Dartmouth researcher says Americans overwhelmingly reject political violence

The headline-grabbing attacks of 2024 intensified fears about a country sliding toward political violence. Sean Westwood, a Dartmouth professor who studies the problem, says the data point in a different direction: Americans overwhelmingly reject partisan violence, even as isolated acts of it alarm the public and expose serious security failures.

Westwood’s Polarization Research Lab reported in February 2024 that only 3% of Democrats and 2% of Republicans supported hypothetical political violence. The finding came from survey data drawn from about 45,100 Americans, including roughly 1,000 interviews each week from September 2022 through October 2023. In March 2024, the same research group said Americans generally supported democratic norms, warning that democracy was under threat without showing signs of a citizen-led turn toward authoritarianism.

That distinction matters after the year’s most visible episodes. Donald Trump survived a shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. One attendee, Corey Comperatore, was killed and three others were wounded, including Trump. The Pennsylvania State Police identified Comperatore, 50, of Sarver, Pennsylvania, on July 14. The episode later triggered a sharp reckoning over Secret Service security failures. A second assassination attempt on Trump came on September 15, 2024, at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Prosecutors later described the Florida case as the second attempt on Trump’s life during the 2024 campaign.

The gap between fear and evidence is one reason researchers urge caution in drawing broad conclusions from isolated attacks. Brookings has warned that political violence can chill voting, organizing, running for office, and free expression, but also says responses must protect rights and avoid closing civic space. That balance is central to democratic resilience: governments must harden security without treating fringe violence as proof that the public has embraced it.

The broader statistical picture also helps separate perception from scale. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported 24 active shooter incidents in the United States in 2024 across 19 states. Cato estimated 3,597 people were murdered in politically motivated terrorist attacks in the United States from January 1, 1975, through September 10, 2025. Those figures underscore that violent episodes are real and devastating, but also that politically motivated murder remains rare relative to the size of the country and its daily political life.

Westwood’s later Dartmouth research found Americans’ confidence in elections remained strong after the 2024 vote, with no support for political violence in post-election responses. The pattern suggests a country rattled by threats and high-profile attacks, but not one where broad public endorsement of violence is taking hold.