William Brangham:
Amna, as you say, these disturbing acts are part of a pattern that we have seen playing out over the last few years, a congressman at a baseball practice, the family of the former speaker of the House, Pennsylvania’s governor, and candidate Donald Trump all targets of graphic political violence.
To help us better understand the root causes and potential solutions for this, we are joined again by Cynthia Miller-Idriss. She’s a professor at American University and the author most recently of “Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism.”
Cynthia Miller-Idriss, so good to have you back on the program.
Before we get into this broader trend, I want to ask you about this attack over the weekend in Minnesota. We know that the alleged suspect there targeted Democrats and their spouses, and his list of potential victims were also all Democrats.
Is there anything else about his history that gives us some clues as to his motivations?
