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Theshootingsof two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses this past weekend are the latest instances of political violence that has risen across the U.S. in recent years.

Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed on Saturday by a man who authorities say was impersonating a police officer. The same shooter attacked Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who have been hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds. Authoritiesapprehended and are chargingVance Boelter, 57, in connection with both shootings. Boelter is facing federal murder charges that carry the possibility of the death penalty, in addition to state charges.

The attacks come as U.S. lawmakers face a rising threat of political violence. Members of Congress and state and local officials have been targeted in multiple high-profile violent incidents in recent years, including the 2011 shooting of then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, the 2017 shooting at a Congressional baseball practice that left Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and several other people injured, and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Though no lawmakers were wounded in that instance, more than 100 people were injured amid the storming of the building and at least seven deaths were tied to the attack, according to abipartisan Senate report.

The number of concerning statements and direct threats against members of Congress—including their families and staff—investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police has increased markedly within the past seven years, jumping from 3,939 in 2017 to 9,625 in 2021, according to theagency.

And the past year has seen another spike. The Capitol Police investigated 9,474 direct threats and concerning statements in 2024, up from 8,008 the previous year. Reutersidentifiedat least 51 incidents of political violence from January to October last year in the lead-up to the 2024 election, among 300 it had recorded since the Jan. 6 attack up to that point. The news outletreported“the cases are part of the biggest and most sustained increase in U.S. political violence since the 1970s.”

Read More:A Stark Look at the Recent History of Political Violence in America

Here are some of the attacks that have been carried out against U.S. lawmakers in a violent year for the country’s politics.

On July 13, 2024, agunman fired multiple shotstoward the stage where Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One bullet struck Trump in his right ear,, while one bystander was killed and two others were wounded.

The shooter was lateridentifiedas Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20. He was killed by a Secret Service sniper at the scene.

Just two months later, authoritiesfoiled another apparent attempt on Trump’s lifeat Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September 2024. While Trump was golfing, a Secret Service agent who was posted ahead of Trump noticed a man holding a rifle, about 400 yards away, poking out of a tree line nearby. The suspect didn’t fire any rounds and didn’t have a line of sight to Trump, authorities said. Secret Service personnel fired shots at the suspect, who dropped his weapon, along with other items, and fled the scene in a vehicle.

Trump was unharmed in the second attack. Authorities laterapprehended and identified the suspectas Ryan Wesley Routh, a one-time Trump supporter who was passionate about defending Ukraine in the war with Russia.

In April, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were in their home when they were awakened by a state trooper banging on the door after anarsonist set the home on fire. They were safely evacuated, and firefighters tackled the blaze. Video surveillance of the incident showed a suspect climbing over a fence, breaking into Shapiro’s home through a window, and throwing in an incendiary device, according tothe affidavit. Another device was thrown into the home as well.

The suspect was later apprehended and identified by authorities as Cody A. Balmer. Authorities said Balmer admitted to setting Shapiro’s home on fire, and said that he would have “beaten him with a hammer” if the governor had found him.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called Saturday’s shootings acts of “targeted political violence.”

“Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint,” Walz said. “This tragic act here in Minnesota should serve as a reminder to all of us that democracy and the debates in the halls of Congress, in state houses, in school boards, is a way to settle our differences peacefully and move society to a better place.”

Read more:Suspected Shooter of Minnesota Lawmakers Potentially Facing Federal Death Penalty: What We Know About Vance L. Boelter

Boelter is facing federal charges related to the stalking of both lawmakers, the murder of Hortman and her husband, and the shooting of Hoffman and his wife. He is also being charged on the state level in connection with the murder of Hortman and her husband, as well as the shooting of Hoffman and his wife.

AuthoritiessaidMonday that Boelter went to the homes of two other Minnesota elected officials in between the shootings as well. Law enforcement officials recovered a “manifesto” from the vehicle believed to be used by the suspect that they said listed Hortman’s and Hoffman’s names, among a number of local lawmakers and organizations. Democratic Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith was among the names on Boelter’s list, she toldNPR.

Rob Ford, the former mayor of Toronto, was controversial well before being caught on videosmoking crack. The bombastic politician, whoreportedly spewedracist and homophobic comments and was onceconvictedof drunk driving, was elected mayor in 2010 for a scandalous term that led to international notoriety.

Ford’s rise and fall is the subject of a new documentary inNetflix’sTrainwreckseries.Mayor of Mayhemtraces the right-wing populist mayor’s career and fall from grace, featuring the investigative journalists who reported on the scandal, city councillors, and people who worked for Ford.

InMayor of Mayhem, Ford’s close associates say he idolized father Doug Ford Sr., who was also a politician, and was always trying to impress him. The junior Ford was a popular city councillor for a ward in Toronto before he was mayor, serving from 2000 to 2010.

