Public officials from both sides of the aisle and law enforcement have been raising the alarm about political violence being on the rise in America, with public officials being increasingly targeted by violent attacks.
One of the most recent examples was Wednesday's fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative youth activist organization Turning Point USA, during an event at Utah Valley University,
A suspect has been arrested in Kirk's shooting, officials announced Friday.
Here is a timeline of political violence in recent years.
Six people were killed and 13 others wounded, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, during a constituent meeting outside a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona.
Giffords, a Democrat, was shot in the head at point-blank range, critically injuring her, before the shooter unleashed a spray of bullets. Giffords survived the shooting.
The shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was described by police as mentally unstable. Giffords was the focus of the gunman's assault, authorities said.
MORE: Political violence in US mirrors 1960s turmoil, historian warns after Charlie Kirk shootingFour people were shot -- including then-House majority whip and Louisiana Republican Rep. Steve Scalise -- when a gunman opened fire on Republicans practicing for a congressional baseball game at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria, Virginia.
Scalise was rushed to a trauma center with fractured bones and internal organ damage. A Capitol Police Officer was among the three others shot.
The gunman was shot and killed at the scene after police returned fire.
Scalise has since recovered.
MORE: Secret Service agent testifies he came within 5 feet of alleged would-be Trump assassinThirteen members of a militia group were arrested and charged for planning to storm the Michigan statehouse, kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and start a civil war.
Ultimately, the state attorney general charged 20 state felonies against eight people alleged to have engaged in planning and training for an attack on the statehouse and a plan to kidnap lawmakers, including Whitmer.
Five of the eight were convicted of crimes in support of the plot, according to the Michigan attorney general. Four other people were convicted of federal charges in relation to the plot.
Two of the militia members have since been sentenced to 19 years and 16 years in prison.
A mob of pro-Trump protestors stormed the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers met to ratify the results of the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021.
The protestors stormed the Capitol and threatened the lives of elected officials, violently assaulting law enforcement officers.
MORE: Outpouring of grief from Trump, Vance other leaders after Charlie Kirk fatal shootingTwo pipe bombs were also placed outside the Democratic and Republican national headquarters the day before the riots.
Nearly 1,600 individuals faced charges associated with the Capitol attack, including 608 people who faced charges for assaulting, resisting or interfering with law enforcement, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
On his first day back in office in January 2025, President Donald Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people charged in connection with Jan. 6.
At least five people died during the attack and around 140 officers were injured during the riot, the Department of Justice said.
While running for office, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg was the target of an attempted shooting at his campaign headquarters. No one was injured in the incident.
Quintez Brown walked into Greenberg’s campaign office and fired multiple shots at Greenberg while he was meeting with four staffers, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Kentucky.
Staffers closed and barricaded the door, and Brown was captured several blocks from the shooting, authorities said.
On Jan. 24, 2025, Brown was sentenced to over 17 years in federal prison for attempting to assassinate Greenberg.
"As part of his guilty plea, Brown admitted that he acted because Greenberg was running for mayor," the U.S. attorney's office said.
MORE: Charlie Kirk’s tour invited political debates on college campusesFormer Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked with a hammer in their San Francisco home.
David DePape was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in a state trial over the attack. He had broken into the Pelosi home seeking to hold the then-speaker hostage.
A jury found DePape guilty of false imprisonment of an elder by violence of menace, residential burglary, threatening a family member of a public official, dissuading a witness by force or threat and aggravated kidnapping.
In a separate federal case in which DePape was convicted of seeking to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage, he was also sentenced to 30 years in prison.
In an October 2024 letter to a judge, Paul Pelosi detailed that he has continued physical and mental impacts including trouble balancing and headaches early every day.
A New Mexico man who ran for the state legislature as a Republican and lost his bid is serving an 80 year prison sentence for allegedly orchestrating attacks at the homes of four Democratic lawmakers. No one was injured in his attempts.
Solomon Peña is accused of paying four men to shoot at the residences of local Democratic officials. He allegedly paid the men in cash and sent them text messages with addresses for his alleged targets, according to prosecutors.
He was then taken into custody as detectives served search warrants at his apartment and at the home of two of the men he allegedly paid.
This came after a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputy stopped a vehicle about 4 miles away from state Sen. Linda Lopez's home just 40 minutes after the shooting. The driver, identified as Jose Trujillo, was arrested on an outstanding warrant.
In the vehicle which was registered to Peña, police said they found more than 800 fentanyl-laced pills and two firearms. Trujillo pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Peña orchestrated a "politically motivated shooting spree" and plotted "to murder witnesses to obstruct justice," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico.
"After his electoral defeat, Peña falsely claimed the election was rigged and began pressuring members of the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners not to certify the results. When they refused, Peña recruited Jose Trujillo and Demetrio Trujillo to carry out a series of shootings at the homes of several public officials," prosecutors said in a statement.
