and in some cases has been widely regarded as the right thing to do.


***America was founded with political violence.*** The Sons of Liberty, the tarrings and feathering, the riots, the Revolution.


Do we call those things wrong? No. On the contrary, we as a nation hold them up high as a morally correct struggle, an example of people defending their God-given liberties. America endorses political violence.


The real difficulty lies in figuring out when political violence is the right thing to do. At this moment, I say it's not.

Rare_Trouble_4630

I don’t understand the quote. There is never a single moment in American history that’s not mired in political violence.  Political violence  isn’t just American it’s human.  Whether it’s “right or wrong” is above my pay grade.  But it’s a bizarre statement to call it in American when it’s been a constant feature of America always

WhereIShelter

It's nonsense.

Human history is littered with wars of political violence. It's what we do best as a species.

We aren't different from all the folks who came before us. The last civil war was pure political violence. 

The next one will be as well.

Vanman04

"Political violence is always wrong!!!"

"Of course I support our military!!"

These are the same people.

anarchomeow

Violence has been a part of politics for as long as people have been organized into societies. Wars, riots, assassinations, some protests, coups, etc are all political violence. The US was founded on an armed revolt. Today is the anniversary of 9/11 and an army backed coup resulting in regime change in Chile, both of which were violent manifestations of political beliefs. It’s just something we’re not used to in the US and rarely on such public display.

amazinggrace725

Our country was founded on political violence. To think it is unAmerican is to be ignorant of our history

bonobo__bonobo

People can certainly say that they condemn political violence and call it morally reprehensible. I won’t argue with that. But to call it un-American is bullshit. Our country’s entire history is founded on political violence. Revolutionary War? Civil War? Slavery? The attempted genocide of Native Americans? Japanese Internment camps? The Kent State shooting? MLK’s shooting? I could go on and on and on. My point is, political violence is as American as apple pie.

jasmineperfume

America was born of political violence. Any american that thinks otherwise likely votes for the orange colored asshat.

Tolgeranth

If the elites are the problem, why do you keep stabbing me?

PuzzleheadedDog9658

"Political Violence is un-American." Political violence is more American than baseball and apple pie. You can aspire to something else but don't act like this country wasn't built and sustained by political violence. That is willful blindness.

Monnshoot

The narrative that this is unique to the left and modern day leftists ideology is unsettling. 

Yes the world and politics are weird but there is a long history of "class traitors" civil rights activists, democratic politicians, etc being targets and victims of political violence. Hell RFk Jr's namesake is one, as is his uncle. We had the Minnesota legislators (and a long list of other marks that the killer didnt have opportunity to reach) gunned down by a radical right winger this year with little said from Trump and others. 

When political power was welded more corruptly and divisively and when politicians were inflamatory and our country sat at crossroads of civil rights and other populous unrest there was also more assassinations and violence. It is an environment we all play into and either enflame or deescalate. Right now things are boiling over.

Have we also forgotten Charlottesville? Dylan Roof? That Incel dude?:Countless other examples? 

It is scary to have a partisan president in times like this.

otto13234

For real, it's the most American thing I can think of. The economy would probably collapse without it.

ebi_gwent

America inflicts political violence on every group except white people. The minute it blows back on white people, it's suddenly wrong.

Gaza is political violence. ICE raids are political violence.

jmalkhnv3

They more than earned it.


They closed all LEGAL AND REASONABLE channels fir change.  All that is left is unreasonable options.


They made their choice. They must deal with the results.

Skyboxmonster

America is a wildly politically violent place and always has been.

Impossible-Number206

Idk, they are all old and senile. They probably dont even know where they are half the time, nevermind try to save a nation

Historical-Egg3243

Nothing will change as long as we have bread and circuses. The bread part is getting a bit sketchy lately though but damn, the circus is still crazy huh!

Jeremyvh

They havent caught the killer and are blaming democrats. 

Charlie kirk said gay people should be stoned to death for being gay. 

That we should bring back public executions. 

That children should be forced to watch. 

If someone advocated for your murder you would be glad they were gone too.  

