NYT: Threats of political violence leave U.S. officials living in fear
I wonder what would have happened if folks had taken seriously the rise in political violence and threats against women, trans, Black, and antifascist organizers and figures back when we were all getting swatted and sent photoshops of ourselves beheaded
Gwen Snyder is uncivil238This didn't come out of nowhere. It was tested on us and normalized on Twitter and Telegram, and when it wasn't Important Elected People, everyone called it a joke
David S. Pumpkins 🎃23I’m think this also explains why the media has long been scared to call out rightwing bullshit for what it actually is.
Power Vibe · by NoMAGA14Treating those threats as the private cost of organizing let institutions postpone action. The warning signs were there; what was missing was accountability for leaving targets to handle them alone.
Slacks13We can take this back to the lynchings in the 1950s and how no one gave a damn about it.
The Sea and the Rain6I love this country, so I'm saying it: If we had taken political violence against women, Black people, LGBTQ+ seriously from day one, we wouldn't be here! This gift article should be required reading! Stop normalizing this!
Oof.4I remember feeling nervous about this shit during the like 6 months in 2005 when I would go to 4ch for cat posts and see teens getting swatted and doxxed. It's frustrating af to see these people act surprised like it all just started yesterday.
Writer of “Rape Apologists Must Die!”198I had a cop send me death threats, under his full name. He lived 90 mins from me. Reported to his dept, sent screen shots etc. Nothing happened. I got death threats from white supremacists with histories of real violence. Nothing to be done. “We’re scared,” scream lawmakers. Okay? And?
Scuzzy Mortspider 🕷️ 🎃5Remember during the 2019 general election campaign when Labour canvassers were getting beaten and intimidated and nobody important gave a shit.
Dustin Du Cane2The moment a fascist opens their mouth, you break their teeth. You don’t debate them and respect their freedom of speech. You reply to stochastic violence with actual violence. And yes that means censorship. Banning Mein Kampf didn’t kill any Jews, publishing it did.
A massive, and massively underrated, threat to a functioning democracy. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/10/11/u...
Katie Clark Gray155I am glad the NYT has the resources to do this kind of deep, original reporting. (I am still reading so these are early thoughts) Editorially though, it is a wild choice to not use Melissa Hortman's name in the intro ("a legis yet include Charlie Kirk, who is *not an elected official*
meabell98VanOrdan: "I was part of the violent mob that attacked the capital, then got elected and now I'm getting threats, it's so unfair"
Guys of New York59If you think threats of violence to American politicians are rampant, wait til you tally up threats of violence *by* American politicians.
Karolina Muchova Fan Club28It's annoying that the @nytimes.com didn't write Melissa Hortman's name here. She has a name! WTF
Paulie27One would argue that republicans are not under the same threat by a long shot.
stevempars.bsky.social14what's up with the AI portraits? gross. a more major point in your attempt to make this seem like something new, and both sides, you don't even mention the fact that actual violence is predominantly on the right. this feeds right wing misinformation that it's a left phenomena.
Reconstructionist413"Your fault, you deserve it." is some crazy work
Danielle Kurtzleben2761) it’s great the times painstakingly attempted to document how much this had grown 2) and also how do you do the article about HOW this is happening without addressing WHY? What CAUSED this uptick? Did you try to figure that out?
Sydney Bauer268It remains so weird that people don’t use Melissa Hortman’s name the speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives gunned down in her own home???
Gillian Brockell237Do my eyes deceive me, or does this article that mentions the assassination of Charlie Kirk, who was not an elected official, not mention that Rep. Ilhan Omar was physically attacked less than 10 months ago?!?!?!
kia speaks34I’m not reading an article on political violence that features all white people as the victims. That is an article that fails to understand the full scope of what political violence looks like.
