Right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk’s murder is a turning point in a wave of political violence in the US, which some analysts worry may exacerbate the nation’s already strained relations and spark further upheaval.
Mike Jensen, a researcher at the University of Maryland, which has been keeping track of such atrocities in a terrorism database since 1970, described the incident as “horrible, alarming, but not necessarily surprising.”
According to Jensen, the US saw over 150 politically motivated attacks in the first half of this year, which is almost twice as many as during the same time last year. “If we don’t get a hold of it, I think we are in a very, very dangerous spot right now that could quite easily escalate into more widespread civil unrest,” Jensen stated.
