Amidst political violence, solutions may exist in acknowledging similarities

DAYTON, Ohio ( WDTN ) — As the election draws closer, there is concern when it comes to violence not only towards voters but also the candidates themselves.

This year, there have been two assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump , and multiple reports of hate groups spreading their message ahead of the election.

2 NEWS spoke with two political experts who stated that we have not seen this type of level of political violence since the 60s and 70s.

“This is certainly an uptick in political violence. Probably the worst we have seen since 1968,” said Dr. Glen Duerr, Cedarville University professor of international studies.

Both parties seem to be diverging when it comes to issues, and that vast difference between ideologies seems to be fueling the violence we are seeing.

In a 2023 study from BioMed Central Injury Epidemiology, a survey found that 32.8 percent of respondents considered violence to be usually and always justified to advance at least one of the 17 specific political objectives.

But the violence is reaching the candidates themselves, and not just political issues.

“We have noted and seen two assassination attempts on former President Trump’s life, but notably Iran has targeted him as well. They put out videos calling for an assassination as well,” said Duerr.

And with more ways to gather information through social media, the landscape of information has changed – as well as its target audience

“But now with social media, there is more instant information and that can certainly breed a level of aggression,” said Duerr.

Those who cast their ballot can also find themselves the target of violence, all because of their party affiliation.

“We are really seeing a peak that we haven’t seen since the 1970s,” said Jamie Smalls, University of Dayton associate professor.

Smalls is also a principal investigator for a project funded by Homeland Security to prevent radicalization and violent extremism in southwest Ohio. She says that this type of political violence can have a dire consequence: people giving up their right to vote.

“If a particular group is targeted by a hostile actor or group, that may cause them to refrain from participating in democracy,” said Smalls.

Smalls says the only way to curb and stop political violence is to simply talk.

“There is actually a lot more common ground than we tend to assume when we look at the big scale political issues. We really believe that we have to set a new narrative, we can’t let hate groups win. We can’t let folks in Washington set the agenda,” said Smalls.

Both professors state that making sure you take your information on political topics from trusted sources and being open-minded can be the key to stopping political violence from getting even worse the more election cycles we enter.

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