WASHINGTON — A vast majority of Americans say they are more concerned about political violence right now compared to six months ago, especially after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at an event in Utah last week.
About 63% of Americans said they were more concerned about political violence now than they were at the beginning of this year, according to a new poll conducted by Morning Consult for the Deseret News and Hinckley Institute of Politics. Of those, 40% said they were “much more” concerned, compared to 23% who said they were only “somewhat concerned.”
That’s far higher than the 5% of respondents who said they did not have higher concerns about the state of political violence in the United States, the poll shows. Another 25% said they felt about the same as they did before.
The heightened concerns were felt across the political spectrum, with each ideological group more likely to say they were more concerned now than six months ago.
About 67% of those who identified as liberal said they were more concerned about political violence compared to 72% of self-identified conservatives who said the same, according to the poll. Fifty-nine percent of moderates also said they had higher concerns.
That baseline of concern was evident in other areas of the survey, as a majority of respondents also said they were more concerned about the security of political events after the shooting of Kirk at Utah Valley University on the first stop of his national college tour.
About 78% of Americans say they are concerned about the security at political events, split between 47% who say they are very concerned and 31% who say they are somewhat concerned. Only 14% said they were not concerned, according to the poll.
Part of those concerns also extend to the safety of elected officials, with 77% of Americans saying they are worried about their safety while attending these events compared to just 16% who said the opposite.
Utahns concerned about rise in political violence
Utahns were on par with national findings, according to the poll, with a majority of those in the state saying they were more concerned now about political violence than they were half a year ago.
Some 73% said they were more concerned compared to just 4% who said they were less concerned, the poll showed. About 21% said they felt the same.
When it comes to security at events, 83% of Utahns say they were concerned about the level of security when attending while only 11% said they had no worries. In terms of the safety of elected officials, 80% of Utahns said they were worried for lawmakers compared to 15% who said the opposite.
Majority of Americans have rising concerns about civil unrest and political violence
A vast majority of Americans are growing more concerned about political violence in the U.S., and those sentiments are true across age, gender and political ideology, according to the poll.
More than 80% of Americans are concerned about civil unrest in the country, compared to just 11% who said the opposite, the poll showed. More Americans are concerned about political violence, with 86% who said they were worried about it compared to 8% who said they were not.
When it comes to political polarization, 77% said it was a concern and 10% said it was not.
Americans can’t decide who is responsible for rise in political violence
When asked who or what is responsible for the rise in political violence, respondents couldn’t seem to agree on a single subject.
Americans are split on whether politicians are the ones to blame, with 42% saying they bear the most responsibility, according to the poll. When it comes to which party is to blame, those who voted for President Donald Trump were more likely to blame the left while those who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris were more likely to blame the right.
Other Americans also pointed to social media (22%), media outlets (25%) and activist groups (22%) as the factor behind political violence, according to the poll.
The Morning Consult poll surveyed 2,239 adults across the country between Sept. 12-14. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.