MORE: Manhunt for shooter continues after Charlie Kirk killed in 'political assassination'Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was shot in the ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after a gunman opened fire from the roof of a nearby building.
One rally spectator was killed and two others were critically injured during the shooting.
Trump dropped to the ground when he was shot and was surrounded by agents before being hustled off the stage. Countersnipers on-site killed shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Investigators have determined that he acted alone, but a motive for the attack has not been publicly disclosed.
Trump faced a second assassination attempt at the Trump International Gold Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Prosecutors said suspect Ryan Wesley Routh allegedly put together a plan, including purchasing a military-grade weapon, researching Trump's movements and using a dozen burner phones in an alleged attempt to kill Trump based on political grievances.
Routh allegedly came within a few hundred yards of Trump before a Secret Service agent spotted his rifle poking out of a tree line. Authorities say Routh fled the scene but was later apprehended. Routh is currently on trial.
An office shared by then-Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign and the Democratic Party in Tempe, Arizona, was damaged by gunfire three times in less than a month, according to police.
MORE: Charlie Kirk’s tour invited political debates on college campusesThe three shootings occurred late at night and no one was injured in any of the shootings.
A suspect was arrested on Oct. 24 in connection with the three shootings, facing multiple charges including unlawful discharge, shooting at a non-residential structure, terrorism and criminal damage.
Police said Jeffrey Michael Kelly was seen posting anti-Democratic signs in Ahwatukee, attaching baggies labeled "biohazard" containing white powdery substance to the signs. Now on trial, he could face up to life in prison if convicted.
"Threats, intimidation or violence toward political officials -- no matter what party they are a part of -- are completely unacceptable," Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said during the press briefing.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson died after being shot multiple times at point-blank range by a gunman outside a Manhattan hotel, according to police.
The shooter appeared to have been lying in wait at the hotel where he shot Thompson, authorities said.
Alleged shooter Luigi Mangione was captured after a manhunt that lasted several days.
Investigators suspect that Mangione was frustrated with the healthcare system in the U.S. when he targeted Thompson, who was the CEO of the country's biggest insurance company.
Prosecutors have alleged that Mangione wanted to send a message about corporate greed. Mangione was likely motivated by his belief that health insurance companies were "parasitic" and believed unilateral action could be symbolic to others.
A mechanic who has expressed disdain for Democrats on social media was arrested for starting a fire at Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's residence.
Shapiro and his family were at the residence at the time of the fire, but they were not injured and safely evacuated, according to police.
Cody Balmer allegedly broke a window with a hammer and then threw two home-made Molotov cocktails into the governor's mansion. Moments after he allegedly firebombed the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, Cody Balmer called 911 and confessed.
Balmer waived his initial hearing and is expected in court in October.
Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed while exiting an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.
MORE: Vance to fly Charlie Kirk's casket to Phoenix on Air Force Two: SourceThe suspect shouted "free, free Palestine" after shooting Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, according to FBI Director Kash Patel, who called the shooting an "act of terror."
The suspect fired 21 times as the couple exited the venue, authorities said. Suspect Elias Rodriguez has been charged with two counts of murder and has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
A man threw Molotov cocktails during a pro-Israel demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, injuring 13, authorities said. One person later died of their injuries.
Suspect Mohamed Soliman told police he wanted to "kill all zionist people and wished they were all dead," according to state court documents. He has pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges.
A masked gunman disguised as a police officer shot and killed Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in their home, Gov. Tim Walz said.
Before Hortman was shot, the gunman shot State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette multiple times at their home. Both lawmakers were Democrats.
Suspect Vance Boelter had a list of possible targets and went to the homes of public officials to conduct violent attacks, FBI Director Kash Patel said. Boelter has pleaded not guilty.
A police officer was killed when a gunman opened fire near the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters and the Emory University campus in Atlanta, authorities said.
Suspect Patrick Joseph White had blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him sick and depressed, according to law enforcement. He had increasingly focused on the vaccine as a source of his grievances, they noted. He was found dead after the shooting, officials said.
CDC Director Susan Monarez told employees that the promotion of misinformation played a role in the deadly shooting. Monarez has since been ousted as director.
"The dangers of misinformation and its promulgation has now led to deadly consequences. I will work to restore trust in public health to those who have lost it- through science, evidence, and clarity of purpose," Monarez wrote.
The suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative youth activist organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. President Donald Trump confirmed Kirk’s death on social media.
Tyler Robinson allegedly shot and killed Kirk on Wednesday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said at a press conference in Utah on Friday.
Robinson, 22, has been booked into the Utah County Jail. Charging documents against Robinson are expected to be filed early next week, Cox said.