Everything You Know About Political Violence Is Probably Wrong

Public disagreement about whether political violence is rising and who is responsible for it stems not from ideology alone but from competing definitions about what should be counted. It could have been a scene from: a quiet evening, an ordinary home, a sudden intrusion by a stranger convinced that the law has betrayed him. In early July 2022, Democratic representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington and her husband were watching television at their Seattle home when men drove past their house screaming threats: vile, racialized, and unmistakably political. Thirty minutes later, one returned, blasting music and approaching the porch. When officers arrived, they found him armed with a loaded handgun, a round already chambered.