An Increasing Number of Americans Believe Political Violence Is Justified: Report

A new survey shows that the number of Americans who believe the use of violence is justified in certain political instances has dramatically increased, as reported by the Guardian.

The Dangers to Democracy report, a project by the University of Chicago, showed that the number of Americans who believe in the use of force to bring former president Donald Trump back to the White House has reached 18 million — a 6-million person increase from April to late June.

This means that an estimate of 7% of Americans think violence is justified when it comes to electing Trump.

Among those 18 million people, 68% think the 2020 elections were stolen and 62% think that Trump's recent indictments are meant to hurt his chances in the 2024 elections.

However, Professor Robert Pape, who led the research, explained to the Guardian that the numbers showing this belief does not guarantee violence will occur. He explained some kind of call to action would be needed from Trump.

But restoring Trump's power is not the only issue some Americans believe can justify violence. The survey also showed that by the end of June, about 44 million people believed in using force "to coerce members of Congress to 'do the right thing'” — and the sharpest increase is among Democrats. The rising issue seemed to be abortion rights.

“Things are definitely heading in the wrong direction in terms of the radicalization of the country and we need to be aware of that because there were some hopes that the Trump indictment would actually reduce support for Trump,” Pape told the Guardian.