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Several
hundred
protesters
gathered
near the
Golden
Gate
Bridge
Thursday
to
protest
state
and
federal
vaccine
mandates.
(KGO
Screenshot) |
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1 in 3
Americans
say
violence
against
government
can be
justified,
citing
fears of
political
schism,
pandemic
By Meryl
Kornfield,
Mariana
Alfaro
washingtonpost.com
“Not too
many
years
ago, I
would
have
said
that
those
conditions
are not
possible,
and that
no such
violence
is
really
ever
appropriate,”
said
Spampinato,
73, an
independent.
The
notion
of
legitimate
violence
against
the
government
had also
not
occurred
to
Anthea
Ward, a
mother
of two
in
Michigan,
until
the past
year —
prompted
by her
fear
that
President
Biden
would go
too far
to force
her and
her
family
to get
vaccinated
against
the
coronavirus.
“The
world we
live in
now is
scary,”
said
Ward,
32, a
Republican.
“I don’t
want to
sound
like a
conspiracy
theorist
but
sometimes
it feels
like a
movie.
It’s no
longer a
war
against
Democrats
and
Republicans.
It’s a
war
between
good and
evil.”
A year
after a
pro-Trump
mob
ransacked
the
Capitol
in the
worst
attack
on the
home of
Congress
since it
was
burned
by
British
forces
in 1814,
a
Washington
Post-University
of
Maryland
poll
finds
that
about 1
in 3
Americans
say they
believe
violence
against
the
government
can at
times be
justified.
The
findings
represent
the
largest
share to
feel
that way
since
the
question
has been
asked in
various
polls in
more
than two
decades.
They
offer a
window
into the
country’s
psyche
at a
tumultuous
period
in
American
history,
marked
by last
year’s
insurrection,
the rise
of
Trump’s
election
claims
as an
energizing
force on
the
right,
deepening
fissures
over the
government’s
role in
combating
the
pandemic,
and
mounting
racial
justice
protests
sparked
by
police
killings
of Black
Americans.
The
percentage
of
adults
who say
violence
is
justified
is up,
from 23
percent
in 2015
and 16
percent
in 2010
in polls
by CBS
News and
the New
York
Times.
A
majority
continue
to say
that
violence
against
the
government
is never
justified
— but
the 62
percent
who hold
that
view is
a new
low
point,
and a
stark
difference
from the
1990s,
when as
many as
90
percent
said
violence
was
never
justified.
While a
2015
survey
found no
significant
partisan
divide
when it
comes to
the
question
of
justified
violence
against
the
government,
the new
poll
identified
a
sharper
rise on
the
right —
with 40
percent
of
Republicans
and 41
percent
of
independents
saying
it can
be
acceptable.
The view
was held
by 23
percent
of
Democrats,
the
survey
finds.
Acceptance
of
violence
against
the
government
was
higher
among
men,
younger
adults
and
those
with
college
degrees.
There
was also
a racial
gap,
with 40
percent
of White
Americans
saying
such
violence
can be
justified,
compared
with 18
percent
of Black
Americans.
People’s
reasoning
for what
they
considered
acceptable
violence
against
the
government
varied,
from
what
they
considered
to be
overreaching
coronavirus
restrictions,
to the
disenfranchisement
of
minority
voters,
to the
oppression
of
Americans.
Responses
to an
open-ended
question
on the
survey
about
hypothetical
justifications
included
repeated
mentions
of
“autocracy,”
“tyranny,”
“corruption”
and a
loss of
freedoms.
The
growth
in the
share of
Americans
willing
to
accept
violence
against
the
government
identified
by The
Post-UMD
poll may
be
partly
due to
methodology.
Previous
surveys
were
conducted
by
phone,
while
the new
poll was
largely
conducted
online,
and
studies
have
found
respondents
are more
willing
to voice
socially
undesirable
opinions
in
self-administered
surveys
than
when
asked by
an
interviewer.
