In an opinion column published by the Washington Post on Halloween, Never Trump conservative Max Boot emphasized that while some political violence in the United States has come from the left in recent years — including the 2017 shooting that Rep. Steve Scalise survived and an alleged plot to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh — the reality is that the majority of political violence plaguing the U.S. has been coming from the far right. Boot pointed to the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, as a recent example, arguing that reporters shouldn’t resort to “both sides” rhetoric in the hope of trying to appear fair-minded.
On Friday, October 28, the Pelosis’ home in San Francisco was invaded by a man who demanded to know, “Where is Nancy?” before attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer. “Where is Nancy?” are the same words that were used during the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.
One violent attack on a Democrat that hasn’t received as much attention as the attack on Paul Pelosi is the one on Richard Ringer, who is running for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives via the 51st District. On Monday morning, October 31, Ringer was violently attacked by a man outside his home.
Ringer, who is running for the Pennsylvania House seat presently held by the retiring Republican Rep. Matt Dowling, can’t say for sure that the attack was politically motivated, but he suspects that it was.
Ringer told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4, “He had my arm behind my back, and he was pounding me. The only thing I have is the bruising on my hand and face, but he hit me a couple of times and knocked me out.”
According to Action News 4 reporter Jim Madalinsky, Ringer “has reported multiple incidents to state police over the past three weeks.”
“He said someone spray-painted a threatening message on his garage door a few weeks ago,” Madalinsky reports. “One week later, Ringer said someone threw a brick through the window to his back door.”
Ringer told Action News 4, “All three incidents happened within the last three weeks, three weeks away from the election…. My neighborhood is safe. It’s calm, and there’s no crime whatsoever. If you just try to connect the dots, maybe. But I can’t say definitively.”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the attack on Ringer comes a time when “election officials around Pennsylvania” are preparing “for potential harassment and violence on Election Day.”
“Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman acknowledged Monday at the Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon in Harrisburg that there has been an increase in election-related threats since the 2020 election,” according to the Post-Gazette. “In a call with reporters last week, she said her office has received threats in recent weeks.”
Alex Henderson
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