As a politician, he was known for handing out his business card to constituents and urging them to call him if something was amiss. He even still found time to coach high school football in his down time.

Elected mayor in 2010, Ford managed to get several reforms passed in his first year. He got the City Council to repeal a vehicle registration tax. Local transit workers were declared an essential service so they couldn’t strike.

But his brash attitude put off some city councillors. “He was so aggressive that a lot of people didn’t want to sit near him,” John Filion, a city councillor, says in the doc. Ford would tell his opponents to work with him or he’d destroy them.

In May 2013, Gawker published a video that appeared to show Ford smoking crack. At first Ford denied he had smoked crack cocaine anddeniedthat a video of him smoking crack cocaine existed.

The more news outlets reported on the scandal, the more Ford tried to turn people against the media. An arch conservative, Ford started attacking theToronto Star, which had a reputation for its progressive leanings, calling the paper and its reporters “pathological liars.”

“Rob Ford demonizing the media years before Donald Trump did the same thing was extremely effective,”Starreporter David Rider says in the doc. Some journalists say they received death threats for reporting on Ford’s scandal.

Ford still maintained a dedicated following. The doc shows supporters campaigning for him forre-election.

At a November 2013news conferenceoutside of his Toronto city hall office, Ford admitted that he smoked crack before, but maintained that he was not an addict. About five months later,Globe and Mailjournalist Robyn Doolittle was tipped off to avideoof Ford with a crack pipe in his hand. After theGlobe and Mailpublished several still images from the video in April 2014, Ford, who was running for re-election, went to rehab.

In September 2014, he abandoned his bid for re-election when a tumor was discovered in his abdomen. Forddiedfromcancerin 2016 at the age of 46.

Mayor of Mayhemgives the last word to Ford’s still loyal advisors. One calls him “selfless,” and another even tears up as he reflects on helping Ford navigate the scandal. His former Chief of Staff Mark Towhey closes the 49-minute doc arguing, “All of us have a Rob, somewhere in our life. And I think in the long run, history will think of him as a man who had an illness, who, despite that, accomplished stuff that had never been accomplished before. And…the bad stuff, yep, it speaks for itself.”

Thousands of troops will march through Washington, D.C. as a part ofPresident Donald Trump’s national military paradeon Saturday to honor the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army. The day also coincides with the President’s 79th birthday. But the parade arguably couldn’t come at a more precarious time. The Trump Administration is engaged in alegal battlewith California, afterdeploying National Guard troopsto Los Angeles without the request or approval of Gov. Gavin Newsom. There is also grave concern about what’s happening overseas, asIsrael and Iran trade deadly missilesafter Israel launched a military operation targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities and personnel.

Amid all this, protests are expected throughout the country as organizations and individuals take part in“No Kings Day”demonstrations. While the protests have long been arranged, they’ve been largely spurred on by Trump’s actions regarding the L.A. protests, which have since spread to other cities across the U.S. The protests are “taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like,” per the “No Kings” website, which also states “in America, we don’t do kings.”

Dissent against the parade is also coming partly from within one of Trump’s most reliable support bases: veterans. Although former U.S. military personnel have historically voted with wide margins in favor of Trump and the Republican Party, there is a growing discontent among some within the community.

Read More:Veterans Condemn Trump’s ‘Misuse of Military Power’ Amid L.A. Protests

On Friday,a group of roughly 60 veterans and military family membersprotesting both the deployment of the National Guard in L.A. and Saturday’s military parade were arrested by the Capitol Police, after they breached a police line of bike racks.

“President Trump threatened Americans coming to exercise their first amendment rights would be met with ‘great force,’”said Michael T. McPhearson, veteran and director of Veterans for Peace, an organizer of the protest. “We are the actual people who put uniforms on because we believe in the freedoms this country is supposed to be about and we will not be intimidated into silence.”

McPhearson’s words echo the sentiments of others, including Chris Purdy, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran who served from 2004 to 2012 and was deployed to Iraq in 2011.

Purdy maintains the values of military might and respect set to be displayed in the parade exist in “stark contrast” to how Trump is treating both veterans and also “our neighbors and our allies that have helped build the peace.”

“[Veteran Affairs] announced anend to the VASP [Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase] program. This is a program that kept around 13,000 veterans in their homes last year, and there are 90,000 vets who are at financial risk through their [VA] loans that would have benefited from this program,” says Purdy, highlighting the reported $45 million cost of the parade. “I'm seeing a lot of attacks on the apolitical nature of the military, on the veteran community itself. And then, to kind of wrap it all up in this parade, it feels gross.”

Purdy recounts a lesson from a sergeant in the Army, who told him that “respect is built by coalitions, by relationships.” Purdy points to a defining factor of Trump’s first months of Presidency, which has included contentious relationships with multiple U.S. allies, including Canada.