He was charlie manson on a national level. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/religiousfruitcake/comments/1neo5v0/charlie_kirk_gods_perfect_law_says_gay_people/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=mweb3x&amp;utm_name=mweb3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button

BrookeBaranoff

[I'm just gonna leave this here...](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUS/comments/1nep1kq/why_do_people_refuse_to_accept_the_fact_that/)

Green-Collection-968

Calling political violence un-American is pretty hilarious. Political violence is how this country got started, and we have a very long and not proud history of it. It’s something we should strive to avoid, but political violence in America is always simmering under the surface.

call-me-the-ballsack

The main difference is that American political violence has migrated from outwards the empire to inwards the empire.

Quereilla

I mean the country was founded on political violence. Just directed toward to correct people

MinuteScientist7254

Hey, Americans, did you know that the rest of the world thinks the term "Un-American" is astonishingly self-aggrandising and it's actually mind-boggling that you use it on a daily basis without a hint of irony?

Beave__

The ruling class loves it when partisan stooges are killed. It ramps up the emotions in the political theater, and takes the heat off of them.

What the ruling class hates is business and industry being hurt, whether physically, financially, or otherwise.

sgtcampsalot

Violence is fundamentally wrong. Violence is also fundamentally American.

PenImpossible874

Probably the most American thing ever. Think about the Brits, Abraham Lincoln, JFK and even Trump got shot. Seems like culture.

Dazzling-Astronaut42

I think you'll find that one side is way better at political violence than the other.

ProximatePenguin

Politicians and the media are more interested in feeding the rage than soothing it. That's cause the same politicians need rage to get re-elected.

Zwischenzug

Political violence may be "bad", but so is sexual violence, hate crimes against minorities, hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community, genocide happening on the other side of the world, and kids getting shot. And yet, the government and the media care more about the death of some shitty YouTube grifter than about children who get shot in schools.

IndicationNo117

It takes very little research to understand that political violence is as least as American as mom &amp;apple pie.

ZucchiniMaleficent21

Violence is bad. Even if it's for a good reason. It's the result when all other human reasons fails. 

It would be a much better world if we didn't have to fight wars, or have revolutions. But you cannot control the outcome the moment you choose violence.

It should be considered heavily, and the responsibility for the harm inflected should fall on those involved in it. 

If you have to hurt someone to save someone, it's good you did so, but tragic you had to use violence to do it. Until we learn that lesson you're gonna have people eagerly throwing themselves at each other and not caring who gets hit.

lilbitze

Extremism ramps up when the population is unhappy, and discontent and understands that something isn't working. What isn't working they don't know but are aware it's broken In which case it looks for a solution. From a moderate faction then into the more extreme as the moderate tries to maintain a status quo that is degrading, while the issue remains the same and begins to compound. This has a couple of solutions. The elites understand their greed is leading to their own destruction, and or adjust. Otherwise they continue while the situation festers, and explodes. How long before it does. Unfortunately that's an unknown. Could be months, years, or decades. Also political violence in America isn't specifically new. History wise we are in a much less politically violent time.

SectorEducational460

What worries me the most about this is how effective it is at getting their attention. The wrong people are going to notice that. This could very easily spin out of control.

Alert-Nebula6215

SpaceGhostSlurpp

I'm done pandering and pretending to care. Send our your manly infantrymen in their sundresses. I can't wait to see what that looks like.

[deleted]

Now who might have an interest in a polarized US/EU society that's constantly at each others throats?


I wonder....

ChronicBuzz187

I think there are bad actors out there (not all of them human, not all of them American) that are doing what they can to create divisive factions and foment violence between Americans. Ask yourself who would benefit from any kind of violent conflict? Not the people caught up in it, that’s for sure. It’s one thing to talk up violence, it’s yet another thing to actually live with it. Violence destroys everything around it—and doesn’t usually leave enough to rebuild with. Recovery is slow and often takes more than one lifetime.

Inciting violence is an easy way for a regime to crush public resistance and silence its detractors. It’s a good way to keep people from banding together to create an effective resistance to an autocratic government. And to keep them suffering too much to be able to resist at all. It is not a very successful way of actually changing anything.

Relatively_Average

Awkward_University91

Fortunately it is on Netflix so it can't be pulled but the upcoming Death by lightning is very much about a man who murdered a president because he thought him being elected was his doing.

Extra irony points that the miniseries was shot in Hungary. Beyond the obvious,  while Andrew G. Vajna did good by establishing the Studio Korda in Etyek (a region known for its fine wine by the way) he also bought a media group which he then gifted Orbán,  and one of his former employees is now the wife of a eurobillionaire.

