From death threats against previously anonymous bureaucrats and public-health officials to a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor and the 6 January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, acts of political violence in the United States have skyrocketed in the last five years.

ne side has built an entire political brand around permission for violence. When leaders call immigrants “invaders” and political opponents “vermin,” they aren’t just talking but issuing an open contract for someone, somewhere, to act.

His senseless murder is a reminder of how important it is for all of us, across the political spectrum, to foster genuine discourse on issues that deeply affect us all without resorting to political violence.