Why the Secret Service Can’t Solve American Political Violence
“The assassination of a member of Congress is not a question of ‘if,’ it’s a question of ‘when,’” Ritchie Torres (D-NY) told Axios this week. “We are living in an age of political violence.”
This election cycle has been marked by repeated headlines of attacks and threats, targeting both U.S. officials and private citizens. Speaking out days after what appears to be a second assassination attempt, former President Donald Trump blamed increasingly harsh political rhetoric for the uptick in violence and accused “the enemy from within.”
“[Biden and Harris’s] rhetoric is causing me to be shot at,” Trump told Fox News. “They do it with a combination of rhetoric and lawsuits they wrap me up in. These are the things that dangerous fools, like the shooter, listen to.”
Meanwhile, others argue that lax gun legislation is to blame for the series of attacks.
“That’s the problem with too many guns in the hands of too many potential bad actors: Everything can go well and still nearly kill a presidential nominee,” said Frank Figliuzzi, former assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI. “That’s why we need bipartisan action on guns now.”
It’s not just high-profile candidates who are being targeted–and sometimes, the only weapon a bad actor needs is a sack of flour. This week, the FBI is investigating a slew of suspicious packages that were mailed to at least fifteen states. An unknown entity calling itself “The United States Elimination Army” sent letters to election officials that contained a fine white powder, now known to be flour, that disrupted operations across the country.
No one is likely to be harmed by the mailings–which are the second round of suspicious mailings this election, and may not be the last–but the act nonetheless reflects an unusually toxic view of American democracy. Vitriol and fear abound on both sides of the polarized political spectrum. Everyday citizens are getting caught in the middle of tense party rivalry, confronted in every direction with activists willing to abandon morals if that’s what it takes to win.
“With less than 50 days until the … [election] we are seeing a disturbing trend continue–the second assassination attempt of a presidential candidate, and threatening and intimidating actions toward election officials,” the National Association of Secretaries of State said in reaction to the flour packages. “This must stop, period.”
But who could possibly stop it now?
For the second time this election season, the Secret Service has come under scrutiny for its action–or apparent lack thereof–in moments of crisis. Biden has called on Congress to set aside additional, emergency funding for the agency, which he said “needs more help” before it can adequately protect U.S. leaders.
“And I think that Congress should respond to their needs if they in fact need more service people,” Biden added, suggesting that the solution to the problem is as simple as a few more entries on a payroll.
But all the funding in the world can’t seem to stop the random sprees of violence erupting around the country, which aren’t as obviously related to politics but still thrive in the current aggressive climate. The news is filled with ominous headlines, from school shooting threats in Florida to disinformation spreading online. Citizens are increasingly losing the ability to come together and engage in peaceful, productive discussions, instead choosing either to avoid action or to lash out in anger.
“American politics is always tough–the rhetoric … is always harsh,” Matthew Dallek, historian at George Washington University, told NPR. “But I think [today] this is of a different order of magnitude.”
Political activism, not always of a peaceful nature, forms a proud trend in American history. As far back as Alexis de Tocqueville, the famous French writer who toured and documented his thoughts on fledgling America, voters worked themselves into a “feverish state” that the Frenchman found “astonishing.”
“Long before the appointed day arrives, the election becomes the greatest, and one might say the only, affair occupying men’s minds,” de Tocqueville wrote back to his countrymen. “As the election draws near, intrigues grow more active and agitation is more lively and widespread.”
For de Tocqueville, one remarkable feature of American politics was the calm that came after the storm. After election season, everything settled back into normal routine–until it was time for the next choice to be made, at which point the cycle repeated.
Such a dramatic cooldown of national temperament between election seasons seems unlikely today. In our modern world of anonymous social media, paid agitators, mental health crises, and constant instability, we could be in for many long years of turmoil that only intensify during elections instead of dwindling between them.
Responsible citizens must ask themselves: If violence becomes our new normal, will “more funding” and government intervention undo the damage we’ve done to peaceful democracy–or will it only encourage bad behavior by those willing to break the law?
