Is political violence America’s new reality? In just three months, there have been two assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump. Additionally, in 2022, we saw former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, get attacked in his own home, in which he sustained serious injuries while being beaten with a hammer. Many Americans are scared about this seemingly sudden turn in our country. The public’s heightened concern has been confirmed by a recent Reuters study, which reports that since the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which directly and indirectly took the lives of seven individuals, 213 cases of political violence have been committed. Of these, 76 were physical assaults with 18 lives lost. Democracy cannot and will not survive if we believe that reaching for our guns or raising our fists in violence are the only ways to achieve our desired political outcomes. As a Sister Carol Coston Fellow at NETWORK Advocates for Catholic Social Justice and a Gen Z voter, I say that political violence is not only a threat to democracy, but a direct attack on human dignity. Political violence prevents us from working in solidarity to honor the dignity of human lives. We must promote non-violence and unity if we are to move toward a future of justice and mercy.

— Baylee Fingerhut ’26