Recent
surveys,
though,
have
identified
a
similar
trend,
and
subsequent
interviews
of some
of the
1,101
respondents
who
participated
in the
Dec.
17-19
Post-UMD
poll
found
that the
events
of the
past two
years
have
prompted
people
to
reconsider
their
views.
(The new
poll has
a margin
of error
of plus
or minus
four
percentage
points.)
It
wasn’t
until
Jan. 6
that
75-year-old
Beverly
Lucas
considered
the fact
that
people
could
attempt
to
violently
attack
the
government.
Lucas,
who
voted
for
Trump
and
identifies
as a
Republican,
said she
was
horrified
watching
the
images
of
people
clad in
“Make
America
Great
Again”
apparel
storming
the
Capitol,
assaulting
police
officers
who were
guarding
the
building.
“That
never
should
have
happened
in this
country,”
she
said.
“It’s a
sobering
idea
that
elected
representatives
should
fear for
their
lives
because
of a
mob.”
Still,
Lucas
said she
had not
ruled
out the
possibility
that she
would
agree
with
violence
if there
was no
available
nonviolent
alternative,
referencing
the
Revolutionary
War.
“When in
the
course
of human
events
the
government
no
longer
represents
the
people,
and
there is
no
recourse,
then it
might be
time,”
she
said.
“I don’t
think
that
will
ever
happen,”
she
added.
The
Capitol
attack
also set
off
alarms
for Rob
Redding,
45, a
New York
political
independent
who has
been a
talk-show
host and
runs a
website
focused
on
Black-oriented
news. He
said he
has
since
considered
arming
himself
to
protect
his
loved
ones.
The
insurrectionists,
he said,
were
attempting
to
“subvert
American
democracy
because
now it’s
becoming
equal
for all
people.”
“We are
in a
state
where
we’re
going to
have to
arm
ourselves,
absolutely,”
Redding
said.
“I’m a
Black
man in
America.
… I
believe
in
protecting
myself.”
Redding
added
that he
doesn’t
believe
in
breaking
laws
“unless
laws are
unjust.”
“To sit
up here
and say
that I
support
violence
against
our
government,
I don’t.
I
support
government
being
level
and
equal
for all
people.”
Taylor
Atkins,
29, who
lives in
Atlanta
and
works in
health-care
administration,
said she
“absolutely”
believes
it is
justifiable
to take
arms
against
the
government
in
situations
where
those in
power
use
their
positions
to
oppress
Americans,
particularly
those of
ostracized
identities.
Atkins,
a
Democrat,
described
the Jan.
6 riot
as
“insane,”
saying
“there
wasn’t a
need for
violent
outrage
just
because
the
president
that you
wanted
to
didn’t
win.”
But, she
added:
“For
people
of color
— I’m
Black —
we’re
actually
losing
our
lives.
We’re
actually
fighting
over if
my life
is
valuable.”
A new
mom,
Atkins
said she
didn’t
join
Black
Lives
Matter
protests
during
the
summer
of 2020
because
she had
a baby
back
home.
She also
said she
doesn’t
support
looting
— but
often,
she
noted,
that’s
the only
way
demonstrators
can get
attention.
Atkins
said she
has
considered
arming
herself
for her
own
“protection,”
especially
as the
pandemic
continues
heightening
tensions
between
civilians
and the
government.
She
pointed
to
clashes
in
Europe
last
year,
where
thousands
of
civilians
protesting
coronavirus
measures
fought
police
across
the
continent.
“I feel
like
that’s
justified
because,
obviously,
we do
all care
about
each
other …
but
everybody
has the
right to
be a
person
and be
free and
make
their
own
decisions,”
she
said.
“As long
as
they’re
not
truly
impacting
somebody
else, as
far as
they
have
covid
and are
not
going to
the
store
and
actually
coughing
on
somebody,
they
should
be
allowed
to leave
their
house.”
