America’s divide is growing, and political violence is only worsening it. From 2023 to 2024, politicians experienced a 10% increase in threats and harassment, and, in an NPR Survey, the support for political violence rose by 11% in 2025. The brutal assassination of Democratic Lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman, the shooting in the Texas Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center and the assassination of Charlie Kirk are chilling recent examples of political violence. Americans have witnessed these attacks with antipathy for their political counterparts, fanning the flames of a polarized political climate. While political violence only accounts for a small percentage of violent crime, its impact is widespread because of its symbolic nature. This is what makes political violence so pervasive: its social corrosiveness.
Political violence can only become a necessity when individuals have exhausted every effort to achieve change with a government that does not recognize their humanity — not when the public disagrees politically. Extremist violence is on the rise, acting as a clear and present threat to the viability of the great American experiment — a democratic republic.
Democracy relies on a public that is willing to take up its grievances in the public sphere; political violence erodes that ability. Violent extremism minimizes meaningful democratic forms of public engagement, from voting to community organization. The subversion of these peaceful avenues replaces tranquility with weapons and strife to achieve political ends. When violence is normalized and supported, democracies falter. The product of violence is fear, and fear discourages Americans from participating and engaging with political institutions.
After President Donald Trump falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen, the CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, Eric Coomer, went into hiding because of angry supporters doxing and placing a million-dollar bounty for him. These are the consequences of violent extremism: fear, mixed with amplified hatred, leading to the paralysis of Americans.
Political violence also uniquely affects minorities. Princeton University’s “Bridging Divides Initiative” explains that the rise in extremist violence disproportionately affects African Americans, Jewish people, Arab people, Muslims and the LGBTQ community. Hateful rhetoric manifests in the form of violence, and vulnerable groups get caught in the crosshairs. In the Texas Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center shooting, the victims were immigrants. No matter the political affiliation or end goal, support for violence disproportionately affects marginalized groups.
While extremist acts pervade the media and more people begin to view it as a necessity, 70% of Americans remain opposed to political violence, as NPR finds. Violence is a lethal force for a democracy, but it does need to remain as one. By actively engaging in U.S. democracy, for instance, joining community organizations, voting and participating in peaceful, disruptive protests, Americans can restore trust and faith in the government, subverting the necessity for political violence.
