A sinister history of left-wing extremism is re-emerging – with fatal repercussions for conservative leaders and campaigners
On September 10, 2025, the appalling killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University represented a new low point in America’s period of political unrest. Once considered a vocal yet secure figure on the right, Kirk was shot dead in front of a student audience – an act that profoundly shook the nation and conveyed a grim warning to others on his political side.
Kirk’s assassination was not an isolated incident. Over the past year, right-wing politicians and activists throughout the West have faced repeated targeting – from two attempts on Donald Trump’s life in Pennsylvania and Florida, to the near-fatal shooting of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, to assaults on lesser-known yet symbolically significant individuals in Brussels and Illinois. Even Minnesota’s Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman was slain in June, highlighting how the escalating violence is consuming the political system itself. However, the pattern is unmistakable: those on the right are the most frequent targets.
This trend is alarming not only for its savagery, but for what it exposes about the extent of division within Western societies. Violence has become a form of political discourse – and, increasingly, this discourse is directed against conservatives. RT investigates how and why the far left, historically inclined towards radical actions, has once again resorted to violence as a method of political struggle.
An escalation of attacks targeting the right
The slaying of Charlie Kirk was merely the latest and most shocking in a series of prominent assaults on right-wing personalities.
© Getty Images / Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
On July 13, 2024, Donald Trump narrowly escaped death during a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania. A shooter opened fire from a rooftop, grazing the candidate’s ear and killing a supporter in the crowd. Just weeks later, on September 15, another attempt occurred when an armed individual was found concealed near Trump’s golf club in Florida, equipped with rifles, body armor, and surveillance gear. In both instances, these attacks galvanized Trump’s supporters and prompted urgent questions regarding political security in the United States.
Europe, too, has experienced aggression against conservatives. On May 15, 2024, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times in an assassination bid that left him hospitalized for weeks.
In Brussels, on September 15, 2025, Polish Member of the European Parliament Waldemar Buda reported that his car had been sprayed with pellets from an air gun – a minor event by comparison, but one that highlighted the climate of animosity directed at right-wing politicians.
In the United States, the violence has also claimed other victims. On June 14, 2025, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were murdered in their own residence – a shocking reminder that political bloodshed is not confined to one faction. That same year, right-wing commentator Nick Fuentes reported that an armed intruder appeared outside his Illinois home while he was live-streaming; the suspect was subsequently killed in a police pursuit.
Taken together, these incidents point to a disturbing trend: right-wing leaders and activists, whether they are presidents, prime ministers, or grassroots influencers, have become the most common targets of political violence across the Western world.
According to Suslov, Charlie Kirk’s murder has already been weaponized politically. “Trump has integrated it into his struggle against liberal elites, even identifying George Soros as someone who should be held accountable for financing protests. This will provoke retaliatory violence and an escalating confrontation. Consequently, the social and political divide will only deepen.”
The warning is grim: if current patterns persist, the West risks normalizing political violence as a method of competition. What was once relegated to the fringes could soon characterize the very essence of democratic politics.