The assassination of a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband and the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife at their homes are just the latest addition to a long and unsettling roll call of political violence in the United States.
The list, in the past two months alone: the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, the firebombing of a Colorado march calling for the release of Israeli hostages, and the firebombing of the official residence of Pennsylvania’s governor — on a Jewish holiday while he and his family were inside.
And here’s just a sampling of some other attacks before that — the killing of a health care executive on the streets of New York late last year, the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in small-town Pennsylvania during his presidential campaign last year, the 2022 attack on the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by a believer in right-wing conspiracy theories, and the 2017 shooting by a liberal gunman at a GOP practice for the congressional softball game.
“We’ve entered into this especially scary time in the country where it feels the sort of norms and rhetoric and rules that would tamp down on violence have been lifted,” said Matt Dallek, a political scientist at George Washington University who studies extremism. “A lot of people are receiving signals from the culture.”
Politics behind both individual shootings and massacres
Politics have also driven large-scale massacres. Gunmen who killed 11 worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, 23 shoppers at a heavily Latino Walmart in El Paso in 2019 and 10 Black people at a Buffalo grocery store in 2022 each cited the conspiracy theory that a secret cabal of Jews were trying to replace white people with people of color. That has become a staple on parts of the right who support Trump’s push to limit immigration.
The Anti-Defamation League found that from 2022 through 2024, all of the 61 political killings in the United States were committed by right-wing extremists. That changed on the first day of 2025, when a Texas man flying the flag of the Daesh group killed 14 people by driving his truck through a crowded New Orleans street before being fatally shot by police.
“You’re seeing acts of violence from all different ideologies,” said Jacob Ware, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who researches terrorism. “It feels more random and chaotic and more frequent.”
The United States has a long and grim history of political violence, from presidential assassinations dating back to the killing of President Abraham Lincoln, lynching and violence aimed at Black people in the South, the 1954 shooting inside Congress by four Puerto Rican nationalists. Experts say the past few years, however, have most likely reached a level not seen since the tumultuous days of the 1960s and 1970s, when icons like Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated.
Ware noted that the most recent surge comes after the new Trump administration has shuttered units that focus on investigating white supremacist extremism and pushed federal law enforcement to spend less time on anti-terrorism and more on detaining people who are in the country illegally.
“We’re at the point, after these six weeks, where we have to ask about how effectively the Trump administration is combating terrorism,” Ware said.
Of course, one of Trump’s first acts in office was to pardon those involved in the largest act of domestic political violence this century — the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol, intended to prevent Congress from certifying Trump’s 2020 election loss.
Those pardons broadcast a signal to would-be extremists on either side of the political debate, Dallek said: “They sent a very strong message that violence, as long as you’re a Trump supporter, will be permitted and may be rewarded.”
Ideologies aren’t always aligned — or coherent
Often, those who engage in political violence don’t have clearly defined ideologies that easily map onto the country’s partisan divides. A man who died after he detonated a car bomb outside a Palm Springs fertility clinic last month left writings urging people not to procreate and expressed what the FBI called “nihilistic ideations.”
But, like clockwork, each political attack seems to inspire partisans to find evidence the attacker is on the other side. Little was known about the man police identified as a suspect in the Minnesota attacks, 57-year-old Vance Boelter. Authorities say they found a list of other apparent targets that included other Democratic officials, abortion clinics and abortion rights advocates, as well as flyers for the day’s anti-Trump parades.
Conservatives online seized on the flyers — and the fact that Boetler had apparently once been appointed to a state workforce development board by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz — to claim the suspect must be a liberal. “The far left is murderously violent,” billionaire Elon Musk posted on his social media site, X.
It was reminiscent of the fallout from the attack on Paul Pelosi, the former House speaker’s then-82-year-old husband, who was seriously injured by a man wielding a hammer. Right-wing figures theorized the assailant was a secret lover rather than what authorities said he was: a believer in pro-Trump conspiracy theories who broke into the Pelosi home echoing Jan. 6 rioters who broke into the Capitol by saying: “Where is Nancy?!”
On Saturday, Nancy Pelosi posted a statement on X decrying the Minnesota attack. “All of us must remember that it’s not only the act of violence, but also the reaction to it, that can normalize it,” she wrote.
Trump had mocked the Pelosis after the 2022 attack, but on Saturday he joined in the official bipartisan condemnation of the Minnesota shootings, calling them “horrific violence.” The president has, however, consistently broken new ground with his bellicose rhetoric toward his political opponents, whom he routinely calls “sick” and “evil,” and has talked repeatedly about how violence is needed to quell protests.
The Minnesota attack occurred after Trump took the extraordinary step of mobilizing the military to try to control protests against his administration’s immigration operations in Los Angeles during the past week, when he pledged to “HIT” disrespectful protesters and warned of a “migrant invasion” of the city.
Dallek said Trump has been “both a victim and an accelerant” of the charged, dehumanizing political rhetoric that is flooding the country.
“It feels as if the extremists are in the saddle,” he said, “and the extremists are the ones driving our rhetoric and politics.”
Political violence is threaded through recent US history. The motives and justifications vary
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Political violence is threaded through recent US history. The motives and justifications vary

