In 2012, Floyd Lee Corkins II opened fire at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the conservative Christian think tank the Family Research Council.
In June 2017, 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson opened fire at a Republican practice for the Congressional Baseball Game. He shot and wounded four people: then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.; U.S. Capitol Police officer Crystal Griner, congressional aide Zack Barth, and lobbyist Matt Mika. Scalise nearly lost his life. Hodgkinson specifically targeted Republicans in the shooting.
In 2017, then-59-year-old Rene Boucher, a neighbor, physically attacked Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., from behind while the senator was mowing his lawn. Paul suffered multiple fractured ribs and later contracted pneumonia.
In October 2018, 53-year-old Richard Schmit punched Shane Mekeland, a Republican candidate for the Minnesota House of Representatives.
In June 2022, 26-year-old Nicholas Roske staked out near the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh with weapons in an assassination attempt. Roske pleaded guilty in May to attempting to assassinate Kavanaugh. A judge has scheduled his sentencing for Oct. 3, 2025.
On July 13, 2024, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot then-former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. Crooks also shot dead 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, a former volunteer fire chief.
In September 2024, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh aimed a rifle at Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Secret Service arrested Routh, who is standing trial in Fort Pierce this week.
Since May 28, 2020, there have been at least 522 attacks against Catholic churches in the United States, including acts of arson which damaged or destroyed historic churches; spray-painting and graffiti of satanic messages; rocks and bricks thrown through windows; statues destroyed (often with heads cut off); and illegal disruptions of Mass. (Catholic Vote, Tommy Valentine, updated Sept. 3, 2025). I’ll spare everyone from the entire list of the 522 acts of violence.
Robin Westman, formerly Robert Westman, committed the heinous act of killing two children and wounding 17 others by shooting through church windows into the Annunciation Catholic Church during Mass on the morning of Aug. 27, 2025, before committing suicide at the scene.
There have been numerous incidents of violence against Tesla dealerships and car lots, including arson attacks with Molotov cocktails, gunfire directed at vehicles, and vandalism involving graffiti. Notable incidents occurred in states like Oregon, Colorado, and Nevada, where vehicles were set on fire, windows were shot out, and threatening messages were spray-painted on buildings. (Search Assistant, Sept. 11, 2025).
The number of reported attacks on Tesla vehicles, dealerships, and charging stations as far back as April 2, 2025, has now surpassed more than 50. (Fox News, April 2, 2025).
At least 96 pregnancy resource centers and pro-life groups have been attacked and vandalized since a draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked in early May 2022. Pro-abortion domestic terrorists have claimed responsibility and delivered on their promise of a “summer of rage.” (Catholic Vote, updated Jan. 21, 2025).
On Sept. 10, 2025, a free speech advocate, self-proclaimed conservative Christian, and a gentleman who respected everyone and harmed no one, was gruesomely assassinated during an outdoor free speech event on a Utah college campus.
A strong religious leader of mine recently reminded his flock that “Worldly things are indeed of the World.” While, as corporal beings, we can fall to worldly desires, at the same time this was a vigilant message reminding us that evil has infected our spiritual world as well as our material world and is waiting around every corner—coming from places, organizations, associations, and policy makers that many people see as virtuous and pious. How infected they are.
When have we ever seen a portion of our political and social spectrum so violent, so full of hate, and so full of unadulterated evil, aimed at the innocent and God-fearing?
Doug McCord
Chillicothe
