A decade of Trump, a decade of political violence
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Speaking at a press conference after Boelter's capture,
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Other than golf, Trump's favorite hobby is collecting grudges. He's probably still angry at Walz, the former Democratic vice presidential nominee, for calling Trump's bizarre antics
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As Trump has refused to offer even boilerplate sympathy to grieving Minnesotans, it probably also means he won't temper his language.
Calling the Minnesota shootings 'a chilling attack on our democracy,'
Trump did not create these conditions. With the nation founded on brutal colonialism and racist subjugation and enslavement, political violence is threaded into its DNA.
In 2011, former Democratic representative
Republican representative
That gunman, who was killed during a shootout with police, hated Republicans. But the majority of political violence nationwide is motivated by right-wing extremism.
According to the Anti-Defamation League,
Even an Australian man who committed mass shootings at two New Zealand mosques in 2019 called Trump, in a lengthy statement, 'a symbol of
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A 2024 Public Religion Research Institute survey revealed that
At his rallies, Trump has encouraged his followers to rough up protesters. During his first campaign, he said that Hillary Clinton, if elected president, could not be stopped from appointing Supreme Court justices likely to abolish the Second Amendment. 'Nothing you can do, folks,' he said. Then he added, "
And that was before Trump incited a deadly insurrection at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to overthrow the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden. On his first day back in office after winning the 2024 election, he pardoned more than 1,500 insurrectionists.
Trump's hatreds have infested the party he has commanded for a decade. After the Minnesota attacks, Republican Senator
It was reminiscent of the flood of right-wing mendacity after the brutal 2022 hammer attack on Paul Pelosi by a man who was looking for then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi when he broke into the couple's San Francisco home. He
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This week also commemorates another act of political violence: the murder of nine Black churchgoers in the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., by a white supremacist who wanted to spark a race war to make America white again. That was on June 17, 2015, one day after Trump declared his candidacy.
While the timing of that tragic day may have been a coincidence, it presaged this modern age of political violence. To normalize what happened in Minnesota is to become both complacent and complicit with a president who is unlikely to tamp down the kind of incendiary rhetoric that can lead to bloodshed.
Renée Graham is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
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- Politico
Mark Kelly finds a receptive audience to talk about gun violence
Sen. Mark Kelly tried Tuesday to shift the national conversation to gun safety in an appearance that was notable for its location and its timing. As the nation reels from the latest outbreak of political violence, the senator from Arizona and his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, recalled the horrific attack that tore apart their lives as they addressed an audience in Charleston, South Carolina, on the 10-year anniversary of the mass killing at Mother Emanuel AME church. Kelly and Giffords, who was badly wounded in a 2011 attack in her congressional district, appealed for action to address violence that the former Navy pilot and astronaut said makes the U.S. stand out 'in the worst of ways' among developed nations. 'There are loopholes in our gun laws that you can drive a truck through,' Kelly said during a packed town hall in a state that carries electoral weight because of its early primary — giving the senator's visit an added political dimension. His remarks came during an evening town hall at Charleston's Casper Hall, about two miles from where nine people were gunned down by a white supremacist during a Bible study gathering. 'I, on behalf of me and Gabby, want to express our condolences about what happened a decade ago,' said Kelly, seated on stage with Giffords. The racially motivated shooting is 'something that should not happen in any sanctuary of any religion, anywhere in our country, ever,' he added. The senator went on during the hour-long forum to highlight the nation's seemingly unyielding frequency of gun violence, peppered throughout with friendly questions that allowed him, along with his wife and two state Democratic lawmakers to opine at length about why changing gun laws in a deep red state like South Carolina and federally has been a challenge. At one point Giffords was asked by Christale Spain, the South Carolina Democratic Chair who served as emcee: 'Do you ever want to give up on your work to end gun violence?' 'No way, Jose!' Giffords responded, before adding, 'Don't look back, I hope others are inspired to keep moving forward, no matter what.' The timing of the event comes as the nation's political leaders are on edge following the attack on a pair of Minnesota lawmakers over the weekend. The alleged gunman, identified as Vance Boelter, has been charged with federal and state charges of murder and attempted murder for the killing of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and critically wounding another lawmaker and his spouse. Authorities say Boelter had a 'hit list' that included nearly four dozen elected officials, all Democrats. The audience at the town hall held a moment of silence for the victims in Minnesota. Kelly is seen as an emerging Democratic with a rising national profile. 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'This is every single member sending it around.' Even people who agree with Gabbard have been worried about her influence waning: On his podcast War Room on Monday, MAGA ringleader Steve Bannon rhetorically asked his guest Tucker Carlson why Gabbard was not invited to what appears to have been a critical Camp David huddle earlier this month, where Trump and senior officials from his CIA director to chief of staff and the vice president discussed how to posture amid Israeli's looming strike. 'You know why … This is a regime change effort,' Carlson answered. Gabbard — who has spoken of losing friends while serving in the military — has in the past been extremely outspoken against such incursions. 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Hamilton Spectator
24 minutes ago
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Conservative Louisiana state Sen. Blake Miguez announces bid to run for US Sen. Bill Cassidy's seat
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