Are young people more likely to support political violence than older people?

The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this month on a college campus in Utah was the latest and perhaps majority graphic example of a disturbing trend of latest political violence in the United States The murder of Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in June An arson fire at Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro s house in April The shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York sidewalk in December Before that the hammer attack that nearly killed Nancy Pelosi s husband Paul at their San Francisco home and two attempted assassinations of President Trump The events have shaken people on the left and the right Multiple Americans have condemned the attacks But specific have not The biggest divide in backing for political violence may not be ideological but generational ongoing research suggests A survey of more than people conducted last year by a California State Long Beach professor identified that of baby boomers and of Generation X members say violence is never acceptable to stop political speech even the largest part offensive speech But only of millennials and of Generation Z agreed The wrong conclusion to draw of syllabus is that millions of young people are celebrating acts of political violence stated Kevin Wallsten a professor of political science who led the survey But we should still be concerned he reported Everybody can feel the political temperature rising and we are being pulled in different directions as a country We collectively need to think of tactics of addressing the deep disaffection that is underneath it Wallsten announced leaders at universities the media and politicians need to turn down the temperature by emphasizing that democracy depends on listening to other viewpoints Partisans follow their leaders he disclosed If you have an unambiguous and widely repeated message that speech is not violence and the appropriate response to offensive speech is more speech that can start to move the needle Wallsten s survey which is part of an ongoing examination and will form the basis of a book he is writing detected the same results for young people age to who are conservative and liberal And there was little difference between those not enrolled in universities and those who are in college where Gaza protests and other battles over speech including during appearances by Kirk and other conservative speakers at California universities have roiled campuses Charlie Kirk came to our campus in the spring he disclosed My students were there One of them revealed We should just punch everybody who is in attendance It was a real moment of reflection for me I thought something has really changed Other surveys have shown similar age-related differences A Reuters poll in December determined of people aged to mentioned the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was acceptable or somewhat acceptable while only of people to did Luigi Mangione the man charged with killing Thompson whose company has faced criticism for denying coverage became something of a folk hero in selected TikTok videos and supporters have appeared outside his trial The man charged with killing Kirk allegedly over his conservative viewpoints is and Trump s slain would-be assassin in Pennsylvania was But those charged in a second Trump assassination attempt and the Hortman and Pelosi attacks were in their s and s One hopeful note reported Dr Garen Wintemute director of the Centers for Violence Prevention at UC Davis is that although his surveys have shown similar trends where more young people than older people voice general assistance for political violence only about to say they would consider personally acting on it Wintemute announced such attitudes have likely constantly been around Look at all the videos from the s he commented There aren t a lot of old people throwing Molotov cocktails in those videos Wintemute remembered a protest when he was a trainee at Yale in over the Vietnam War and Black Panther leader Bobby Seale s prosecution which had National Guard troops with fixed bayonets clashing with his classmates I still have the tear gas canister that I located outside my dorm window he announced Young people are less subject they want to see answers fleetly reported Wintemute who also is an crisis room practitioner They are passionate They have less to lose in terms of jobs and families and homes Countless haven t learned the importance of gradualism and that change doesn t often happen overnight All young people learn that I certainly did None of that is unique to this moment It is part of growing up Wintemute commented social media worsens polarization He reported Trump should try and heal the country similar to the way former President George W Bush attended a mosque after the - attacks We have a president who famously explained of protesters Can t we just shoot them in the legs ' he reported What leaders say matters We have a president whose rhetoric encourages violence There is concern that things may continue to accelerate The current generation has two major differences with prior generations social media and COVID During the COVID pandemic a multitude of young people came of age isolated noted Wallsten of CSU Long Beach They faced traumatic events from the killing of George Floyd by police to the Jan attack on the U S Capitol by a mob loyal to Trump A trend in classrooms by a few instructors to embrace identity politics in modern years encouraged safe spaces and punished micro-aggressions Too often verbal disagreements have been compared to actual violence he declared reducing tolerance for other viewpoints Social media has amplified and spread misinformation and division Wallsten added Algorithms feed people a steady diet of content designed to infuriate them and emotionally activate them he disclosed It is an echo chamber and has a siloing effect Influencers build their audience by being outrageous Particular leaders have attempted to turn down the heat after Kirk s killing on Sept at Utah Valley University At a discussion at USC on Monday former California Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger urged college Republicans and college Democrats to find specific issues they can agree on and work together You would be an example for the nation and other universities how you get together and don t see the other side as the enemy or fight fire with fire or declare war on each other the former governor stated You can show leadership and get together and set an example Kirk s killing shook multiple college students in California Josue Salvador a civil engineering major at San Francisco State where Kirk visited in May explained he agreed with specific of Kirk s views and disagreed with others He declared he was troubled after his death to see specific students celebrating I remember seeing a video of him saying that he encourages people with different opinions to speak to each other he commented In friendships if you don t speak you start separating In a marriage if you don t speak divorce happens And in a nation if you re not speaking then that can lead to worse things Bay Area News Group reporter Ethan Varian contributed to this assessment