美媒：美国正步入政治暴力新时代！

当地时间9月12日，美国一执法官员透露，枪杀查理·柯克（Charlie Kirk）的嫌疑人身份已确认，系来自犹他州的22岁男子，名为泰勒·罗宾逊（Tyler Robinson）。嫌疑人已被捕。

此前美国知名保守派活动人士、总统特朗普的政治盟友查理·柯克在犹他州一场大学活动中遭枪击身亡，引发全美震动。

《华盛顿邮报》日前发表评论文章称，美国正在步入一个政治暴力日益频繁的新时代，社会撕裂程度不断加剧，形势之严峻令人联想到20世纪60年代的政治暗杀动荡期。

America is facing a new era of political violence reminiscent of some of its most bitter, tumultuous eras, including the 1960s, which saw the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

文章列举了近年来发生的一系列针对政治人物的袭击事件：今年6月，明尼苏达州民主党籍众议员梅丽莎·霍特曼（Melissa Hortman）和她的丈夫在家中遇害；4月，宾夕法尼亚州州长乔希·夏皮罗（Josh Shapiro）的官邸遭到纵火；2024年总统竞选期间，特朗普两次遭遇未遂刺杀；此外还包括2022年10月前众议长佩洛西丈夫遇袭、2021年1月6日国会大厦骚乱等事件。

芝加哥大学安全与威胁项目主任罗伯特·佩普（Robert Pape）表示，美国正处于一个“暴力民粹主义时代”（violent populism），政治暗杀和暴力抗议行为在左右两派中不断蔓延，其严重程度已远超过去二十年来民兵组织的一般性暴力。

"We are going through what I call an era of violent populism," said Robert Pape, who heads the Chicago Project on Security and Threats at the University of Chicago. "It is a historically high era of assassination, assassination attempts, violent protests, and it is occurring on both the right and the left."

He added: "This is way beyond the usual minor ebb and flow of militia group violence we have seen for 20 years."

乔治·华盛顿大学政治历史学家马修·达莱克（Matthew Dallek）进一步分析称，美国政治派别日益将对方视为“生存威胁”，而社交媒体成为极端思想传播的加速器。

Matthew Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University, said the country's political factions increasingly see each other as mortal enemies who threaten the country's existence, and from there, it is not a big step for mentally unbalanced people to turn to violence. Social media, Dallek added, acts as a sort of accelerant in spreading these toxic ideas.

极端主义研究实验室（PERIL）主任威廉·布兰尼夫（William Braniff）警告，此类暴力事件很可能引发“报复循环”，各方陷入以牙还牙的恶性互动，导致社会进一步撕裂。

他补充道：“将不同观点、不同取向或不同宗教非人化的言论，实际上为暴力行为提供了合理性基础。”

"We are at a very dangerous place in which an act of violence can spur reciprocal acts of violence," said William Braniff. He added, “Rhetoric that dehumanizes different views or different orientations or different religions creates a permission structure for violence."

布兰尼夫主张通过教育以及“预先揭穿”等策略，即预先训练人们识别操纵性或危险信息，来降低人们转向极端主义和暴力行为的可能性。

Braniff advocates strategies such as education and "pre-bunking", or training people preemptively to recognize manipulative or dangerous messages, to reduce the chance that they will turn to radicalism and violence.

两党政治人物虽一致谴责暴力，但立场存在明显分化。

共和党籍犹他州州长斯宾塞·考克斯（Spencer Cox）沉痛表示“国家已破碎”，呼吁全民共同反思；特朗普则直接指责“激进左翼政治暴力”酿成悲剧。

"Our nation is broken," said Spencer Cox, a Republican. "Nothing I say can unite us as a country. Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken."

Trump, in his own comments from the Oval Office after Kirk's shooting, was more blunt in blaming one side of the political spectrum. "Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives," Trump said.

民主党方面，参议员蒂娜·史密斯（Tina Smith）强调政治领袖应克制煽动性言论，避免进一步激化矛盾；曾亲身经历枪击的前众议员加布丽埃勒·吉福兹（Gabrielle Giffords）郑重呼吁“绝不容许暴力成为解决政治分歧的手段”。

Smith, the senator from Minnesota, said the angry rhetoric that now characterizes so much political debate has to be toned down, and that is in large part the responsibility of political leaders.

"I'm horrified to hear that Charlie Kirk was shot at an event in Utah," Giffords posted on social media. "Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence."

文章指出，政治暴力日益泛滥，因为民众对制度失效的普遍愤怒与无力感，而部分精英的煽动性言论进一步助长了极端行为。

Experts who study political violence agree its frequency and seriousness is increasing significantly, as more Americans believe the system does not work for them and feel frustrated and helpless.

尽管大多数民众明确反对暴力，但约10%的人表示支持对“实施有害政策”的对手使用暴力，这一比例已足以持续催化社会危机。

A February poll by Bright Line Watch found that while only 2 percent of Democrats and 3 percent of Republicans support violence against opposition party leaders in general, that rises to about 10 percent for opposition party leaders who enact "harmful or exploitative policies".

编辑：左卓

来源：华盛顿邮报 央视新闻

China Daily精读计划

每天20分钟，英语全面提升！