political violence

• 
• SOURCE: Curbed
  11/3/2020
  

  There Have Been Relatively Few Post-Election Riots in American History. So Far.

  Bruce Shulman of Boston University identified riots after William McKinley defeated William Jennings Bryan in 1896 as one of the few instances of rioting directly inspired by an election. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  

  Is American Tolerance for Political Violence on the Rise?

  by Bernard Avishai

  Things get dicier when these attitudes bleed into opinions about the legitimacy of a government led by the other side. Only forty-four per cent of Trumpists said that they’d regard a Joe Biden victory as legitimate.

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• SOURCE: Philadelphia Inquirer
  11/1/2020
  

  Rising Tide of Violence, Propaganda Reveal Tuesday’s Stakes for America: Freedom or Fascism?

  The Philadelphia Police lied about rescuing a scared toddler during civil unrest when they had in fact beaten and detained his mother for hours without charges. Police in North Carolina tear gassed marchers to the polls. Will Bunch contends we should all be worried about a society where this can happen. 

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• 11/1/2020
  

  The Shine is off the City on the Hill: American Democracy Seen From Abroad

  by Niels Eichhorn

  Viewed from abroad, the American belief that their nation exemplifies democracy has always been viewed with skepticism. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  10/21/2020
  

  Shouting Matches, Partisan Rallies, Guns at Polling Places: Tensions High at Early-Voting Sites

  Partisan supporters, most often those favoring Donald Trump, have engaged in noisy demonstrations near early voting sites. Local election officials must determine if these actions are technically in violation of laws shielding polling places from electioneering activity, and whether the goal is to intimidate potential voters.

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• SOURCE: NorthJersey.com
  10/16/2020
  

  In this Pennsylvania Town, Racism "was Quiet." Then Trump Stoked Fears of Violence

  “Historically, most acts of racial terror have been enacted in rural communities, small towns or medium-sized cities,” said Khalil Muhammad, a history professor at Harvard University.

• 
• SOURCE: The Bitter Southerner
  10/14/2020
  

  Premiere: Mississippi Justice

  The Bitter Southerner magazine and PBS's The American Experience partner on a short film that examines the plot to murder the civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner in 1964. 

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• 10/18/2020
  

  "Every Goodbye Ain’t Gone and Every Close Eye Ain’t Shut": Black Georgians' Memories and Election Unease

  by Alicia K. Jackson

  The unspoken realities of past voter suppression resonate in the present experience of many Black Georgians.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  10/2/2020
  

  Why ‘Stand Back and Stand By’ Should Set Off Alarm Bells

  by Kathleen Belew

  "What binds these disparate groups is that they espouse the violent defense of white supremacy."

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  10/8/2020
  

  The Plot Against Whitmer Won’t Be The Last White Supremacist Threat

  by Kathleen Belew

  I'm very concerned that more violence is imminent, and that these ideologies pose an imminent threat to our democracy and to people going about their everyday lives.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  10/8/2020
  

  The Plot Against Gretchen Whitmer Shows the Danger of Private Militias

  by Mary B. McCord

  There is no right in any state for groups of individuals to arm themselves and organize either to oppose or augment the government.

• 
• 10/9/2020
  

  FBI Arrests Plotters to Kidnap Michigan Governor, Highlighting Trump's "Liberate Michigan" Rhetoric

  On October 8, the FBI announced multiple arrests in a plot to kidnap Michigan's Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, whose support for lockdown measures to fight COVID-19 moved Trump to call on right-wing mobs to "Liberate Michigan." 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  10/7/2020
  

  Golden Dawn Found Guilty of Running Criminal Organization in Greece

  The court tied the far-right party to a string of attacks, including the fatal stabbing of a left-wing rapper.

• 
• SOURCE: Foreign Policy
  9/30/2020
  

  America Is About to Enter its Years of Lead

  Donald Trump's Proud Boy supporters and other far-right groups may not be able to seize power, but they don't need to. Political science research on episodes of political violence shows that creating and maintaining tension around the possibility of violence can intimidate the left, encourage law enforcement crackdown, and manipulate public opinion. 

• 
• SOURCE: TomDispatch
  9/22/2020
  

  War Zone America? Perspectives on a Riven Nation from a Worried Military Spouse

  by Andrea Mazzarino

  These days, when I watch the news and see clashes among the police, Black Lives Matter protesters, far-right “militias,” and Antifa supporters, I’m often reminded that just because no one’s declared a civil war begun, doesn’t mean we aren’t staring at the makings of an armed conflict.

• 
• SOURCE: Untapped New York
  9/16/2020
  

  It’s the 100th Anniversary of the Wall Street Bombing

  Though authorities blamed Italian anarchists and other radical sympathizers for the destructive bombing, the case was never solved. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  9/6/2020
  

  Our Long, Forgotten History of Election-Related Violence

  by Jelani Cobb

  A weather forecast is not a prediction of the inevitable. We are not doomed to witness a catastrophic tempest this fall, but anyone who is paying attention knows that the winds have begun to pick up. 

• 
• SOURCE: War on the Rocks
  9/4/2020
  

  Terror and Technology, From Dynamite to Drones (Review)

  Audrey Cronin's new book warns that terrorist networks are less likely to employ cutting-edge technology than to adapt widely-available tools to new destructive ends; security experts are still surprised by this repeating pattern. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  6/1/2020
  

  The Double Standard of the American Riot

  by Kellie Carter Jackson

  Many people are asking if violence is a valid means of producing social change. The hard and historical answer is yes. Riots have a way of magnifying not merely the flaws in the system, but also the strength of those in power. 

• 
• SOURCE: Mother Jones
  1/4/19
  

  If You Think Congress Is Bad Now, You Should Hear About What Happened in 1838

  A new book explores congressional violence in the decades leading up to the Civil War