- Often, those who engage in political violence don’t have clearly defined ideologies that easily map onto the country’s partisan divides
Kenya’s president warns against bid to ‘overthrow’ govt by protests

NAIROBI: Kenyan President William Ruto warned Wednesday against attempts to “overthrow” the government through “unconstitutional means,” claiming recent violent protests were sponsored.
“They want to start chaos, organize protests, burn people’s property, bring disaster so as to overthrow the government before 2027... You cannot tell us that you want to organize chaos to overthrow the government!” Ruto said in Swahili.
Europe’s top human rights court is set to rule on cases against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine

- Judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will rule on four cases, brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia
THE HAGUE: Europe’s top human rights court is set to rule Wednesday on Russia’s actions in the conflict in Ukraine, including human rights violations during the full-scale invasion and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
Judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will rule on four cases, brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia, marking the first time an international court will adjudicate Russian culpability for the wider conflict in Ukraine dating from 2014.
Any decision will be largely symbolic. The complaints were brought before the court’s governing body expelled Moscow in 2022, following the full-scale invasion.
Families of the victims of the MH17 disaster see the decision as an important milestone in their 11-year quest for justice.
“It’s a real step in understanding who was really responsible,” Thomas Schansman, who lost his 18-year-old son Quinn in the tragedy, told The Associated Press.
The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, using a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels. All 298 passengers and crew were killed, including 196 Dutch citizens.
In May, the UN’s aviation agency found Russia responsible for the disaster.
The ECHR is an important part of the Council of Europe, which is the continent’s foremost human rights institution. Russia was expelled from the council over Moscow’s invasion and war in Ukraine. However, the court can still deal with cases against Russia dating from before its expulsion.
In 2023, the judges sided with Ukraine and the Netherlands in a challenge over jurisdiction, finding there was sufficient evidence to show areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels were “under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation,” including providing weapons, and giving political and economic support.
Wednesday’s ruling won’t be the last from the EHCR dealing with the war. Kyiv has other cases pending against Russia and there are nearly 10,000 cases brought by individuals against the Kremlin.
The decisions in Strasbourg are separate from a criminal prosecution in the Netherlands in which two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel were convicted in absentia of multiple murders for their roles in the downing of Flight MH17.
Meanwhile, in 2022, the United Nations’ top court ordered Russia to stop military operations in Ukraine while a case is heard, a process that takes years. Russia has flouted the order by the International Court of Justice.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky formally approved plans to set up a new international court to prosecute senior Russian officials for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Schansman, who has also brought an individual case to the ECHR, has no plans to stop pursuing justice, more than a decade after his son’s death. “The worst thing we could to is stop fighting,” he told AP. “MH17 is not a case that will disappear for Russia.”
Russian FM Lavrov to visit North Korea this weekend

- Russia's security chief Sergei Shoigu has visited Pyongyang multiple times this year
SEOUL: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit North Korea this weekend, state media reported, the latest in a series of high-profile visits by top Moscow officials as the two countries deepen military ties.
Lavrov "will visit the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from July 11 to 13 at the invitation of the DPRK Foreign Ministry," the official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.
Russia's security chief Sergei Shoigu has visited Pyongyang multiple times this year, including last month, when the two countries marked the one year anniversary of the signing of a sweeping military pact.
The two heavily-sanctioned nations signed the military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the nuclear-armed North.
Pyongyang has become one of Moscow's main allies during its more than three-year-long Ukraine offensive, sending thousands of troops and container loads of weapons to help the Kremlin oust Ukrainian forces from Kursk region.
Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul has said, with Shoigu announcing in Pyongyang last month that the nuclear-armed North would send builders and deminers to Kursk.
North Korea only confirmed it had deployed troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine in April, and admitted that its soldiers had been killed in combat.
Leader Kim Jong Un has subsequently been shown in state media images honouring the flag-draped coffins of North Korean soldiers killed helping Russia fight Ukraine.
China says EU ‘mentality’, not trade, needs to be rebalanced

