The deadly shootings of Democratic Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in June and the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a college campus in September have heightened fears about political tension in America.
Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste told Inside Olympia that the agency is stepping up its coordination with national intelligence in response to these concerns.
Recent polling suggests many Americans think political violence is becoming more likely. Other surveys have pointed to a rise in suspicion and hostility between supporters of different political parties.
Washington Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck, who has made promoting civil discourse a focus of his term, says his family was recently the target of a pipe bomb threat.
“Sixty-four percent of Americans nationally believe that we are no longer capable of solving our problems,” said Heck on TVW’s The Impact. “Probably the data point that depresses me the most is that not quite 1 in 4 Washingtonians on a statewide survey revealed to us that they have stopped speaking altogether to either a friend or a family member because of politics.”
Heck views political violence as, “the antithesis of democracy.”
“Now about 30% of Americans see violence as a legitimate tool to achieve a political objective,” said Heck. “That’s an argument that says, we’re going to throw out the ballot box and exchange it with the bullet.”
- Watch the full interview here: https://www.tvw.org/watch/?clientID=9375922947&eventID=2025101146&startStreamAt=480
The Project for Civic Health is a partnership between the Lt. Governor’s Office, the Evans School for Public Policy at the University of Washington, the Ruckelshaus Center at UW and WSU, and the Henry M Jackson Foundation.
“It is actually a hallmark and a great thing that when you live in a democracy, you get to disagree. Our point merely is don’t burn the house down every time you do it,” said Heck.
Heck says based on his experience in public office,”the person with whom you disagree today might be your ally tomorrow.”