With 76 countries around the world holding elections this year, political terrorism is rapidly increasing in major countries such as the United States, Japan, France, and the United Kingdom, raising concerns. As political polarization deepens, extremism and conspiracy theories gain strength, and unprecedented levels of political violence are occurring even in advanced Western countries, the home of democracy.
In particular, as the race heats up in the United States ahead of the presidential election in November, hardline statements and conspiracy theories from each camp are likely to become rampant. Some believe that political conflict on the level of a civil war will be inevitable no matter who is elected. It is pointed out that there is an urgent need for politicians in each country to make efforts to correct themselves, as they often make hard-line statements and encourage hate politics in order to attract the attention of hard-core supporters.
According to CNN, police in Denver, Colorado, arrested Brand Olsen, a 44-year-old man who broke into the state Supreme Court building on the 2nd (local time) and opened fire. He surrendered voluntarily and there were no casualties.
On December 19 last year, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump was “not eligible to run in the 2024 presidential election” on the grounds that he incited the “January 6 storming of the Capitol.”
Denver police said the shooting “does not appear to be related to previous threats against a state Supreme Court justice.” However, threats from far-right figures to kill four state Supreme Court justices who supported the ruling disqualifying them from the primary are spreading online. In Maine, which also restricted former President Trump’s eligibility to participate in the primary, a gunman recently broke into the home of the secretary of state.
According to Reuters, a total of 213 cases of political violence have occurred to date since Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Last August, a man in his 70s who had threatened to kill President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was killed in a confrontation with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents. Also, in October 2022, a gunman in his 40s broke into the home of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a member of the ruling Democratic Party, and shocked Speaker Pelosi’s husband by assaulting her with a blunt object.
Some extremists take violence for granted. In a public opinion poll released by the Brookings Institution, a U.S. think tank, in October last year, 23% of respondents answered, “I support patriots using violence to get the U.S. back on track.” In a recent survey by public opinion research company Navigator, 85% of respondents predicted that “political violence will increase in the future.”
The situation in other developed countries is similar. In Japan, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed during an election support rally in July 2022. In April last year, an explosive exploded at Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s campaign rally.
French President Emmanuel Macron was almost hit by a tomato when he visited Cergy, a working-class residential area on the outskirts of Paris, immediately after winning re-election in April 2022. In 2018, members of a far-right online group who planned to attack President Macron with a weapon were arrested.
In May 2019, British far-right politician Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party, also received a milkshake at a campaign rally. In January last year, supporters in Brazil, angry over former President Jair Bolsonaro’s defeat in the 2022 presidential election, stormed the Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace and rioted.
Michael Jensen, a professor at the University of Maryland, pointed out to Reuters, “Extremism is being pushed into the mainstream by major politicians, and supporters are being radicalized through social media.”
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.