The following is from a Robert A. J. Gagnon Facebook post, but was originally a post from another guy who's name I just forgot to write down. (Craig's posted one or two things from the dude and I'll amend this post when I get his name.) I saw it and as it was related to a post or two of Craig's on the issue of "who's worse" (my name for it), we see the problems Craig has referenced. Here it is:
The Cato Institute just published a report claiming right-wing violence is far more common than left-wing violence, and they released it in the very month that Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
That timing is revolting, but the data itself is even worse!
The Daily Caller exposed how Alex Nowrasteh’s list conveniently left out key left-wing killers that would have changed the balance.
The Waukesha killer in 2021 drove his SUV through a Christmas parade, killing six and injuring dozens more, after a stream of anti-white social media posts, rapping against Donald Trump, and voicing support for Black Lives Matter.
A local BLM chapter even raised money for his bail.
Jessica Doty-Whitaker was shot and killed by BLM protesters after she or someone in her group said “all lives matter.” Her case remains unsolved, yet CATO never counted it.
An anti-natalist bombed an IVF clinic in 2025, killing one person, and that too was ignored.
Those omissions are not small. Adding them would nudge the left-wing category above the right wing category, destroying the entire premise of CATO’s report.
And of course, the other issue with Nowrasteh’s list is that it only counts killings. That means it leaves out some of the most notorious acts of political violence of our time.
It ignores the two assassination attempts on Donald Trump.
It ignores the 2017 Republican baseball shooting that nearly killed Steve Scalise.
It ignores the attempted stabbing of Lee Zeldin on the campaign trail.
It ignores a neighbor’s brutal attack on Sen. Rand Paul that broke his ribs.
It ignores the man arrested outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home with plans to assassinate him.
It ignores the bomb planted under a Fox News van that failed to detonate.
Every one of these is political violence, and every one is erased by CATO’s framework.
This is not honest research. It is manipulation to smear the right and excuse the left.
Because the truth is that violence is not accidental on the left, it is built into their philosophy. They believe government is the weapon, mobs are their muscle, and coercion is their road to power.
When the left is angry, cities burn. When the left is challenged, opponents are silenced with threats. When the left loses, violence is the answer.
The right responds to tragedy in an entirely different way. We turn to God, to community, to vigils and prayer. We believe in healing, not burning.
That is the divide CATO refuses to acknowledge.
The left turns to fire.
But the right turns to faith.
And until America faces that truth, no amount of fake statistics will hide where the real epidemic of violence comes from.
I shared it on my Facebook page immediately because these types of "studies" seem to be common today, and rarely without rebuttals which expose the flaws of the studies/reports.
In the comments following the posting of this, one person offered this link:
(4) Is there really more political violence on the right? - YouTube
The examples provided in the video are three which have no relation to politics, but are simply heinous crimes, and the perpetrators are subjectively included among the center-right population because it serves the narrative. It's cheap padding of the list...a not too uncommon tactic of the left.
I also want to point out the person who put together the CATO Inst. list. Alex Nowrasteh. This guy can't seem to publish anything which isn't suspect. Dan's cited his work in the past, which validates my certainty that Dan does next to nothing with regard to due diligence in choosing what to cite. His efforts stop at the title or the conclusion, but nothing in between. That's not just intellectually lazy, but dishonest.
I shared it on my Facebook page immediately because these types of "studies" seem to be common today, and rarely without rebuttals which expose the flaws of the studies/reports.
In the comments following the posting of this, one person offered this link:
(4) Is there really more political violence on the right? - YouTube
The examples provided in the video are three which have no relation to politics, but are simply heinous crimes, and the perpetrators are subjectively included among the center-right population because it serves the narrative. It's cheap padding of the list...a not too uncommon tactic of the left.
I also want to point out the person who put together the CATO Inst. list. Alex Nowrasteh. This guy can't seem to publish anything which isn't suspect. Dan's cited his work in the past, which validates my certainty that Dan does next to nothing with regard to due diligence in choosing what to cite. His efforts stop at the title or the conclusion, but nothing in between. That's not just intellectually lazy, but dishonest.
