Blame game after acts of political violence can lead to further attacks, experts warn
September 14, 2025
From the moment conservative icon Charlie Kirk was felled by an assassin’s bullet, partisans have fought over who’s to blame for his death. But experts on political violence say many of those who commit such crimes don’t fit neatly into a particular bucket. Instead, they seem to act on beliefs that don’t map clearly onto partisan lines. They say what’s more important than the attackers’ state of mind is the broader political environment: The more heated the atmosphere, the more likely it will lead unstable people to commit acts of violence.