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<\/a>Antifa members gather at a rally held by Patriot Prayer in Portland, Ore., on Saturday, June 30, 2018.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
By S.A. Miller – The Washington Times<\/p>\n
When a mob of left-wing antifa activists descended Wednesday night on Fox News personality\u00a0Tucker Carlson<\/a>\u2019s D.C. home, it signaled a new phase in the political violence and angry confrontations that now are targeting the news media.<\/p>\n Political violence has been rising in the U.S. since 2012, according to the Global Terrorism Database. Increasingly aggressive activists have pushed political confrontation to the limit since 2016, accosting Republican lawmakers and\u00a0Trump<\/a>\u00a0administration officials in restaurants and in the halls of Congress. And now they\u2019re going after conservative journalists at their homes.<\/p>\n \u201cTucker Carlson<\/a>, we will fight. We know where you sleep at night!\u201d the activists allied with antifa chanted outside\u00a0Mr. Carlson<\/a>\u2019s home.<\/p>\n Antifa is short of anti-fascist, though the group has anarchist leanings and targets anyone perceived as not in step with a far-left agenda.<\/p>\n \u201cHere\u2019s the problem. I have four children,\u201d\u00a0Mr. Carlson<\/a>, whose wife was home alone during the disturbance, told Fox News. \u201cI never thought twice about leaving them home alone, but this is the reaction because this group doesn\u2019t like my TV show.\u201d<\/p>\n On Capitol Hill, the overheated political debate has lawmakers increasingly working under a threat of violence.<\/p>\n Capitol police say they saw a surge in protective details assigned to lawmakers earlier in the fall, when senators were facing hallway protests during the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.<\/p>\n Security details were assigned to at least two Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee, Chairman Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Jeff Flake of Arizona.<\/p>\n Security details typically are assigned only to members of leadership.<\/p>\n Senators have mostly been away from Washington since the Kavanaugh confirmation, and it\u2019s not clear whether enhanced security will still be the norm.<\/p>\n About 2,000 threatening incidents and communications were made against members of Congress last year, according to the House Sergeant at Arms office. That\u2019s nearly double the 902 threatening incidents and communications in 2016.<\/p>\n Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Maleki refused to divulge the numbers so far for 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cOur responsibilities include consulting with member offices on security-related matters. However, we do not comment on these consultations, provide data on the number of threat investigations, or discuss how we carry out our protective responsibilities for Congress,\u201d she said in a statement to The Washington Times.<\/p>\n The threats have extended to anyone entering the political arena.<\/p>\n California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford is still receiving death threats and has been unable to return to work more than a month after she testified to Congress against Justice Kavanaugh during confirmation hearings, according to her legal team.<\/p>\n The threats started when she accused Justice Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her more than 30 years ago when the two were at high school party. The allegations were never corroborated, but her testimony nearly derailed his confirmation.<\/p>\n Former IRS official Lois G. Lerner told a federal judge this month that she is still getting threats stemming from her role in the tea party targeting scandal of five years ago.<\/p>\n She has been locked in a long legal battle trying to permanently seal her old testimony about the targeting, saying she expects a new surge of threats if her actions became publicly known.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are seeing more violent events recently as there seems to be a retreat from basic democratic norms,\u201d said American University professor Joseph Young, a scholar of terrorism and political violence.<\/p>\n He said President\u00a0Trump<\/a>\u2019s attacks on the press and reluctance to denounce violence on the right doesn\u2019t help but isn\u2019t the main cause.<\/p>\n \u201cSome extremists do not see the value of dialogue or compromise and are concerned with the speed of change. Most importantly, when core values seem under threat, these individuals are using violence in what they perceive as a defensive action,\u201d he said. \u201cISIS-inspired actors always cite their actions as defensive. The Pittsburgh synagogue shooter felt that his race and people were under threat. Whether this is true or not, I think these beliefs are motivating people to violent action.\u201d<\/p>\n The threats, confrontation and violence come from extremists on the left and the right.<\/p>\n Cesar Sayoc, a crazed supporter of\u00a0Mr. Trump<\/a>, is charged with sending at least 16 pipe bomb packages to people viewed as enemies of the president, including high-profile Democrats Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama and commentators at CNN.<\/p>\n Left-wing activist James T. Hodgkinson opened fire on a congressional Republican softball practice in June 2017, almost killing House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana.<\/p>\n Also shot were House aide Zack Barth, lobbyist Matt Mika and U.S. Capitol Police Officer Crystal Griner, who was assigned to protect Mr. Scalise.<\/p>\n D.C.\u2019s Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the incident at\u00a0Mr. Carlson<\/a>\u2019s home, during which the demonstrators allegedly damaged the front door.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t the first time the group went after a journalist. But they usually attack reporters covering demonstrations, such as when they hurled eggs and water bottles at D.C. police and journalists during a counter-protest against the \u201cUnite the Right 2\u201d rally in August.<\/p>\n A year earlier, the first \u201cUnite the Right\u201d rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, sparked clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters. A man involved with white supremacy was charged with driving his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer, 32.<\/p>\n