As American as Guns, Baseball, and Political Violence

Long History of Political Violence in U.S. May Surprise You

Sadly, Violence Is Who We Are

Hatred and violence are pervasive in America. When radical right-wing martyr Charlie Kirk was killed on Sept. 11, some people insisted, “This isn’t American.” “We don’t settle our differences that way.” In truth, political violence is as American as baseball, guns and apple pie.

And yes, violence is how many Americans settle their differences. What does it have to do with religion, specifically the Christian religion?

Everything.

Other Patheos contributors have written about violence in America. Two that are worth reading are The Twisted Math of American Violence by Stuart Delony and Stopping the Gun Violence Plague by Dorian Scott Cole.

A History of Political Violence

Historian and American history professor Maurizio Valsania recently explained in an article for The Conversation: “American politics has long personalized its violence. Time and again, history’s advance has been imagined to depend on silencing or destroying a single figure – the rival who becomes the ultimate despicable foe.

“…to claim that such shootings betray ‘who we are’ is to forget that the U.S. was founded upon – and has long been sustained by – this very form of political violence.”

The violence appears to come easily. America’s gun culture gives violent people easy access to all types of guns from handguns to assault rifles. Hate-filled words light a fire, and violence erupts.

Recent Political Violence

On Sept. 11, 2025, Republican and conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, but his death was not the only politically motivated killing this

decade or even this year.

Before we get started, please note that the victims’ political allegiance isn’t important in the context of this article. The only reason I mention it is to show that politicians and activists on both sides of the political divide are targets.

In one of its stories about Kirk’s death, CNN described numerous other incidents of political violence in the recent past….

• Only three months before the Kirk assassination, Melissa Hortman, a Democrat and member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, was shot and killed along with her husband, Mark.
• On the same date the Hortmans died, State Sen. John Hoffman, a Minnesota Democrat, and his wife Yvette were shot multiple times but survived. Their injuries were severe, and they are still recovering.
• Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, also a Democrat, was targeted for assassination on April 13, 2025. Shapiro, his wife and four children, another family and two dogs, were forced to flee when someone threw a Molotov cocktail into the governor’s mansion, and the building caught fire.

A Violent Decade

These shootings all occurred in 2025. Other instances of political violence pre-date the American Revolution. But relax. We won’t go back that far. For the moment, let’s look at the early 2020s and late teens:

• On July 13, 2024, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was targeted by a gunman in Pennsylvania. Trump suffered a minor cut on his ear, one bystander was killed while shielding his family, and the shooter was killed by the Secret Service.
• Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, was the target of an attempted kidnapping in 2022. The attempt failed, but Pelosi’s husband was severely injured by the hammer-wielding assailant.
• On Jan. 6, 2021, Democratic and Republican members of the U.S. House and Senate, as well as then-Vice President Mike Pence, were endangered when a mob incited by Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol. No members of Congress were hurt. However, five other people died as a result of the insurrection, and 140 police officers were injured.
• On October 2020, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmire, a Democrat, was targeted by approximately 14 people who wanted to kidnap her and overthrow the state government. The FBI discovered the plot and arrested the plotters, many of whom received long prison sentences.
• Steve Scalise, a Republican, was shot and seriously wounded on June 14, 2017. A congressional aide, a lobbyist and a Capitol police officer were also hit. None of the victims died, but the shooter was killed by police.
• Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat, was shot and sustained severe brain injuries in 2011. She retired from Congress because of the attack. Six others died and 13 were wounded.

More Presidents Targeted

• Pres. Barack Obama and Pres. Bill Clinton, both Democrats, were targeted for assassination by men who fired shots at the White House during

  

  these presidents terms in office.