Ward,
the
Michigan
mother
of two
and
self-employed
housekeeper,
said she
would
not
participate
in
violence
that she
anticipates
could
come in
her
lifetime
if the
government
imposes
stricter
rules
such as
an
expansive
vaccine
mandate.
She said
she
believes
other
people
could be
justified
to
“express
their
Second
Amendment
right”
if the
government
infringes
their
freedom
of
choice
and
nonviolent
action
such as
protests
were
unsuccessful.
Despite
voting
for
Trump,
Ward and
other
Republicans
expressed
disappointment
with the
insurrection
on Jan.
6,
saying
they did
not
believe
rioters
had
justification
to
commit
violence.
Many
respondents,
particularly
Republicans,
cited
the
hardening
battle
lines
over
public
health
measures
— and
how far
the
government
might go
to
combat
the
coronavirus
— as a
factor
in their
shifting
views.
Don
Whittington,
62, who
lives in
Prattville,
Ala.,
and
works in
construction,
said the
pandemic
has
shown
how
easily
it can
be for
some
Americans
to lose
control
over
their
freedoms,
sparking
angst
among
some
groups,
though
he said
he
believes
America
is still
far from
a
scenario
that
would
push
civilians
to rebel
against
their
government.
“What I
can see
across
the
country
— there
is going
to come
a point
where
people,
both
Democrat
and
Republican,
are
going to
quit
putting
up with
the
things
that are
taking
place,”
said
Whittington,
a
Republican.
Still,
Whittington,
a devout
Christian
and a
firearm
owner,
said he
wouldn’t
be one
to fight
in a
revolution.
“Because
of my
worldview,
and
because
of my
belief
in God,
I don’t
know
that I
would
ever use
a weapon
against
a
government
or
anybody
else,”
he said.
Matthew
Wood,
37, a
call
center
operator
in
Nampa,
Idaho,
said he
has
gotten
more
involved
in local
politics
since
the
start of
the
pandemic,
demanding
fewer
restrictions.
If
officials
won’t
listen
to
people
like
him, he
said,
violence
would be
acceptable
as a
last
resort.
“If
governments
aren’t
willing
to work
and make
changes,
then so
be it,”
said
Wood, a
Republican.
Tomasz
Antoszczak,
a
39-year-old
Democrat
from New
Jersey,
said he
did not
believe
justified
violence
could
happen
any time
soon,
stressing
that
such
action
would be
“a very
last
resort.”
But he
said
that the
last
administration’s
attempts
to
overturn
the
results
of the
election
could
have
gone
differently,
potentially
tipping
the
scales.
“With
last
year’s
insurrection,
if
things
had gone
in a
different
direction
for some
reason,
and if
the
folks
who
stormed
the
Capitol
were
successful,
and if
the
election
was
overturned
and the
results
were
overturned,
and if
Trump
would
have
stayed
in
power,”
Antoszczak
said.
“That’s
just a
lot of
ifs.”
Antoszczak
expressed
concern
about
the
lawmakers
he said
“caved
in” to
the
demands
of the
last
administration.
“The
last
couple
of years
definitely
opened
my eyes
a little
bit more
as to
how
fragile
our
government
can be,”
he said.
James
Lee, a
Democrat
in
Florida,
argued
that
American
democracy
was
built on
negotiation
based on
conflict,
meaning
that it
took the
Revolutionary
War to
achieve
the
political
system
the
country
has now.
“Whenever
you lose
that
negotiation
factor
or the
democracy
itself,
then,
yeah,
violence
is going
to have
to be
used in
order to
reestablish
the
democracy
that we
have,”
he said.
Still,
Lee said
he
wouldn’t
be one
to fight
a
despotic
government.
“If I
have to
resort
to
firearms,
in my
opinion,
I’ve
already
lost the
battle,”
he said.
Scott
Clement
and
Emily
Guskin
contributed
to this
report.
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