Fanning the flames of hate never the answer

There has only been one U.S. president who has called those on the other side of the aisle "enemies of the state." The current president has frequently used the word "enemy" in relation to any Americans who don't support all his actions. Democrats, Independents and Republicans who speak out against a particular policy/action of his are labeled directly by him as "scum," "vermin". Please note there are millions of us who love this country and who do not agree with everything he says or proposes. The fact that we disagree does not make us enemies.

Anyone can claim anything about left-wing vs. right-wing hate speech and violence. However, a recent analysis from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) showed that right-wing violence “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism” in the United States. Decades of data indicate that far-right extremists have been responsible for the majority of ideologically-driven homicides, with 520 deaths compared to less than 100 from the left since 1990.

BTW, the current administration chose to remove the NIJ link to this domestic terrorism research. Removing the link to decades of data does not change the reality of the processes that result in violent action, factors that increase the risk of radicalization to violence, and how best to prevent and respond to violent extremism.

If the president could please stop labeling millions of patriotic Americans as "enemies,“ I truly believe we'd all be much happier and our country would be much safer.

Violence and hate are never the answers. Love is.

Susan Pribyl

Ingleside