“I think about my time in Iraq and the coalition partners that I served alongside—the British, Polish, and Lithuanian soldiers—we built these coalitions to help us accomplish the mission,” Purdy says. “We [veterans] believe that America can lead the world without being oppressive. So this kind of ostentatious display of American might feels unnecessary. It feels like the bully on the playground that needs to kind of go around and flex his muscles to prove like he's the biggest kid on the block.”

And Purdy is not alone in his concerns. Asurveyby Data for Progress and Common Defense, conducted in April, found that around 70% of the veterans approached said they are opposed to the Trump Administration “ordering active-duty U.S. military troops to perform a parade in honor of President Trump’s birthday.”

Janessa Goldbeck, who served as a Marine Corps combat engineer officer and is now the CEO of veteran engagement group VetVote Foundation, agrees with Purdy’s assessment. Goldbeck points to both the VASP termination, as well as Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which proposes cuts to Medicaid and theSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), that she says many military and veteran households “rely on.”

“And then you pair that with this complete endangerment and misuse of the National Guard and the active-duty military. Clearly, there's no regard for veterans or people in uniform from this Administration,” Goldbeck claims. “All of this is an attempt to reshape the United States military as a tool of domestic power for the sitting President… it is certainly not in line with the principles enshrined in the Constitution that I swore to uphold and defend.”

But not all veterans are in agreement that the parade is a “gross” display of strength.

Read More:What To Know About Trump’s Military Parade

Many veterans have traveled to Washington, D.C. for the festivities to celebrate the active-duty military members who are choosing to serve their country.

“It's good for Americans to see what their tax dollars are paying for and what the troops who are protecting them are using,” said veteran John Norton, who was on the bomb squad in the Army and served in Athens, Greece, and Vicenza, Italy. Norton was referencing the Army tanks and aircraft that will be displayed during the parade, during an interview withABC News.

Veteran Ana Salazar is attending the parade to “thank” the active-duty military members for their service. “Proud to be a fellow brother and sister-in-arms with my fellow veterans and active-duty service members,” she said. Salazar served in the military from 2003 to 2014, and was stationed in Belgium, Kansas, Missouri, and Hawaii, and did tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Still, Libby Jamison, military spouse and former President of the Military Spouse J.D. Network, says veterans she knows may agree with different aspects of Trump’s policies, but those “across the political spectrum” in her community are “concerned about this level of spending on this type of pageantry.”

Currently, Jamison is working onbringing down the 20% unemployment rateamong active-duty spouses, and says the messaging of the parade as a celebration feels in conflict with the conditions she sees many veterans and military personnel existing in.

“I think if you ask [those] families what they need at this moment, it wouldn't be a parade. It would be, ‘I need a job’ or ‘I need child care,’” Jamison argues. “Who is this parade really for? Because it doesn't feel like it's for service members or families.”

The contrast was stark. In the nation’s capital, tens of thousands came Saturday to the National Mall to cheer on a military parade marking the 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Army—which also happened to fall on President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.

Elsewhere around the country, in small towns and large cities, far greater numbers—organizers say millions—gathered to chant “No Kings” and protest Trump’s deployment of military might against protestors inLos Angeles, as well as his expansive use of Presidential power to intimidate elected officials and judges, purge the government ofindependent watchdogs,blockCongressional funding to agencies anduniversities, and ignore Constitutional guarantees ofdue process.

The protests unfolded first—some taking place in the morning, others midday and in the afternoon—creating the largest mass opposition to Trump since his inauguration 145 days ago. The parade kicked off in the evening, with a contingent heavy with MAGA hats and shirts lined up at the National Mall and along Constitution Avenue to watch paratoopers jumping out of an airplane and World War II fighters escorting a bomber past the Washington Monument. Through it all Trump was seated at a reviewing stand in front of the Washington Monument, alongside his wife, and much of his Cabinet, all of them behind bullet-proof glass.

The parade showcased America’s military history through thousands of Army troops marching past in historical uniforms—starting with the American Revolution and continuing through both world wars and on to the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The narration of the parade, which alternated between history lesson and recruiting ad for the Army, occasionally thanked private companies such as Lockheed Martin, Coinbase and Palantir.

"Whenever duty calls, whatever danger comes, the American soldier will be there,” Trump said in his speech later that evening, just before a fireworks show.

It’s unclear if Trump viewed the event as living up to its inspiration—the Bastille Day parade he witnessed in Paris in 2017 alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, with marching troops and military vehicles parading past the iconic Arc de Triomphe toward him. The grandiose display transfixed Trump, who came back to Washington and was set on organizing his own version. But the planning proved expensive and city officials were concerned about the damage tanks and military equipment would do to the streets of the capital.

In a second term where he has knocked down many of the guardrails he encountered in the first, plans for the military parade came together quickly.

