In wake of Minnesota lawmaker shootings, experts say political violence has been on the rise in U.S.

CBS News

5 hours ago

Political violence has been on the rise in U.S., experts say in wake of Minnesota shootings
Political violence has been on the rise in U.S., experts say in wake of Minnesota shootings
Political violence has been on the rise in U.S., experts say in wake of Minnesota shootings
Police said the shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses this past weekend appears to be politically motivated.
The suspect in the shootings, Vance Boelter, 57, was charged Monday with two counts of second-degree murder in the shooting that killed Minnesota state Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and two counts of second-degree attempted murder in the shooting that killed Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman and his wife separately in an overnight rampage Friday into Saturday.
Boelter is also facing six charges in federal court, including stalking and murder. He was taken into custody on Sunday night near his Sibley County, Minnesota, home following a manhunt that lasted over 36 hours.
"It's a chilling attack on our democracy on our way of life," said Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Joe Thompson. "It's only the most recent example of political extremism in this county and a trend that's been increasing in recent years."
In the wake of the shootings, U.S. Capitol police said politically based threat investigations are up 400%. An Illinois lawmaker said she hopes the horrific tragedy will lead to increased safety measures for public officials and first responders.
Shortly after police arrested Boelter in a field near his home in Minnesota, a search of his car turned up weapons, detailed plans for the attack, and the names of hundreds of Democratic lawmakers written in various locations.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was in Minnesota on Friday for an event. He said his name was not found in Boelter's list, but some Illinois politicians' names were.
"They recovered devices and other papers that had 600 names, more than 600 names," Pritzker said. "There are Illinois folks, like Iowa and others, but very few — and again, no one, the FBI specifically said to me that these people are not targets."
Investigators called the murder of Hortman and her husband a political assassination.
"It's only the most recent example of political extremism in this county — and a trend that's been increasing in recent years," said acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson.
There have been several high-profile political attacks in America in just the last five years the U.S. Capitol was attacked on Jan. 6, 2021.
On Oct. 28, 2022, Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, was beaten by an intruder at the couple's San Francisco mansion.
On July 13 of last year, President Trump — then campaigning for a new term — survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
On May 21 of this year, two Israeli Embassy workers were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., and on June 1, a peaceful march in support of Israeli hostages was firebombed in Boulder, Colorado.
Dan Byman-Director warfare, irregular threats and Terrorism Project at the Center for Strategic International studies
"There has been a significant increase in the number of Americans really seeing the other political side as an enemy," said Dan Byman, director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats and Terrorism Project at the Center for Strategic International studies. "Words like 'treason' show up. Calls supporting violence have increased. Polling indicates that significant numbers of Americans believe violence is justified if their particular cause is not fulfilled."
Such inflammatory language can easily lead to violence, Byman explained.
"Individual followers often taking it in their own direction, where they'll grab a little from one ideologue, a bit more from another ideologue, and then throw in their own pet grievances," he said, "and as a result, you have lots of angry individuals."
Illinois state Rep. Nicole La Ha (R-Lemont) emphasized the severity of the threat.
"I think it's really important that we, as elected officials, understand that our words carry a lot of weight," she said. "It definitely wasn't something on my mind that I need to be looking over my back."
La Ha has previously introduced legislation modeled after the Judicial Privacy Act to better protect the private information of politicians and first responders.
"Which includes our home addresses, our home phone numbers — and it allows us to ask government bodies to protect those things and to keep them private," La Ha said. "You know, it's unfortunate that sometimes we don't act until it's too late."
Pritzker did not reveal the names of the politicians who were listed on the evidence found in Boelter's home and car. But he made it clear that it was not a hit list.
If convicted, Boelter could receive the death penalty.