- EU chief Ursula von der Leyen remarked the EU would seek to rebalance economic ties with China, demanding it eases market access for European firms and loosen export controls on rare earths
BEIJING: Beijing said on Wednesday that the European Union needed to rebalance its “mentality,” not its economic ties with China, ahead of a summit between the two this month.
“It is hoped that the European side realizes that what needs to be rebalanced right now is Europe’s mentality, not China-EU economic and trade relations,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday the EU would seek to rebalance economic ties with China, demanding it eases market access for European firms and loosen export controls on rare earths.
Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, von der Leyen said Beijing was running the largest trade surplus “in the history of mankind” exporting vast amounts to the EU while making it harder for European companies to do business in China.
The trade deficit between China and the EU was a yawning $357 billion in 2024.
The commission leader, who will travel to Beijing with European Council President Antonio Costa, said the pair will seek to loosen export restrictions on rare earths — while Brussels also looks at “developing alternative supply resources.”
Beijing snapped back on Wednesday, saying that in the “current turbulent situation,” the bloc and China should “properly handle divergences and frictions.”
“We hope that the European Union will truly establish a more objective and rational understanding of China and pursue a more positive and pragmatic China policy,” Mao said.
Taiwan kicks off military drills in face of China threat

- The self ruled island faces the constant threat of an invasion by China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it
TAIPEI: Taiwan kicked off its largest military drills Wednesday with regular troops joined by a record mobilization of reservists for 10 days of training aimed at defending against a Chinese invasion.
The annual “Han Kuang” exercises, which are being held at the same time as civilian defense drills, will run from July 9-18 and feature newly delivered US high-tech rocket systems.
The self-ruled island democracy faces the constant threat of an invasion by China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.
Chinese military pressure has intensified in recent years, with Beijing deploying fighter jets and warships around the island on a near-daily basis.
In the lead-up to the drills Wednesday, Taiwan detected 31 sorties by Chinese military aircraft and seven warships around the island in the 24 hours to 6:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday), according to the defense ministry.
Taiwan has boosted defense spending and acquired smaller and more nimble weaponry, including drones, to enable its military to wage asymmetric warfare against its more powerful foe.
Twenty-two thousand reservists — the largest ever call-up — are participating in this year’s drills, having begun a training program Saturday.
Reservist training includes familiarization with rifles, squad and platoon machine guns, and tactical maneuvers.
“Because these reservists have been discharged and away for a long time, upon return they need to undergo specialty refresher training,” said an army officer who asked not to be named.
On Wednesday, reservists wearing camouflage uniforms, helmets and boots were put through their paces, practicing cleaning, assembling and aiming 65K2 rifles and machine guns.
Taipei is eager to show the world, especially its key security backer Washington, that it is serious about boosting its military capability.
The drills will “let the international community know that we are determined to defend ourselves, and to pass on to China that the nation’s military has the confidence and ability to defend a free and democratic life,” Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo said recently.
This year’s drills have been extended to 10 days and nine nights, from five days and four nights last year.
The Han Kuang began in 1984 when the island was still under martial law.
Troops will simulate various scenarios including “grey zone harassment” — tactics that fall short of an act of war — as well as “long-range precision strikes” to combat a Chinese invasion in 2027, defense officials have said.
Officials in the United States — Taipei’s biggest arms supplier — have previously cited 2027 as a possible timeline for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Recently delivered High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) from the United States will be used during the drills.
There will also be a separate live fire event involving US-made advanced M1A2 Abrams tanks.
Taiwanese defense officials have been closely monitoring the war in Ukraine and their use of a decentralized command and control structure.
“When we think practically about combat, we consider what kind of scenario Taiwan might face,” a senior defense official said on the eve of the drills.
“Commanders at all levels need to be able to decide what to do based on their understanding of their superior’s intent. This usually requires peacetime training to build up their awareness in this regard.”
The exercises are being held as President Lai Ching-te, who is a staunch defender of Taiwan’s sovereignty, tours the island delivering speeches aimed at “uniting the country.”
China has carried out several large-scale military drills around Taiwan since Lai took office last year, as the island rejects China’s sovereignty stance.
China specialists at risk analysis firm Eurasia Group said Beijing was “likely” to carry out more military exercises at the end of July.
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