River_Tam34Underrated problem that "the second amendment helps us resist tyranny" requires people to correctly identify tyranny
Mark Copelovitch29Today in life under competitive authoritarianism
🇲🇽🕷️rustbelt rebel🕷️🇲🇽15Haven’t clicked on this yet. Just noticing the pictures. I refuse to believe the face of targeted political violence is Elisa Slotkin.
Doc Vivi's Personal Account13Restating my position that: - The only thing "new" here is that it's threatening people in positions of power, and not ordinary citizens - The resurgence of political violence represents not something new but a regression to the historical mean
Smörhuvud (he/surprise me)8This article implies that threats come equally from the left and right and blames “polarization,” but cites almost exclusively threats from the right and presents no data or analysis of the proportions.
In a story on political violence (where they depict the targets as equally democratic and republican), the @nytimes.com gives a sympathetic ear to a member of Congress who was part of January 6.
Oliver Willis153I hate this newspaper. They are an active threat against human life.
redmagenamedblue.bsky.social28"Stop the steal rally" is some historical revisionist bullshit
James Benton20Van Orden who has a history of angrily harassing librarians, congressional interns, and other innocent folks. This guy is an angry, asshole white man. He helped create this culture of violence and intimidation.
jaytingle10The New York Times sees it as their responsibility to make the two parties seem equally bad.
m2c46Not to state the obvious (or excuse harassment), but guy who suddenly becomes a more public figure realizes that the public finally notices him.
Yeah!4Sympathy for an insurrectionist? Former Navy Seal should held to a higher standard. Unreal.
Oliver Willis717Political violence is a serious issue. But it’s not a “both sides” issue. The leaders of the Democratic Party do not call for violence, do not elevate violent supporters, do not pardon violent thugs who attack our seat of government and our elections. America is under threat from the right.
Timothy McBride4They quoted the Congressman and the quotes make him look terrible. I am glad they are bringing to light the role of Van Orden on January 6th, as he now faces re-election.
This is an appalling and chilling state of affairs and though this article never states explicitly how Trump is the catalyst of the escalation of incessant domestic terror in public life it leaves zero doubt about it. America’s Elected Officials Are Living in Fear www.nytimes.com/2026/10/11/u...
CRobertBuchanan4Zero sympathy for MTG, but yeah, Trump has always been a terrorist. It's just that now he believes he has impunity. He will keep escalating until he is stopped.
Epstein files or bust 🇺🇦1Marge knows most of them personally.
Jeffrey Vagle10There's a causality story that could be told here that the NYTimes elected to dance around rather than directly engage.
Daryll B3...and of the 3 pictured? A reminder that 2 kept voting for Trump inspired policies, ignoring the future danger that folks around them kept warning them about. So, if you go against my warnings & go into a quarantine zone? Don't expect my help when you get infected. I got me & mine to think about
The Times tries to soft-pedal it, but most of the Republicans in the story who got death threats got them after they made Trump mad (and, in one case, when he said they "deserved death"). It's not a BothSides issue. MAGA is a death cult. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/11/u...
rooie.bsky.social3Not just threats. There has been politically motivated flat-out murder of a Democratic politician.
kamohh1*sets own house on fire* Now that someone tragically set my house on fire, please donate to my GoFundMe for a new house
Regina Schrambling 1I stopped reading when I got to "attempted assassination." Kayfabe on P1. (And when I saw Melissa Hortman and her husband weren't even named but Charlie F. Kirk was.)
This should surprise no one when our president is the most prolific stochastic terrorist of our times and yet no one will stand up to him!!! www.nytimes.com/2026/10/11/u...
SILENCE IS NOT GOLDEN (Lisa)1I was about to write what we should have done to stop this criminality by Trump & his Gestapo administration but that is pointless. So where do we go from here? Vote - Fight - Change! We can & must do this! 💙🇺🇸💙
RN Mayhem1The CIA agent senator, and the racist ex ultra MAGA grifter in the thumbnail is wild 😂 
Threats of Political Violence Have America’s Elected Officials Living in Fear www.nytimes.com/2026/10/11/u...
