Americans fear that we’re in a period of increased politically motivated violence. Most recently, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in cold blood on Sept. 10 at a university event in Utah.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox , independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and others reacted by condemning political violence. With the notable exceptions of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance , U.S. politicians are overwhelmingly exhorting Americans to tone down political polarization because it has caused such an unprecedented wave of violence.

The only problem is that we’re not living in a period of unprecedented political violence.

America is not living through a budding civil war

Calls for less violence are wise, and we're all disgusted by Kirk's death. He and h

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