Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro angrily called for an end to rising political violence just hours after a man broke into the governor’s mansion and set it on fire, forcing Shapiro and his family to flee into the night.
It was the latest in a string of partisan political attacks in the United States.
“This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society. And I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other,” Shapiro said. “It has to stop.”
While police have not stated what might have motivated the attack early Sunday, court documents reveal the suspect admitted to hating Shapiro and was plotting to beat him with a hammer.
“The attacker basically wasn’t a fan of anybody,” President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday. “And certainly, a thing like that cannot be allowed to happen.”
This alarming incident comes amidst a growing pattern of political violence seen across the country in recent years.
In recent months, Elon Musk’s Tesla properties have also become targets as political tensions escalate. Since President Donald Trump placed Musk in charge of reducing government spending, incidents of violence against Tesla showrooms have surged, with reports of cybertrucks being torched and bullets and Molotov cocktails aimed at dealerships.
At a Pennsylvania campaign rally in July, Trump himself was caught in a hail of gunfire when a gunman opened fire, grazing Trump’s ear and leaving one of his supporters dead and several others wounded before police fatally shot the assailant.
Following that, in September, a man with a rifle was apprehended near Trump’s golf course in Florida while allegedly plotting to kill the former president.
In New Mexico, a fire damaged the entryway to the Republican Party headquarters in March, with a motive suspected to be an act of arson. Officials discovered incendiary materials at the site along with graffiti tagging reading “ICE=KKK,” a reference to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid ongoing deportation efforts.
In Arizona, the Democratic National Committee office was also impacted when a barrage of BB pellets and gunfire was directed at it on three separate occasions last fall. A man later arrested was found to possess over 120 firearms and an astounding 250,000 rounds of ammunition in his home.
Another high-profile incident occurred in 2022 when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was brutally attacked in their San Francisco home. The intruder, armed with a hammer, admitted in his trial testimony that his intent was to hold Pelosi hostage due to his beliefs surrounding governmental corruption.
In a separate attack on a political candidate, current Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg was targeted during a shooting attempt at his campaign headquarters on Valentine’s Day 2022. Although a bullet grazed his sweater, Greenberg was unharmed, while the shooter was eventually convicted and sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison.
The tension peaked on January 6, 2021, when extremist groups stormed the U.S. Capitol in a bid to contest the results of the presidential election, leading to a violent insurrection. Trump later issued a sweeping grant of clemency to all individuals charged in connection with the Capitol riot.
In 2020, anti-government extremists were arrested for plotting to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home. Those identified as leaders of the plot were later convicted of conspiracy.
In a shocking example of political violence in 2017, a shooter fired upon Republican lawmakers practicing for a charity baseball game in northern Virginia, severely wounding U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana. The assailant, who was eliminated by police, acted out of an intense anger towards Trump and his GOP counterparts.
These incidents highlight the severe and alarming escalation of political violence in America, prompting leadership figures like Gov. Shapiro to issue urgent calls for peace and dialogue.
image source from：https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/the-growing-list-of-political-violence-in-the-u-s
