Final Note
In researching and writing this piece, it became clear that while many discussions address political violence and lone-actor attacks in America, few offer a comprehensive integration of the multi-layered reality beneath the headlines: that most of this violence stems not from coherent political intent but from fractured personal collapse adorned in political costume. This article seeks to fill that gap by connecting case studies, media analysis, and scholarly insight into a unified argument.
That said, this work is subject to natural limitations. Its research was constrained by available time, resources, and scope, focusing primarily on highly publicized U.S. cases and mainstream media narratives from recent years. Crucially, these limitations are not mine alone. The broader public, dependent on immediate media coverage—often initial headlines—finds itself caught in a cycle where rushing to judgment fuels tension, fear, and misunderstanding. This initial framing frequently sets the terms for all subsequent discourse, making it difficult to introduce nuance or reframe the narrative later.
Yet understanding alone is not enough. Perhaps the greatest challenge ahead is mitigating the pervasive influence of social media pundits, influencers, and activists who trade on these tragedies for clicks, followers, and political leverage. Their often hasty and ideologically charged narratives amplify confusion, entrench divisions, and obscure the human crises at the root of these acts. Shifting public consciousness requires confronting this ecosystem that normalizes oversimplification and reactionary storytelling.
Only through patience, evidence-based interpretation, and resisting the politicization of suffering can society hope to respond more constructively—not to treat these tragedies merely as political symbols, but as urgent calls to address deeper social and individual malaise.
Glossary: A Sharper Typology of Lone-Actor Violence
Ideological violence
An act rooted in a coherent doctrine with strategic objectives, clear target selection, and evidence of coordination or direction by a movement or organization. Intended to influence policy/power. Test: doctrine + strategy + organizational linkage.
Grievance violence
A personal or relational grievance (workplace, family, school, intimate) recast in political language. Politics is framing, not engine; the precipitant is proximate and personal. Test: concrete grievance first; ideology piggybacks later.
Performative violence
An act staged to be seen—optimized for attention, mythology, and posterity (e.g., livestreams, manifestos, iconography). Strategy is subordinated to spectacle; the audience is the point. Test: visibility features (broadcast, symbols) outweigh tactical logic.
Collapse violence
Violence emerging from untreated decline (isolation, suicidality, decompensation), thin or incoherent ideology, and opportunistic target choice. Often mixed signals and bricolage rhetoric. Test: life-trajectory deterioration precedes and explains the act better than any doctrine.
Endnotes
Politico, “ ,” September , 2025, URL.
David Brooks, “Kirk, Trump and the Battle for American Christianity,” The New York Times, September 25, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/opinion/kirk-trump-christianity.html.
Montclair State University, “Buffalo Supermarket Shooter Plagiarized 80% of ‘Rationale’ Section of Manifesto from Hate Sites, Study Shows,” July 10, 2023, https://www.montclair.edu/newscenter/2023/07/10/buffalo-supermarket-shooter-plagiarized-80-of-rationale-section-of-manifesto-from-hate-sites-study-shows/.
Office of the New York Attorney General, Buffalo Shooting: Online Platforms in the Buffalo Massacre, October 18, 2022 (PDF), https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/buffaloshooting-onlineplatformsreport.pdf.
“Jacksonville Sheriff Releases Racist Shooter’s Manifesto,” Jacksonville Today, January 19, 2024, https://jaxtoday.org/2024/01/19/jacksonville-sheriff-releases-racist-shooters-manifesto/.
“‘Disgusting Ideology’: Sheriff Releases Hate-Filled Manifesto from Dollar General Shooter,” News4Jax, January 19, 2024, https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2024/01/19/disgusting-ideology-sheriff-releases-hate-filled-manifesto-from-dollar-general-shooter/.
“The Suspected Highland Park Parade Shooter Had Posted Violent Imagery Online,” NPR/KPBS, July 5, 2022, https://www.kpbs.org/news/national/2022/07/05/the-suspected-highland-park-parade-shooter-had-posted-violent-imagery-online.
Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), “‘Gore-Posting’ and the Online Footprint of the Highland Park Shooter,” July 6, 2022, https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-in-the-news/gore-posting-and-the-online-footprint-of-the-highland-park-shooter/.
Snopes Staff, “Trump Shooter Once Donated Money to a Democratic Organization,” Snopes, July 15, 2024, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-shooter-donation/.
“Did the Trump Gunman Make a Donation to Democrats? It’s Complicated,” CBS News, July 18, 2024, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-shooter-thomas-crooks-donation-to-democrats-registered-republican/.
