The US is bearing witness to an alarming trend of politically motivated violence and high-profile assassination attempts
The United States has entered a disturbing cycle of political violence. In the past year alone, multiple high-profile assassination attempts have shaken the country.
On July 13, 2024, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump narrowly survived an attempt on his life during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The attacker, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired multiple rounds, grazing Trump’s ear, killing one rally attendee and injuring several others.
The shooter was killed by a counter-sniper team that returned fire, though the incident was later branded “foreseeable and preventable” by a US Senate inquiry.
Just two months later, on September 15, Trump was the target of another assassination attempt when a heavily armed pro-Ukraine shooter was spotted outside the US president’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The suspect, Ryan Routh, was apprehended by the Secret Service and has since chosen to represent himself in court and challenged Trump to a game of golf.
Minnesota House Speaker assassination
Minnesota Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot dead at their home on June 14, 2025. Local senator John Hoffman and his wife were wounded in a related attack the same night and barely survived.
The suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, a 57-year-old with military experience and a past as a private contractor, was apprehended and taken into custody after a two-day manhunt. Prosecutors claim Boelter planned and carried out the targeted political assassination and had a list of some 70 other targets, a plot the likes of which had never been seen in Minnesota.
Conservative commentator and longtime supporter of Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated on September 10th 2025, while delivering a speech at Utah Valley University. The right-wing activist was shot in his neck and succumbed to his injuries in hospital shortly after the attack.
No details about the suspect’s identity or possible motive have been released.
Illinois violence
On December 18, 2024, right-wing influencer Nick Fuentes said a man armed with a pistol, a crossbow, and incendiary devices showed up at his house in Berwyn, Illinois, while he was live-streaming.
The individual turned out to be a triple homicide suspect, who was shot and killed by police following a chase, shortly after his encounter with Fuentes.
