Current:Home > ContactFACT FOCUS: Heritage Foundation leader wrong to say most political violence is committed by the left -GrowthInsight
FACT FOCUS: Heritage Foundation leader wrong to say most political violence is committed by the left
View
Date:2025-04-13 02:46:12
WASHINGTON (AP) — The leader 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! (734)
Related
- A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
- Black Friday Price in July: Save $195 on a Margaritaville Bali Frozen Concoction Maker
- Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Emit Carcinogens and Other Harmful Pollutants, Groundbreaking Study Shows
- Sharna Burgess Deserves a 10 for Her Birthday Tribute to Fine AF Brian Austin Green
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Minnesota Emerges as the Midwest’s Leader in the Clean Energy Transition
- Carbon Credit Market Seizes On a New Opportunity: Plugging Oil and Gas Wells
- Vying for a Second Term, Can Biden Repair His Damaged Climate and Environmental Justice Image?
- 'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
- Record Investment Merely Scratches the Surface of Fixing Black America’s Water Crisis
Ranking
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- It’s the Features, Stupid: EV Market Share Is Growing Because the Vehicles Keep Getting Better
- As the Harms of Hydropower Dams Become Clearer, Some Activists Ask, ‘Is It Time to Remove Them?’
- Get the Know the New Real Housewives of New York City Cast
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Extreme Heat Is Already Straining the Mexican Power Grid
- Students and Faculty at Ohio State Respond to a Bill That Would Restrict College Discussions of Climate Policies
- Climate Change Made the Texas Heat Wave More Intense. Renewables Softened the Blow
Recommendation
What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
Water, Water Everywhere, Yet Local U.S. Planners Are Lowballing Their Estimates
Massage Must-Haves From Miko That Take the Stress Out of Your Summer
Funding Poised to Dry Up for Water Projects in Ohio and Other States if Proposed Budget Cuts Become Law
Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
Red States Stand to Benefit From a ‘Layer Cake’ of Tax Breaks From Inflation Reduction Act
As Youngkin Tries to Pull Virginia Out of RGGI, Experts Warn of Looming Consequences for Low-Income Residents and Threatened Communities
Massage Must-Haves From Miko That Take the Stress Out of Your Summer