Current:Home > reviewsIndexbit Exchange:FACT FOCUS: Heritage Foundation leader wrong to say most political violence is committed by the left -FutureFinance
Indexbit Exchange:FACT FOCUS: Heritage Foundation leader wrong to say most political violence is committed by the left
Indexbit View
Date:2025-04-10 07:39:17
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Indexbit Exchangeleader of a conservative think tank on Thursday misrepresented partisan differences in political violence in the United States, wrongly suggesting that people associated with left-wing causes commit more violence than those on the right.
___
HERITAGE FOUNDATION PRESIDENT KEVIN ROBERTS: “Most political violence in the last 25 years has been initiated by the left.”
THE FACTS: Roberts’ remarks came in response to questions about comments earlier this month in which he said the country was in the midst of “the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
He told reporters Thursday that he considers himself a historian of the American Revolution and that his comments about a second revolution were a reference to “ambitious policy plans” that Republicans have should former President Donald Trump win the 2024 election. Roberts’ organization has proposed a sweeping overhaul of the federal government known as Project 2025.
Roberts said his comments about political violence were meant to be seen in the historical context.
A deeper look at the available evidence, however, shows that right-wing groups have committed more acts of political violence in recent U.S. history.
Two years ago a team of researchers from four universities examined court records and other data relating to 3,500 extremists active in the U.S. between 1948 and 2022. The individuals were split into three groups — left wing, right wing and relating to Islamic extremism. While some in the database had committed violent acts, others had raised money for extremist groups, volunteered or spoken out in favor of them.
Right-wing extremists were just as likely to commit violent acts as those motivated by Islamic extremism, the researchers found. Left-wing extremists were a distant third.
Gary LaFree, a University of Maryland professor and one of the co-authors of the research, said violent acts by left-wing groups has been diminishing for decades following violence by left-wing radical groups like the Weather Underground, a far-left militant organization founded in 1969.
In recent years, violence by right-wing groups has far outpaced violence by left-wing groups, said LaFree, the founding director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, which studies extremism and political violence.
“There are very few left-wing cases these days,” LaFree said.
What to know about the 2024 Election
- We want to hear from you: Is it too late for Biden to recover politically and do you think he can win in November?
- Democracy: American democracy has overcome big stress tests since 2020. More challenges lie ahead in 2024.
- AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.
- Read the latest: Follow AP’s live coverage of this year’s election.
- Stay informed. Keep your pulse on the news with breaking news email alerts. Sign up here.
Increasingly, he said, many of those responsible for political violence espouse “muddled ideologies” combining a rejection of authority with conservative views, for instance, or supposed anarchists who say they support a strong central government. “Or they don’t have a strong ideological commitment at all,” LaFree added.
Questions about political violence and its place in American democracy are getting renewed attention following Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, a Republican. Some Trump supporters, including Trump running mate JD Vance, have blamed Democratic rhetoric for the shooting.
The attempt on Trump’s life, however, is just the latest in several cases of violence committed against elected officials over more than a decade.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was gravely wounded in a 2011 shooting outside an Arizona grocery store, had been threatened and windows of her congressional offices in Tucson knocked out after she voted in favor of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform. Although a motive for the shooting was never determined.
Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, now House majority leader, was shot in 2017 while practicing for a charity baseball game. His assailant was described as having grievances against President Donald Trump and the GOP. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan was the target of a foiled kidnapping plot uncovered in 2020.
In 2022, a man broke into the San Francisco home of then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and bludgeoned her husband, fracturing his skull. 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’t there, so the man attacked two staffers.
The largest single act of political violence in recent years is the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, when a mob of Trump supporters fought with police, vandalized the Capitol and sought to block the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential win.
Trump’s own incendiary words and his baseless lies about the 2020 election were blamed for encouraging the Jan. 6 attack, as well as other violent acts by supporters. Trump also mocked the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, 80.
Years of surveys have consistently shown that Americans from both political parties strongly oppose political violence, according to Sean Westwood, a Dartmouth College political scientist who directs the Polarization Research Lab.
People typically overstate the violent intentions of those with different ideologies, too, Westwood said, with one party believing the other is far more willing to commit violence to further their political agenda. That’s one reason why it’s so important for leaders from both parties to come together to call for unity and peaceful discourse, Westwood said.
“Americans hate violence,” Westwood said. “Even the most polarized don’t support partisan violence.”
___
Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
___
veryGood! (2537)
Related
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- Boston Celtics now just four wins from passing Los Angeles Lakers for most NBA titles
- What is Manhattanhenge and when can you see it?
- He saw the horrors of Dachau. Now, this veteran warns against Holocaust denial
- US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- How one school district is turning to AI to solve its bus driver shortage
- Boston Celtics sweep Indiana Pacers, return to NBA Finals for second time in three years
- Driver charged with DUI-manslaughter for farmworkers’ bus crash in Florida now faces more charges
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- T-Mobile to buy almost all of U.S Cellular in deal worth $4.4 billion with debt
Ranking
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- How one school district is turning to AI to solve its bus driver shortage
- Much-maligned umpire Ángel Hernández to retire from Major League Baseball
- Aid deliveries suspended after rough seas damage US-built temporary pier in Gaza, US officials say
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Authorities urge proper cooking of wild game after 6 relatives fall ill from parasite in bear meat
- Former mayor of South Dakota town charged in shooting deaths of 3 men
- Pregnant Francesca Farago Details Recent Hospital Visit Due to “Extreme Pain”
Recommendation
The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
Body of newborn infant found at recreation area in northwest Missouri
Amtrak changes schedule in the Northeast Corridor due to heat
National Hamburger Day 2024: Free food at Burger King, deals at Wendy's, Arby's and more
Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
Former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis barred from practicing in Colorado for three years
Ángel Hernández’s retirement gives MLB one less pariah. That's not exactly a good thing.
Nicole Brown Simpson's sisters remember 'adventurous' spirit before meeting O.J. Simpson