The Growing Threat of Left-Wing Terrorism

John Hinckley, Jr., attempted assassin of President Ronald Reagan, was released this week. I will never forget that day in 1981. President Ronald Reagan was face down bleeding on a street in America’s murder capitol. 

We had been riding so high. Inflation, crime, diplomatic disasters, and gas shortages (sound familiar?) had disappeared overnight. And then: boom! It might have all been wiped out with a single gunshot. The President was a mere mortal. Everyone prayed. No one knew if he would make it through the night. Many still had memories of that dark day in Dallas years prior. 

During those idyllic days, the biggest threat to America was usually seen only on television. Grainy footage of deranged supporters of the Ayatollah burning the American flag and chanting “Death to America!” was confined to the 6 o’clock news. The stodgy, decrepit leaders of the fading Soviet Union were another peculiar, other-worldly sight. The threat never felt “real” to most of us. It was a world away and we have those who served to thank for that. 

Today’s world is so much smaller. In many ways we are better off for it. The Soviet threat has been diminished, to America at least. The Iranians are mostly neutered for the moment. No foreign power could touch American soil today and survive to tell about it.

But our biggest threats are also so much closer. 

A brief look at Twitter reveals that John Hinkley Jr. is very much present in the year 2022. In fact he is a rock star. His YouTube channel boasts 30,000 subscribers. The Biden administration has determined that he is no longer a threat. Soon he will be rocking to sold out shows. A distant group of religious extremists chanting “Death to America!” in Tehran personally did not scare me. But crowds of radicalized John Hinkley fans right here in the United States sure does. They are being emboldened by their supporters in the national media. 

One sign of the problem getting worse was in 2017. Republican members of Congress were practicing for a baseball game when a Bernie Sanders supporter named James Hodgkinson opened fire. Republican Whip Steve Scalise was wounded along with six others. The gunman was killed. 

This shooting got comparatively little airtime in the media. Red flags about the perpetrator were ignored. One obvious threat was when the perpetrator wrote, “Trump is a Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It’s Time to Destroy Trump & Co.” on an online petition. His hateful rhetoric was dismissed as normal at the time. (Unfortunately it was.) 

Later that year, another incident unfolded when US Senator Rand Paul was viciously attacked by his far-left neighbor. His ribs were broken and part of his lung had to be removed due to the attack. The perpetrator raised many red flags, including threats against President Trump on his Facebook page. What was the reaction? Stephen Colbert mocked Senator Paul. Online, some posted pictures of the Senator’s home and asked people to “finish the job.” The attacker was initially given a slap on the wrist. The sentence was so lenient that it was later vacated by a US Court of Appeals. 

There are so many more episodes. Other attacks on Rand Paul, like the time someone sent a package of mysterious white powder to his office, or the time he was surrounded and threatened by a mob in Washington, DC. The arsons committed against churches and pregnancy centers, which seem to be accelerating. The nightly attacks on the federal courthouse in  Portland. Or the BLM Riots in the summer of 2020. I could write an entire series about left-wing terrorism, what causes it, and it goes mostly unpunished. 

The latest example of Left wing terror attacks is the threat against the Supreme Court after the leak regarding Roe v Wade. Preliminary encouragement came directly from a Democrat leader in the United States Senate. Senator Chuck Schumer stood on the steps of the Supreme Court and yelled out at the crowd. “I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” That sounds exactly like a threat to me.

Since that time, we have seen the justices addresses published all over social media. Left wing groups are protesting outside their homes. Now there has been a direct assassination attempt against Kavanaugh. A man drove from California to Kavanaughs’ home with guns and ammo. He readily admitted he had come to kill the justice. Nancy Pelosi finally did the right thing and allowed a bill to become law to protect justices and their families.

We have seen an increase in attacks on Pregnancy Centers. These centers are set up to counsel and help women in crisis with a pregnancy.  One center in North Carolina was attacked and damaged. 

As the Left loses their grip on power I predict that the problem will increase. It is time for our country to wake up. Resorting to violence when we disagree is not a workable solution.