“Make America Great Again” was the main catchphrase used by Donald Trmp in his 2016
presidential campaign. Now, the famous words that have been embroidered on his red hats have
become a staple in the Republican Party and across all Trump supporters. However, since the creation
of these hats, there has been an increase in political violence against those on the opposite side of the
political spectrum. Since Trump has been elected many people have been threatened and some officials
have even been severely injured due to being on the right-wing of politics.
People that simply wear a hat in support of our elected president have decided to show their
pride have been publicly harassed and at times even attacked. Since Trump was elected a group of leftwing extremists that called themselves “Antifa” which stands for anti-fascism have been seen in many

videos lashing out against their anti-protesters. Almost all members can be identified as wearing all
black covering their face to hide their identity so their attacks are anonymous and can't be found.
During the free speech riots at UC Berkeley one member of Antifa, wearing sunglasses covering his face,
was seen attacking an innocent protester with a bike lock to his head which injured him greatly. The
internet community of 4chan, a popular message and forum board, was able to uncover this man's
identity from various photos and social media accounts, once found they contacted his local authorities
i
.
But where is he now you may ask? Well, his charges were dismissed and the crime of covering
his face while attacking someone was dropped. As for one of his victims, they had to receive 5 staples in
the head to fix the open wound from the lock, but that was only one of his 7 victimsii. His only
punishment is a 3-year deal of probation which starts in August of 2021iii
.
Many elected and public officials have also been yelled at and harassed as well by left-wing
supporters. Republican senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz and his wife went out to an Italian
restaurant in D.C., but before they were seated, they were swarmed by a mob yelling at the Cruzes “we
believe survivors”iv
.
The cause of this chanting was because Ted Cruz openly supported Supreme Court nominee
Brett Kavanaugh who was accused of sexual assault but later escalated into gang-rape. Kavanaugh was
innocent and the evidence at the time supported this, but many people still believed that the victim
Christine Ford was right. Ted and his wife were forced to leave the restaurant as the crowd was still
chantingv
. Ted was a close and long friend of Brett Kavanaugh, but he didn’t go to that Italian restaurant
to talk to a dozen strangers about that. The mob that was there was linked to the local Antifa group in
the D.C. area they also knew about Ted’s reservation at the restaurant and waited over an hour for Ted
to arrivevi
.
But this violence spreads all over the country as many people who also support Trump with
“Make America Great Again” hats have been publicly attacked. For example, the Covington Catholic
incident where a boy was called out and threatened after standing in front of a Native American
Vietnam Vet who approached the young boy firstvii. The media viewed this as an attack one due to lack
of knowledge that the Vet was banging a drum in his ear and approached the boy first. The boy in
question Nick Sandman was wearing a MAGA hat that he bought the day of just like many of his fellow
classmates. The Veteran claimed they shouted at him, yelling “build that wall” but after 2-hour long
footage surfaced it was all a lieviii
.
The backlash against this kid was unbearable. One Disney producer said on twitter to “put them
in a woodchipper” many people on social media called for violence and online attacks in the form of
DDosing so Sandman’s entire internet footprint would be exposed to anyone which may lead to identity
theft.
But attacks go beyond yelling and lies in 2017 some Republican officials almost lost their lives
due to believing in the right-wing side of politics. In June of 2017 Steve Scalise, a Republican
representative, was shot by James Hodgkinson who was very angry about Trump in office and angry at
the Republican partyix. How did he do it? Did he consult the black market for an illegal firearm? Did he
go through the process? The answer is yes, he went through the federal process of obtaining a handgun
and rifle which he modified with a foldable stockx
.
Hodgkinson bought these firearms along with 200 rounds of ammunition shortly after Trump
was elected as presidentxi. Capitol police shot and killed Hodgkinson in return fire. As for Scalise, don’t
worry Scalise has recovered after being shot in the hip and suffering from internal organ damagexii
.
Even non-violent acts such as yelling and online attacks may be dangerous on someone's life. It
takes one person to take those words to the extreme and cause major harm to someone’s life. Some
call for those accusers to be punished but many have countered this using their right of freedom of
speech protected by the first amendment. The freedom of speech is important, however verbal attacks
and calls to violence should not be tolerated in our country and should be taken down or limited, it can
cause harm to those receiving these threats which may be life-threatening. Those who commit these
acts of violence have been arrested and detained but some people, like the attacker wielding a bike lock,
walk free with little repercussions. Those who commit these should, of course, be arrested and for
people who may cause violence through words and online harassment should receive a small fine or
little punishment in some form.
i Raguso, E. (2018, August 13). Eric Clanton takes 3-year probation deal in Berkeley rally bike lock