Trump assassination attempt highlights growing trend of violence against politicians

The assassination attempt on Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania this weekend is the latest example of a larger ongoing trend of violence against public officials and politicians amid growing political polarization in the US. NBC News spoke with ISD’s Director of Threat Analysis, Katherine Keneally, in the hours following the shooting that left one man dead and two injured, in addition to Trump’s own injuries.

While much is still not known about the motivations behind the shooting, Katherine told NBC News that many threats in the past have been from people inspired by false or misleading information. “Unfortunately, what we are seeing is a concerning uptick in threats to officials based on false and/or misleading narratives, as well as disagreements on policy or beliefs,” she said in an email. “While a lot about this horrific incident and the attacker is unknown, we are seeing threats to officials by people who don’t appear to be affiliated with any particular extremist group, but are instead inspired by conspiracy theories, mis/disinfo, and differences in political ideologies. Again, very little information is known, but political violence in all forms should be condemned.”

NBC News listed past attacks against Rep. Steve Scalise in 2017, the third-ranking Republican in the House at the time, the attempted kidnapping of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2022, and the physical attack against Nancy Pelosi’s husband in 2022.

The full article is available on NBC News.