The statements of shock and condolences streamed in eerily one after another on Saturday after the assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, and the attempted murder of another lawmaker and his wife. “Horrible news,” said Representative Steve Scalise, who was shot at a baseball game in 2017. “Paul and I are heartbroken,” said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband was bludgeoned with a hammer in 2022. “My family and I know the horror of a targeted shooting all too well,” said former Representative Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head in 2011. Still more came from Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania (arson, 2025), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan (kidnapping plot, 2020) and President Trump (two assassination attempts, 2024).
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Violent threats against lawmakers hit a record high last year, for the second year in a row. Since the 2020 election, state and local election officials have become targets of violent threats and harassment, as have federal judges, prosecutors and other court officials. As of April, there have been more than 170 incidents of threats and harassment targeting local officials across nearly 40 states this year, according to data gathered for the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University.
