The assassination of U.S. President Donald Trump’s ally Charlie Kirk was “just the latest in a recent string of violent politics,” said a U.S. political science professor.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) — The assassination of Charlie Kirk, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, highlights the current trend of political violence in the United States.
“Charlie Kirk’s killing is just the latest in a recent string of violent politics,” Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College in the northeastern state of New Hampshire, told Xinhua.
“We have deeply polarized politics, with many Americans viewing the other party not as wrong but as an existential threat,” Galdieri said.
Kirk, the high-profile 31-year-old conservative commentator and activist, was shot dead on Wednesday by a sniper while speaking to a large crowd at a university in the U.S. state of Utah.
Kirk was the co-founder of the conservative nonprofit organization Turning Point USA, which was dedicated to building a grassroots conservative youth network across high schools and universities in the United States.
Kirk was a close ally of Trump and one of the most influential online personalities among supporters of Trump’s “Make America Great Again (MAGA)” movement. He spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
After the incident, Trump said all Americans and the media must “confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequences of demonizing those with whom you disagree.”
Online, few engage in serious discussions about gun violence; instead, the debate has descended into blame games. Some accuse the “radical left” of suppressing free speech and resorting to violence against those seeking peaceful debate, while others fault conservatives for fueling hatred and staying silent when Democratic leaders were attacked.
The incident was the latest in a series of political violence in recent years:
In July last year, Trump was shot in the ear amid a hail of gunfire while giving a speech at a rally in the state of Pennsylvania. One supporter in the crowd was hit by a stray bullet and killed.
Just two months later, a man toting a rifle was found near the Trump International Golf Course, where the president was playing golf, and was arrested by Secret Service agents.
In September last year, gunshots hit the window of the campaign office of then-Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
In October, a man was arrested for allegedly firing at the Democratic National Committee office outside of Phoenix in the state of Arizona on several separate occasions between mid-September and early October. Investigators believed he might have been planning a mass shooting attack.
Earlier this year, Tesla, the company owned by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, was targeted in political attacks over Musk’s alliance with Trump. Cybertrucks were set ablaze, and Molotov cocktails were hurled into Tesla dealerships.
In April this year, the residence of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was set on fire, and in June, two state legislators in Minnesota were shot, leaving one dead and the other seriously injured.
The New York Times reported that political violence has become part of the fabric of American society. Just like school shootings, which once shocked the nation’s conscience, such incidents have now become commonplace.
“I take no pleasure in any hatred or any killing; every human being has the sacred right to life,” Greg Cusack, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives, told Xinhua. “But this insanity will not stop until all the purveyors of hatred and division forever shut their foul mouths.”
“We have had periods like this in the past,” said professor Galdieri, referring to U.S. politics in the 1850s, when members of Congress assaulted each other in the Capitol.
“But things right now are exceptionally grim on this front,” Galdieri said. “I don’t see how things get better any time soon.” ■
