Media Citation
To frame Kirk's death as escalation misses the truth. The real threat is normalization' | Le Monde
British geographer Clionadh Raleigh examines the consequences of the assassination of the conservative influencer. By dismissing the fact that the man charged with this murder is a 'lone wolf' and accusing the left, the Trump administration is paving the way for more violence, she says.
Source: Le Monde | 26 September 2025
Violence in the United States is exceptional in several ways: The country hosts very active protest movements, resulting in over 50 demonstrations recorded daily. Its political violence is pushed and encouraged by a robust number of militias, representing ideologies from "preppers" active in Montana, Arizona and Washington, to antisemitism (the Goyim Defense League, for example), to "border defenders," "family protectors," and white nationalists. These groups are overwhelmingly to the right on the political spectrum, partially because far-left groups find organization and agreement so very difficult.
But despite a lot of rhetoric and performative actions, very little actual violence comes from organized militias – both their number and their inactivity are unique to the American context. The murders and the violence risk comes from another, unaffiliated, group of individuals: lone wolves.
