Is Political Violence in US Starting to Escalate?

Political violence is, unfortunately, nothing new. While we in the United States might look at places like Africa with disdain because of the level of violence there, the truth is that there are times when the difference is really just a matter of scale.

We all remember the riots of 2020, for example. 

But the truth is that things in 2025 are potentially heading for a worse outcome than the riots ever did.

“How? The 2020 riots eventually ended up with a mob attacking Kyle Rittenhouse, and him having to kill two people and wound a third just to escape with his life.”

Yeah, but the violence this time is escalating.

First, let’s remember that during his campaign, 2024 saw two attempts on President Donald Trump. The first, in Butler, Pennsylvania, was only inches away from succeeding. The second didn’t get a shot at him, but not for lack of trying.

Now, if that had been the end of it, I wouldn’t be writing this. It’s not.

First, let’s look again at Butler, Pennsylvania.

A Butler man is accused of threatening to assassinate President Trump, kill ICE agents and commit a mass shooting, federal prosecutors announced on Friday.

The Department of Justice said 32-year-old Shawn Monper posted threatening comments on YouTube under the username “Mr. Satan.” 

…

Investigators said Monper posted multiple comments from January to April. In one, he called for the killing of Trump, Elon Musk and “all the heads of agencies Trump appointed, and anyone who stands in the way.”  

In a video about Trump, Monper said, “im going to assassinate him myself,” and he called Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents “terrorist people,” saying if he saw an armed agent, he’d “open fire,” prosecutors said.  

Monper got a firearms permit after the inauguration and claimed he was stocking up on guns and ammunition, which I actually don’t have a problem with. However, it does give him the means to attempt an assassination, and he declared his motive pretty clearly. The Secret Service decided not to give him an opportunity.

Now, this could also be someone who was just jawing online. People have always felt empowered to say things online that they never would in person because they’re largely divorced from any ramifications. Had “Mr. Satan” not threatened the president, he likely wouldn’t have found any ramifications here, either.

One incident does not a trend make.

However, we have another person who wanted to kill Trump, but for a different reason.

Newly unsealed federal records show the murders were part of a much larger plot, which included plans to overthrow the government and assassinate President Donald Trump.

A federal search warrant, unsealed Friday, details the murder plot that was part of a plan targeting Trump.

The documents attribute that the plot is connected to 17-year-old Waukesha student Nikita Casap.

Casap is charged in the shooting deaths of his mother, Tatiana Casap, and stepfather Donald Mayer, inside their home Feb. 11.

According to prosecutors, the teenager stayed inside the home with their bodies for 12 days.

Police arrested Casap weeks later after he was found in Kansas with his stepfather’s car, a gun and $14,000.

The motive for the murders, according to the federal warrant, was to use that money to fund a plan calling for the president’s assassination to “foment a political revolution in the United States” and “save the white race.”

As one might expect, Nikita Casap looks pretty much like the kind of inferior human being who thinks the white race is superior or something.

Again, though, this was someone who sought to kill President Trump, though his motives are very different. This one also showed he was doing more than smack-talking. After all, he killed his mother and stepfather, kept the murders hidden, and was found with a large sum of cash. He had a plan to put explosives on drones and use them in terrorist attacks.

Frankly, Casap is most definitely not the savior of “the white race,” and if we needed someone like that to save us, we probably deserve to die out.

But presidents always have a certain number of people who plot to kill them. It’s an occupational hazard, and why the Secret Service exists. It’s their job to prevent that sort of thin,g and in both of these cases, the bad guys were arrested before they got a shot at Trump.

Governors, however, don’t quite that that level of protection. They have protection, mind you, just not quite to the level of the Secret Service. They usually don’t need it.

However, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro apparently does.

A man was arrested after allegedly setting fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion as Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside early Sunday morning.

At a press conference Sunday evening, authorities named 38-year-old Cody Balmer as the suspect.

Balmer will be charged with attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault against an enumerated person, according to officials.

Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens told reporters on Sunday that Balmer hopped a fence before the incident, which took place at around 2:00 a.m.

…

The fire broke out overnight after Shapiro, considered a potential presidential contender for the Democratic Party in 2028, and his family celebrated the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover.

At the Sunday press conference, Shapiro denounced the arson in a set of emotional remarks.

“This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society,” the politician said. “And I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, or one particular person or another. It is not okay and it has to stop. We have to be better than this.”

This is the guy who was arrested, for the record:

Hmm… pic.twitter.com/uZ9yS2DPFb

— G. 𝕏. Rubicon (@gXrubicon) April 14, 2025

Now, is it better that this attack came from the left? Not particularly, because what Shapiro said is true–and no, I didn’t expect to write those words ever. This is becoming far too common. This is far too regular.

Whether it’s firebombing Tesla dealerships and vandalizing people’s Tesla cars or trying to burn down the governor’s mansion with the governor and his family in it, the key difference is that it’s an escalation of the exact same thing. The plots against Trump? They, too, are an escalation.

It’s one thing to criticize a politician. God knows, I do it all the time professionally. 

It’s quite another to seek to kill them. Especially when it looks like the motivation to kill Shapiro is his support for Israel.

The question then becomes, where does it end?

I’d like to see it end before someone gets killed, but one could argue that the 2020 riots really only wound down because Rittenhouse made it too risky to engage in riots anymore. Someone may want to be a terrorist until they realize that “terrorist things” include being shot by a 17-year-old who looks like he’s not even old enough to shave yet.

If I’m right, then this likely won’t die down until someone else is placed in the morgue for their “cause.”

That’s not inherently a good thing, because that only happens when other people are faced with a threat to life and limb. Not everyone will always be successful in defending themselves, either.

But this is a firm reminder that people are losing their minds all across the nation. We don’t know where this particular bout of stupidity will end, so it’s time to hit the range, hit the training classes when you can, and sharpen those skills. While I pray none of us are needed, none of us should bank on that. The next act of politically motivated violence may be somewhere when it’s us or our families that are in the crosshairs.

If that happens, I plan to make them pay.