Political attacks are shameful slides to gateway violence
THE U.S. HAS A LONG HISTORY of political violence, but there is a growing sense that the scope and frequency of political harassment, threats and violence are reaching new levels. That’s what’s happening in the suburban borough of Aspinwall in Allegheny County. With fewer than 3,000 residents, it was always intended to be a residential area, carved out of a wedge of land along the river. It was a suburb before America really had suburbs. It calls itself “The Town That Pride Built.” What is happening in Aspinwall is shameful. Aspinwall police say someone is targeting the homes of people supporting President Donald Trump. Security cameras tell the story in grainy images. An unidentified man approaches homes with Trump signage. Video shows the man stop his car in the middle of Fourth Street and get out, leaving the door open behind him. He approached the home of Donald Mazreku. There were insults and profanity and the man physically struck at Mazreku’s Trump flag. That was in October, leading up to the November election won by Trump. Passions were high. Attacks on political signs are fairly common during election seasons. But that doesn’t explain the Friday incident that happened just one street over. Jessica Haggerty and her 19-year-old son were in their house when the Ring camera alerted them someone was approaching. They saw a man walk onto the porch, open the screen and spit on the front door before walking away. Politics has divided everything from communities to dinner tables in recent years. Debate and disagreement is too often replaced with venom and vitriol. Episodes like this — just like other incidents when the anger and outrage is directed at rainbow flags or ethnic symbols — are dangerous because of what the behavior represents. It shows we can no longer communicate with our neighbors in ways other than this gateway violence. It illustrates the impulsivity of anger and its slide from words to action. Police reports were filed, and Haggerty and Mazreku intend to press charges if the man is identified.
THE U.S. HAS A LONG HISTORY of political violence, but there is a growing sense that the scope and frequency of political harassment, threats and violence are reaching new levels. That’s what’s happening in the suburban borough of Aspinwall in Allegheny County. With fewer than 3,000 residents, it was always intended to be a residential area, carved out of a wedge of land along the river. It was a suburb before America really had suburbs. It calls itself “The Town That Pride Built.” What is happening in Aspinwall is shameful. Aspinwall police say someone is targeting the homes of people supporting President Donald Trump. Security cameras tell the story in grainy images. An unidentified man approaches homes with Trump signage. Video shows the man stop his car in the middle of Fourth Street and get out, leaving the door open behind him. He approached the home of Donald Mazreku. There were insults and profanity and the man physically struck at Mazreku’s Trump flag. That was in October, leading up to the November election won by Trump. Passions were high. Attacks on political signs are fairly common during election seasons. But that doesn’t explain the Friday incident that happened just one street over. Jessica Haggerty and her 19-year-old son were in their house when the Ring camera alerted them someone was approaching. They saw a man walk onto the porch, open the screen and spit on the front door before walking away. Politics has divided everything from communities to dinner tables in recent years. Debate and disagreement is too often replaced with venom and vitriol. Episodes like this — just like other incidents when the anger and outrage is directed at rainbow flags or ethnic symbols — are dangerous because of what the behavior represents. It shows we can no longer communicate with our neighbors in ways other than this gateway violence. It illustrates the impulsivity of anger and its slide from words to action. Police reports were filed, and Haggerty and Mazreku intend to press charges if the man is identified.
The problem is that you can’t arrest a kind of contagious sentiment. It would be easier if that were possible, where someone could be apprehended and disciplined for bad behavior. But the shameful incidents of petty political attack are a symptom of growing ugliness that must be addressed with something more than police. We need to find a way to build back our ability to talk to one another. That would be something to take pride in.