• Pres. Ronald Reagan, a Republican, was severely wounded by a gunman soon after taking office. The assailant also shot Reagan’s press secretary James Brady, who suffered severe brain injuries. A Secret Service agent and a police officer were shot, as well, but suffered less serious injuries.
• Four United States presidents have been shot and killed while in office. On April 15, 1865, Republican Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed by actor John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln was the first American president to die by assassination. Booth was shot and killed during a massive manhunt, and four of his co-conspirators were later tried, convicted and hanged. Several others received prison sentences.
• In 1881 another Republican — James A. Garfield — was shot and killed by Charles J. Guiteau, who had been denied a job in the federal government.
• Twenty years later, anarchist Leon Czolgosz assassinated William McKinley, also a Republican.
• John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, was murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald on Nov. 22, 1963. Oswald also killed police officer J.D. Tippit, who attempted to approach him later that day. The assassin was murdered two days later, and the commission that investigated the assassination was unable to establish his motive or motives.

Assassination Attempts

Numerous other presidents have been targeted by would-be assassins, but they survived. There have been additional attempts, but the list is too long to include here.

• Pres. Andrew Jackson was attacked but used his walking stick to successfully fight off his assailant. The Secret Service did not exist at the time.
• Former Pres. Theodore Roosevelt was wounded while campaigning for a third presidential term. His 50-page campaign speech and steel glasses case slowed the bullet, and he went to the hospital after the finishing the speech.
• Pres.-elect Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat and cousin of Theodore, was targeted while giving an impromptu speech from the back of an open car. He was not injured.
• Pres. Gerald Ford, a Republican, was the target of two unsuccessful assassination attempts within three weeks. Both would-be assassins were women.

The 1960s were marked by political and racial violence that took the lives of several American leaders:

• Civil rights advocate Medgar Evers was assassinated in 1963 by a white supremacist.
• Civil rights activist and Muslim minister Malcolm X was killed in 1965, apparently because of a dispute with the Nation of Islam.
• Civil rights leader, peace advocate and Baptist preacher Martin Luther King, Jr., was the victim of a racially and politically motivated assassination.
• Robert F. Kennedy, a Democrat, was assassinated while campaigning for president in 1968.

In addition, Gov. George Wallace of Alabama was shot while seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. He survived but was permanently paralyzed from the waist down.

The Power of Words

Words have power to promote good or incite violence. Right-wing martyr Charlie Kirk used them to fuel hatred. Following are several statements he made on his talk show, and I’m offering my comments in blue:

Dec. 8, 2022: If you’re a WNBA, pot-smoking black lesbian, do you get treated better than a United States marine? – Kirk offered nothing to support this vicious stereotype. His statement is as ridiculous as saying, “If you’re a white LPGA, pot-smoking golfer, do you get treated better than a United States Marine?”

July 13, 2025… Black women do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously. Really? Why don’t we compare the brain processing power of someone like Michelle Obama or Associate Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown to someone like Donald Trump.

Aug. 26, 2025…  Engage in reality…. Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You’re not in charge, Kirk said after Taylor Swift’s engagement to Travis Kelce was announced. — Bullshit! It’s fortunate that Taylor met a man who doesn’t feel threatened by her success.

March 20, 2024: The American Democrat (sic) party hates this country. They wanna see it collapse. They love it when America becomes less white. – This statement insults the millions of Democrats who love America. My guess is that most Democrats want all Americans to have equal opportunities to succeed regardless of color.

Sept. 8, 2025: Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America. – Two ugly slurs for the price of one. The U.S. is home to many Muslims who want to live peaceful lives in the U.S., raise their families, and worship as they choose, just as many Christians do. Muslims are not united in their political beliefs any more than Christians are. Some Muslims are leftists, but others are conservatives or fundamentalists.

April 1, 2024: We need to have a Nuremberg-style trial for every gender-affirming clinic doctor. We need it immediately. What a horrible thing to say! A number of Nazi doctors were accused of murdering and torturing hundreds of thousands of people before and during World War II.

These doctors systematically slaughtered people they deemed “unworthy of life” and conducted horrifying medical experiments on thousands of concentration camp prisoners.

To compare the murderous Nazi doctors who were tried at Nuremberg with innocent American doctors is unforgivable.

May 30, 2022: Gun control, like vaccines and masks, is focused on making people feel ‘safe’ by taking freedoms away from others. Don’t fall for it. Unlike guns, vaccines and masks save lives despite denials by many right-wing Americans. The real issue is whether one person’s right to own a gun should ever outweigh another person’s right to live. My choice will always be life over death.

What does this article have to do with Christianity? Everything.