Don't worry,  you will see none of this if you do decide to watch it in November. There is a novella though that sprang to my head after this recent assassination.  Written in the 19th century but taking place before, the story is about a stubborn noble who has constant feuds with the nearby town. When the story begins he is on his own land what the city wants from him through a sort of eminent domain. Words are said which end in one judge being fatally shot dead.

Here comes the bizarre. At first the others panic but when they are safe they pick up the dead judge. His still bleeding body is then being carried over property line so he can bleed out and through his sacrifice they could now legally claim ownership over said land. One should know the city is led is geriatrics who bemoan that the replacement judge barely got 35, the minimum requirement.

Long story short the novella ends in absolute oh my god what have I done when the young judge who ends the siege tells the woman who fell in love with that the crisis is over the noble is dead, the twist she was his secret daughter . Oopsie.

To reiterate this story about using a person who isn't even under the ground for political and economical gain is about medieval Hungary,  not 21st century USA where such a thing couldn't happen less than half a day after said person died.

Silly-Elderberry-411

So many un-American things nowadays, becoming American. Sad times.

Alpharias13

Political violence is one of the defining characteristics of our country

Traditional-Ant-9741

Our country was literally built on political violence. That's what the revolution was

grungivaldi

The entire country was founded on political violence

Independent_Piano_81

Don't start none, won't be none. You dont get to soak a house in gasoline, hand out the matches, and then Pikachu face at the end. Especially when you take millions in funding from the people who benefit from the house burning down.

honeydictum

It never did hold up, considering that's what has enabled the birth of nearly every human society. Political violence has always been a part of human nature. A realistic goal would be to keep it minimal, but it's incorrect to say ALL political violence is 'bad' when it can lead to systematic changes for the better. There will always be corrupt people who will try to manipulate their way into positions of power just as there will always be people who will demonize their leaders/representatives no matter what they do. When rationality and civil, open dialog repeatedly fail to keep tyranny and oppression in check, we fall back on our more primal fight or flight responses. Name one society that didn't spawn from fleeing from or committing political violence. Political violence will always exist, just as deviance will always serve as a catalyst to social change; in a way, both can serve as a form of checks and balances.

The Land of the Incarcerated in general has been acting un-American for the last several decades, and whenever patriotic Americans try to call out their leaders and countrymen on it, they're labeled derogatory terms such as radical, woke, un-American, communist, etc., no matter how much proven evidence or lessons from history are presented to them. No one seems to recall the stark warnings from the slave owner on our one dollar bills in his farewell address that predicted political parties "may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion." Instead of addressing the root causes of our nation's woes and fulfilling ALL of their campaign promises, corporate sponsored showmen (from both red and blue) do a little song and dance for votes, slap on some band aids and duct tape on the country, pat themselves on the back after stuffing their pockets, and leave a huge mess for the next guy to clean up and mold to his liking without any or very little accountability while a bunch of poorly educated and easily manipulated sheep, who don't know the basics of American government, gleefully vote for lesser of two evils to perpetuate it.

Honestly, I'm disgusted with how complacent America has been for the last 55+ years and have been fearing for the fate of future generations since the 90s (I'm a millennial) when I first realized that we've been failing miserably in our goals of 'liberty and justice for all.' Ripping off the duct tape and band aids have been long overdue, and sh*t is inevitably going to hit the fan at some point. My main hope is that our country will survive it and become stronger and more united based on America's original ideals, instead of becoming more divided and oppressed based on the greed and whims of whoever the most popular bidder was.

No, I'm not advocating for violence, but I am encouraging everyone to go to your local library, read a few American history books (before they're all whitewashed or banned), and pull the wool from your eyes. Ask yourselves the hard questions, and ascertain the answers for yourselves rather than relying on your favorite one-sided, hate mongering influencers and 'news' casters for validation of misguided, un-American beliefs. Advocate for the freedom and education of our people, not our imprisonments and deaths. And for the love of the deity of your choosing, get up and do something about it so that we can end this American nightmare and get back to pursuing our dreams and happiness without all of the barriers.

Good luck to us all.

DreamingToLoveAgain

Political Violence is quite literally American..... We were founded on political violence.....

Beastmayonnaise

Violence is 100% American. Our country is built on it, founded on it, the very foundation is violence.

Angylisis

Former President Barack Obama addressed political violence in his speech, emphasizing the need for respectful dialogue in public debates.

Political Violence in the US

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