BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) 鈥� Long before a would-be assassin former President , the fuse of political violence had been burning across America.
Members of Congress have been shot. One lawmaker's staffers in Virginia with a baseball bat. In Louisville, the mayor鈥檚 sweater after someone stormed into his campaign office. Someone put on the Reno mayor's car. Officials in 麻豆传媒AV Carolina received death threats over a solar panel plant. And outside Buffalo, a man threw a dummy pipe bomb through the window of a county clerk candidate's home 鈥� with a message reading: 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 drop out of this race, the next pipe bomb will be real.鈥�
鈥淭here are people who鈥檝e come to me and said, 鈥業 contemplated running for my town office, and I could never imagine my family going through what you did, so I chose not to,鈥欌�� said Melissa Hartman, who was targeted in the pipe bomb episode and ran for county clerk after serving as town supervisor in Eden.
The was and most stunning example of political violence and harassment playing out regularly across America, shaking the foundations of democracy and causing grave concern the atmosphere will worsen as nears. Trump and President Joe Biden each called for unity after the shooting, with , 鈥淲e can't allow violence to be normalized.鈥�
Intense partisanship, punctuated by violence, has long been a part of American politics. In 1798, congressmen from opposing parties brawled beating each other with a cane and fireplace tongs. Four presidents have been killed by assassins, with other presidents and candidates wounded or targeted. Yet the attack on Trump evoked memories of more recent incidents.
Democratic was wounded in a 2011 shooting outside an Arizona grocery store. , now House majority leader, was shot in 2017 while practicing for a charity baseball game. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan was the target of uncovered in 2020.
Even after the at the U.S. Capitol shocked the world, political violence continued.
A man with a hammer bludgeoned of then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, in their San Francisco home in 2022. Last year, a man with a history of mental illness went to the Fairfax, Virginia, district office of Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, looking to kill him with a baseball bat. Connolly wasn鈥檛 there, so the man .
And there are dozens of stories from far lesser-known political officials like Hartman.
She lost her county clerk race and hasn't sought elective office since in her town of 7,700. The man who threw the dummy pipe bomb pleaded guilty. Hartman said he was paid to do it by a neighbor, and she remains skittish two years later.
In York County, 麻豆传媒AV Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina, County Council Chairwoman Christi Cox said that after the attempt on Trump, she felt compelled to speak about a letter she recently received. She'd sent her kids to get the mail and read it while they were nearby 鈥� a threat to kill her unless she stopped a solar panel manufacturer from building a $150 million plant receiving council-approved incentives. Cox is a Republican; an additional letter threatening the council's only Democrat came to county offices.
鈥淥ur country is in a very dangerous and dark place right now, and I feel like some of that is spilling over to our community,鈥� she said at the council鈥檚 Monday meeting. 鈥淭he level of anger, hate, lies, accusations, fearmongering 鈥� it is rampant."
In Reno, Nevada, a far-right movement has targeted local politicians. Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve doesn't know whether someone in that movement had the tracking device put on her vehicle, and she tries to avoid going to public places alone.
鈥淚 think people really forget that we鈥檙e human beings,鈥� she said.
In Louisville, Kentucky, in 2022, a man burst into Mayor Craig Greenberg鈥檚 campaign headquarters, firing shots. A bullet grazed his sweater. Staffers were unharmed.
鈥淎bsolutely no good came from Saturday鈥檚 heinous act,鈥� Greenberg said Monday. 鈥淏ut let鈥檚 hope it鈥檚 finally the wake-up call.鈥�
Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss called the assassination attempt a moment to 鈥渞eset.鈥� Moss, who's Jewish and gay, faced personal threats over the years, including one from a man charged with using social media to of Jewish state officials.
鈥淚 hope this is a moment that all of us on all sides of the political spectrum can say we all were saved by that bullet missing President Trump," Moss said.
The attack came a day after governors at a National Governors Association meeting in Salt Lake City committed to collaborating on public service announcements and other campaigns to show voters they can get along with political rivals. The association鈥檚 outgoing chair, Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, warned 鈥渢here is nothing that says that we aren鈥檛 going to continue to tear ourselves apart,鈥� if 鈥渨e don鈥檛 do the work.鈥�
鈥淲e can disagree without hating each other," he said.
Cooling the political climate will require both a change in messaging at the top and a willingness of rank-and-file voters to move closer to those who disagree with them, said Austin Doctor, of the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center.
鈥淚t takes a lot of work and consistent commitment to the values of democracy,鈥� Doctor said. 鈥淭he question that we have to continue to ask is: How do we veer out of this potential spiral?鈥�
In Oklahoma, Pat McFerron, a pollster and GOP consultant, said closed-party primaries in safe districts encourage candidates to use extreme rhetoric. It would be toned down, he argued, in a single open primary.
鈥淢ost of the candidates I know, in their heart of hearts, are people who want to make a difference ,who prefer an environment that wants consensus,鈥� McFerron said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to be successful, you have to play the game that鈥檚 in front of you.鈥�
Some Republicans 鈥� including vice presidential nominee 鈥� quickly blamed Biden and other Democrats for portraying Trump as a threat to democracy. On Facebook, Alabama鈥檚 GOP lieutenant governor, Will Ainsworth, held 鈥渢he radical left鈥� responsible and said its agenda attacks Christianity and is 鈥渆vil incarnate.鈥�
Social media has helped fuel threats. In a 2021 survey of 112 public officials, the National League of Cities found the overwhelming majority 鈥� about 4 in 5 鈥� experienced harassment, threats or violence. Most said it happened through social media; more than half said it also occurred at public meetings.
starting in 2020 with the coronavirus pandemic, as public health officials imposed restrictions. Ohio鈥檚 state health director resigned after armed protesters came to her house; the health officer for Orange County, California, quit after weeks of criticism and threats over requiring face coverings in public.
And Trump鈥檚 that the 2020 election was stolen has spawned threats against local election officials, making some miserable or anxious enough Many are closely watching the upcoming election.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to imagine there is not an election jurisdiction in the country that now is not on high alert for the potential for political violence in the 2024 election,鈥� said David Levine, a former local election official in Idaho.
____ Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas; Mulvihill, from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Collins from Columbia, 麻豆传媒AV Carolina. Associated Press writers Christina Almeida Cassidy in Atlanta; Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City; Matthew Barakat in Springfield, Virginia; Bill Barrow in Milwaukee; Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky; and Gabe Stern in Carson City, Nevada contributed.
John Hanna, Carolyn Thompson, Geoff Mulvihill And Jeffrey Collins, The Associated Press
