Editor,
Violence has no place in American politics or in any country’s politics. Yet once again, we confront the possibility of another attempt on Donald Trump’s life. On September 15, the FBI announced that it was investigating what appeared to be an assassination attempt while the former president was playing golf at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Details of the incident began to emerge on September 15 evening, and we were relieved to quickly learn that Trump remained unharmed and well. Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic rival for the presidency, expressed on social media that she was “glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.” These statements are significant in the current climate because they emphasise the principle that, for democracy to function, even intense political rivals can and will unite against political violence.
This principle is crucial in such a highly contested election, where the very essence of democracy may be at stake. Those who would resort to violence must not be allowed to influence elections by further dividing the American people. According to published reports, Secret Service agents fired at a man they observed hiding in shrubbery near the golf course, where Trump was playing a hole or two away.
An AK-47-style rifle with a scope was discovered in the bushes, and a suspect was arrested on Interstate 95 in Martin County as per reports. It has only been two months since the Republican presidential candidate was wounded in an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania, where a bloodied Trump raised his fist in defiance and urged the crowd to fight back.
There is still much we need to learn about what happened on the golf course on that day, but if this proves to be yet another instance of political violence or attempted violence, it will certainly escalate tensions in the presidential election and further polarise Americans. This is not something that America can or should accept as inevitable.
Political violence undermines democracy, and the American people cannot become insensitive to it. The presence of an AK-47 in the bushes near a presidential candidate should send shivers down the nation’s spine. Violence, or even the threat of it, must not become a factor in American politics or on any political stage worldwide. Political violence must end, period!
Chanmiki Laloo
Shillong-02
