A Stark Look at the Recent History of Political Violence in America

Politicians are in shock after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Penn., on Saturday.

As Trump was addressing the crowd, a series of loud pops rang in the air. Video footage showed Trump reaching for his right ear and lowering himself to the ground. He was then was covered and surrounded by the Secret Service.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Trump, 78, was rushed to his SUV, and taken to the hospital. However, before leaving, he raised his fist up to the crowd, as they chanted “USA. USA. USA.” The presumptive Republican nominee could be seen with blood dripping from his ear onto his face.

The former President is safe now, and has since spoken out on social media about the attempt, issuing a public plea in the aftermath of the shooting.

The now-deceased shooter was identified on Sunday by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Penn.

This is being considered as the most serious assassination attempt against a President or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. Many prominent politicians—both international and American voices from all sides of the political spectrum— have spoken out and condemned the use of political violence.

The Trump rally shooting comes amid growing concern over the rise of American political violence in recent years.

In October 2021, Rachel Kleinfeld wrote in the The Journal of Democracy that an “unprecedented number” of elections administrators received threats in 2020, and that “acts of political violence in the United States have skyrocketed in the last five years,” utilizing data from the Global Terrorism Database maintained by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland.

Read more: How the Threat of Political Violence Is Transforming America

“Ideas that were once confined to fringe groups now appear in the mainstream media,” Kleinfeld remarked. “These shifts have created a new reality: millions of Americans willing to undertake, support, or excuse political violence.”

Here is a look back at instances of political violence in recent history in the United States.

The shooting of then-Representative Gabby Giffords in 2011

Former U.S. Representative of Arizona Gabrielle Giffords is a survivor of gun violence. In 2011, Giffords was the subject of an attempted assassination in Tucson, where she was shot in the head.

The attacker shot Giffords and 18 others, killing six in the attack at a grocery store parking lot where the Congresswoman was having an informal meet-and-greet with constituents. Giffords’ aide Gabe Zimmerman, was among those killed, and remains the only congressional staffer ever killed in the line of service.

The shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, received multiple life sentences. 

Since the assassination attempt, Giffords, now 54, has been a staunch gun control advocate, starting her own advocacy group called Giffords.

“I’m Gabby Giffords. I’m from Tucson, Ariz. Jan. 8, 2011, changed my life forever. I was a Congresswoman. I was shot in my head while meeting with my constituents,” Giffords said at a roundtable of current and former lawmakers in 2023. “After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, I said enough is enough. I founded a group called Giffords. We are on a mission to end gun violence now.”

Read More: ‘No More Guns. Gone’: Why Gabby Giffords Isn’t Giving Up

The shooting of Steve Scalise at a Congressional baseball practice in 2017

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R., La.) was shot in June 2017, during a shooting which targeted members of the Republican congressional baseball team at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria, Va.

Five victims were taken to hospital, including two members of Scalise’s Capitol Police security detail were also wounded as they exchanged fire with the gunman.

The bullet pierced Scalise in the left hip, damaging organs and breaking bones as it moved through his body. In the aftermath, he was in a coma for three days.

The gunman, James Hodgkinson of Illinois, was a known Trump critic. He died from gunshot wounds sustained during a shootout with law enforcement.

Gretchen Whitmer targeted by foiled kidnapping plot in 2020

In October 2020, federal and state authorities revealed a high-profile bust of an elaborate scheme to kidnap the Democratic Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. This resulted in the arrest of 13 people linked with a local rightwing militia group, the Wolverine Watchmen.

The FBI became aware of the group’s suspicious activity through social media, and foiled the plot through “confidential sources, undercover agents, and clandestine recordings,” according to the Department of Justice. They undercovered the Wolverine Watchmen’s surveillance Governor’s home and their detonation of an improvised explosive device.

“There has been a disturbing increase in anti-government rhetoric and the re-emergence of groups that embrace extremist ideologies,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told reporters at the time. “These groups often seek to recruit new members by seizing on a moment of civil unrest and using it to advance their agenda of self-reliance and armed resistance. This is more than just political disagreement or passionate advocacy. Some of these groups’ mission is simply to create chaos and inflict harm upon others.”

This occurred in the leadup to the 2020 election between then-President Trump and Joe Biden. That same October, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a “Homeland Threat Assessment” that said far-right extremists pose the largest threat to the U.S. homeland, other than adversarial nation-states, and warned that militia groups “might target events related to the 2020 Presidential campaigns, the election itself, election results, or the post-election period.”

Read More: ‘A Perfect Storm.’ The Michigan Plot Lays Bare the Dangers of Ignoring the Far-Right Threat

The Jan. 6  attack at the United States Capitol in 2021

Perhaps the most notable act of political violence in the past decade in the United States is the Jan. 6 attack in 2021. Trump supporters descended on the Capitol building in protest of the certification of President Biden.

The mob was largely attending a Trump-headlined “Stop the Steal” rally. Some were armed with metal flagpoles, baseball bats, pepper spray, and stun guns. Eventually, some members of the mob smashed windows in order to enter the Capitol building, where they loitered in the halls and rummaged through offices.

According to a bipartisan senate report, at least seven deaths were connected to the Jan. 6 attack and at least 140 people were reportedly injured. In January 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia, stated that “more than 1,265 defendants have been charged in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia.”

Read More:What the History of the Word “Insurrection” Says About Jan. 6

Trump was indicted in August 2023 on felony charges for his role in the incitement of the Jan. 6 riot.

The assault of Paul Pelosi, husband of Representative Nancy Pelosi

In October 2022, Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) was attacked with a hammer in his home in San Francisco. He underwent successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands.

An affidavit submitted by FBI Special Agent Stephanie Minor revealed that the attacker, then 42-year-old David DePape allegedly broke into the Pelosi home prepared to “detain and injure” Nancy. The affidavit also says that DePape had a hammer, roll of tape, white rope, one pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and zip ties all in his possession at the time of his arrest. Nancy was in Washington, D.C. at the time of the attack.

DePape was sentenced to 30 years in prison in May after being found guilty of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official.

On Saturday, after the attack on former President Trump, Nancy took to X (formerly Twitter) to condemn the violence.

“As one whose family has been the victim of political violence, I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society,” she said. “I thank God that former President Trump is safe. As we learn more details about this horrifying incident, let us pray that all those in attendance at the former President’s rally today are unharmed.”