ACLED (Clionadh Raleigh), “Is Political Violence on the Rise in the U.S.?” LinkedIn post, September 2025, https://www.linkedin.com/posts/acleddata_is-political-violence-on-the-rise-in-the-activity-7376571106918387712-nKiF; and ACLED, Facebook post, September 2025, https://www.facebook.com/ACLEDINFO/posts/1213335824146729/.
“To Frame Kirk’s Death as Escalation Misses the Truth. The Real Threat Is Normalization,” Le Monde (English ed.), September 26, 2025, https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2025/09/26/to-frame-kirk-s-death-as-escalation-misses-the-truth-the-real-threat-is-normalization_6745775_23.html.
Robert Pape, “After Charlie Kirk’s Killing, an Expert in Political Violence Explains How to Stop It,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September 17, 2025, https://thebulletin.org/2025/09/after-charlie-kirks-killing-an-expert-in-political-violence-explains-how-to-stop-it/.
“The Suspected Highland Park Shooter’s Online Footprint,” VICE News, July 7, 2022, https://www.vice.com/en/article/highland-park-shooter-online-footprint/.
U.S. Secret Service, National Threat Assessment Center. “Targeted Violence in the U.S.: An Overview.” 2021. (Covers status loss, grievance, and decline as psychological precursors to targeted violence.)
Hoffman, Bruce, and Jacob Ware. “Terrorism in the Age of the Incel.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 2022. (Academic research linking Incel ideology and misogyny to the broader extremist landscape and violence.)
Bibliography
ACLED (Clionadh Raleigh). “Is Political Violence on the Rise in the U.S.?” LinkedIn post, September 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/acleddata_is-political-violence-on-the-rise-in-the-activity-7376571106918387712-nKiF.
ACLED. Facebook post, September 2025. https://www.facebook.com/ACLEDINFO/posts/1213335824146729/.
Brooks, David. “Kirk, Trump and the Battle for American Christianity.” The New York Times, September 25, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/opinion/kirk-trump-christianity.html.
CBS News. “Did the Trump Gunman Make a Donation to Democrats? It’s Complicated.” July 18, 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-shooter-thomas-crooks-donation-to-democrats-registered-republican/.
Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). “‘Gore-Posting’ and the Online Footprint of the Highland Park Shooter.” July 6, 2022. https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-in-the-news/gore-posting-and-the-online-footprint-of-the-highland-park-shooter/.
Jacksonville Today. “Jacksonville Sheriff Releases Racist Shooter’s Manifesto.” January 19, 2024. https://jaxtoday.org/2024/01/19/jacksonville-sheriff-releases-racist-shooters-manifesto/.
Le Monde (English edition). “To Frame Kirk’s Death as Escalation Misses the Truth. The Real Threat Is Normalization.” September 26, 2025. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2025/09/26/to-frame-kirk-s-death-as-escalation-misses-the-truth-the-real-threat-is-normalization_6745775_23.html.
Montclair State University. “Buffalo Supermarket Shooter Plagiarized 80% of ‘Rationale’ Section of Manifesto from Hate Sites, Study Shows.” July 10, 2023. https://www.montclair.edu/newscenter/2023/07/10/buffalo-supermarket-shooter-plagiarized-80-of-rationale-section-of-manifesto-from-hate-sites-study-shows/.
NPR/KPBS. “The Suspected Highland Park Parade Shooter Had Posted Violent Imagery Online.” July 5, 2022. https://www.kpbs.org/news/national/2022/07/05/the-suspected-highland-park-parade-shooter-had-posted-violent-imagery-online.
Office of the New York Attorney General. Buffalo Shooting: Online Platforms in the Buffalo Massacre. October 18, 2022. PDF. https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/buffaloshooting-onlineplatformsreport.pdf.
Politico. “ .” September , 2025. URL.
Pape, Robert. “After Charlie Kirk’s Killing, an Expert in Political Violence Explains How to Stop It.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September 17, 2025. https://thebulletin.org/2025/09/after-charlie-kirks-killing-an-expert-in-political-violence-explains-how-to-stop-it/.
Snopes. “Trump Shooter Once Donated Money to a Democratic Organization.” July 15, 2024. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-shooter-donation/.
VICE News. “The Suspected Highland Park Shooter’s Online Footprint.” July 7, 2022. https://www.vice.com/en/article/highland-park-shooter-online-footprint/.
News4Jax. “‘Disgusting Ideology’: Sheriff Releases Hate-Filled Manifesto from Dollar General Shooter.” January 19, 2024. https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2024/01/19/disgusting-ideology-sheriff-releases-hate-filled-manifesto-from-dollar-general-shooter/.