What does politically motivated violence mean for democracy?

Jan. 6 was a catalyst for political violence in the United States. 

Since the attack on The Capitol, political violence has seemingly become a norm in the United States. The increase in politically motivated violence became apparent on Oct. 28, when an intruder armed with a hammer barged into Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco house yelling, “Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?” 

The Speaker of the House’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was seriously injured after being struck by the intruder. Paul Pelosi had surgery for a fractured skull. The intruder was later identified as 42-year-old David DePape. DePape was arrested under suspicion of attempted murder, elder abuse and burglary according to the Associated Press. 

DePape appeared to be consumed by conspiracy theories and even owned a website that was dedicated to covering conspiracy theories that covered topics such as Jewish people, communism, vaccines and voter fraud, CNBC reported. 

Far-right conspiracy theories are a driving force in the rise of politically motivated violence in the United States. 

The same violent rhetoric drove far-right Trump supporters to attack the nation’s capital. Eric Trump, the former President’s son, was also involved in the intense rhetoric declaring, “I will personally work to defeat every single Republican Senator/Congressman who doesn’t stand up against this fraud – they will be primaried in their next election and they will lose,” the day prior to the insurrection. 

In early 2021, armed insurrectionists broke into The Capitol by violently smashing windows, marching through the Capitol rotunda and destroying one of the nation’s most sacred buildings to make their agenda clear to the nation. 

In 2022, just one year later, another extremist made his agenda clear by breaking into the Pelosi’s residence. 

“The will of the people was under assault. The Constitution — our Constitution — faced the gravest of threats,” Biden said on the one-year anniversary of the insurrection. 

Donald Trump is the definition of a populist leader. He is a political outsider and targets himself as a man of the people. Appealing to his far-right audience, Trump has MAGA supporters in his firm grasp. 

The goal of the insurrectionists’ was to “stop the steal” of the 2020 presidential election. The insurrectionists believed Donald Trump won the election and took to political violence to stop congress from confirming the election.  

Jan. 6 may have seemed to be an extreme, but with the rise of far-right conspiracies, it may have just been the beginning of a new wave of politically motivated violence in the United States.  

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• HCAU American
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