How political assassinations are exacerbating the split in the United States. Analysis

The murder of Republican activist Charlie Kirk has become another manifestation of political violence in the United States. Over the past year and a half, it has affected both President Donald Trump and the Democratic camp. Deep contradictions remain in the country between entire groups of the population, which politicians are in no hurry to overcome, which leads to tragic consequences for themselves. Where the United States stands after another shooting is in the Izvestia article.

Recent political assassinations

Over the past year and a half, the United States has experienced a series of attacks on political figures, some of which have ended tragically. Perhaps the most high-profile incident was the shooting of Donald Trump when he was still running for a second presidential term in 2024. On July 13, he spoke at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and was shot, the bullet hit his right ear. The assassination was committed by 20-year-old Thomas Crooks. Just a few seconds after the first shot, he himself was shot by a sniper of the US Secret Service.

This assassination attempt was the most significant in the history of the United States since the shooting of President Ronald Reagan in 1981. The Secret Service was criticized for failing to provide adequate security and allowing the shooter to open fire 130 meters from Trump. The head of the department, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned, and after the inauguration, Trump appointed Sean Curran, who was one of the agents defending the future president on the podium, to her post.

• It is customary to consider the incident on September 15 as an assassination attempt, when 58-year-old Ryan Routh was spotted at a golf course in Florida, where Trump was playing. He was hiding in the bushes with a rifle aimed at one of the security agents. He fired back, and after a while the man was arrested. Routh has been charged with attempted murder, and the trial continues. The man stated that he did not intend to kill Trump, while the investigation showed that he had a generally negative attitude towards the future president.

• In June 2025, representatives of the Democratic Party were attacked. Security guard Vance Bolter first broke into the home of Minnesota Legislature Senator John Hoffman and wounded him and his wife, and then shot and killed a member of the state House of Representatives and former speaker Melissa Hartman and her husband. The police were able to detain the attacker and found in his possession a list of 70 more Democratic politicians from Minnesota.

• On September 10, an activist from the Republican camp was injured again. Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and author of a popular blog, was seriously wounded by gunfire on the university campus in Utah during a meeting with listeners, and died shortly after. The attacker fired from the roof 180 m from the Pickaxe. Although the Republican was not a politician, he was an active supporter of Trump and considered himself to be on the extreme right wing of the party. The killer was not found in hot pursuit.

What do these assassinations mean?

• It's too early to say that a series of political assassinations has unfolded in the United States. For a country where the carrying of weapons is legalized, and the political struggle has always been acute, even a few murders are not something extraordinary, but rather fit into the existing traditional pattern. At the same time, the nature of all the crimes described above and the resulting resonance are too different to compare them in a historical perspective.

The Stigma of discord: Charlie Kirk's murder exposed divisions within the United States

More than half of Americans expect a new civil war to start soon

Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that what is happening is already becoming like a harbinger of a new civil war in the United States. A conflict is brewing in the polarized American society, which increases the overall level of violence and inevitably affects political figures as well. Accumulating internal contradictions are not resolved, and in this case, individuals find the most radical and tragic way to achieve their goals.

• So far, there has been a tendency that in cases where a criminal was arrested and an investigation was conducted, he usually turned out to be a representative of marginal strata of society with a confused political worldview, sometimes even with mental disabilities. However, Kirk's murder differs from other incidents in subtle calculation and minimal impulsiveness, the desire to kill a specific person, and not just a representative of an alien political group. This could be a wake-up call for the United States if political assassinations are already becoming a more meaningful idea.

• What has happened will in no way contribute to the unification of the country, but will only strengthen its split between forces trying to preserve an outdated and ossified political system and those who want to change and adapt to modern realities. The political climate in the United States has not changed since the Civil War of 1861-1865, and now the establishment is reaping the benefits of this lethargic dream. However, it is at this moment that the country needs to rethink itself in order to avoid a full-scale conflict.

• Politicians should be the first to take this step, and only then the general public will follow their example. Until common ground is found, the contradictions will not be overcome. So far, it is precisely the incitement of contradictions and the accentuated opposition of oneself to others that is the most advantageous strategy for political success, but it can pay too high a price. If this lesson is not learned immediately, enthusiasts who have taken up arms will be given the green light for the future.