It was hard to predict how Trump’s long-desired military parade would unfold at such acharged momentin which he had deployed federal troops onUS soiland was grappling with anescalating direct conflictbetween Israel and Iran. Apolitical assassination in Minnesotafurther added to the tension.

Yet for many attending the parade, the focus was on the nation’s strength and not its challenges.

"It is just a day to be a proud American,” says Crystal Sykes, 58, a nurse who took the train from her home in North Carolina to be at the parade. She wore the red Make America Great Again hat that she's had since Trump's first term, with a pin attached to it that displays Trump's name and the American flag in sparkling rhinestones. "If the military doesn't have our support, nobody will want to join."

The Army estimated the events, which included Army fitness demonstrations and activities on the National Mall, would ultimately cost somewhere between $25 million to $45 million. That included the costs to repair damage to Washington, D.C. streets from Abrams tanks.

"I wish it cost less, but I like it,” says Joey Ink, a 19-year-old college student from Maryland, who attended "to show support for the military, theveterans.” Ink says he voted for Trump but wouldn't call himself a Trump supporter.

Trump’s long-sought parade proved to be an effective rallying point for hundreds of protests around the country—with estimates of100,000in Philadelphia,50,000in New York City,30,000in L.A. and 20,000 in Chicago. The lead organizers purposely didn’t plan an event in Washington, but some protesters showed up there as well anyway.

Read more:Inside Trump's Mass-Deportation Operation

In front of the White House that afternoon, a banner read “All Hail Commander Bone Spurs.” as a crowd of about 500 people chanted “Trump must go now!” The location of the protest—Lafayette Park—was the same area where five years earlier, Trump had infamously used the National Guard to clear protestors so he could walk over to a nearby church and pose with a Bible. “We have to do something or it’s going to be the end of democracy,” says Jill Taylor, 60, a speech pathologist who traveled to Washington from Kansas to protest Trump’s military parade.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, in nearby Takoma Park, Maryland, hundreds of people packed the sidewalks of a major road holding signs reading “No Kings” and “F–k ICE”. Martha Dominguez, 25, a mental health professional living in nearby Landover, says she was there because of Trump's immigration policies. Federal agents pulling people from jobs and off the street has left her afraid, even though she is a U.S. citizen. “I feel targeted every time I go out of the house,” says Dominguez. “Trump thinks he’s all that,” she says. “He thinks he’s a king. We are going against that because no one is above the law.”

Even farther out from Washington and other major cities, people gathered in smaller communities like Mountainside, N.J., where roughly 500 people lined both sides of a busy, four-lane divided highway and spanned a footbridge adorned with a sign reading, “No Kings Since 1776.” Those who braved the rain in the town of 7,000 included Lex and Sean, who brought their two kids—ages five and three—to their first protest, and Connor 25, who was visibly upset as they talked about having queer friends and a trans sister. “People I care about are getting attacked by the administration, and that's just not something that I can live with if I sit by and do nothing.”

Back in Washington, the parade was followed by a performance by country musician Warren Zeiders and Trump delivering the Oath of Enlistment to a group of soldiers. “Welcome to the United States Army and have a great life,” Trump told them.

Not far away, one of the few protesters still in downtown Washington found themselves surrounded by a small crowd chanting "Trump Trump!" A park police officer walked over and the crowd eventually dispersed.

—Leslie Dickstein contributed reporting from Mountainside, N.J.

The U.S. has repeatedly denied involvement inIsrael’s initial attack against Iran—a position that Iran has disputed as missiles continue to fly between the two countries and the risk of further escalation looms should the world’s biggest military be pulled into the fight, which has already killed hundreds and wounded more than a thousand since Friday in Iran and killed 19 and injured hundreds in Israel,as of Monday morning.

A number of reports, however, suggest that the U.S. may have played a greater role than has officially been admitted.

Unnamed U.S. officials told multiple news outlets on Sunday that President Donald Trump rejected an Israeli plan to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we’re not even talking about going after the political leadership,” one official toldReuters.

Israel has denied such a plan, but the reported rejection by Trump would indicate some amount of coordination between the U.S. and Israel.

The attack on Iran came amid protracted talks between the U.S. and Iran centered aroundIran’s nuclear program. Trump hasemphasizedfinding a diplomatic solution to the conflict, touting his self-professed ability to broker peace, but Iran and Israel have so far shrugged off international calls for deescalation as both sides launched new attacks early Monday.

Iran has vowed to retaliate against the U.S., too, while Trump haswarned: “If we are attacked in any way, shape, or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before.”

Here’s what to know about U.S. involvement so far.

Israel launched its attacks, dubbed “Operation Rising Lion,” early Friday, targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities as well asmilitary leaders and nuclear scientistsand promising that strikes “will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat” of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran launchedretaliatory strikesat Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Friday evening and have continued to fire missiles at the country.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas AraghchisaidIran has “solid evidence” that the U.S. provided support for Israel’s attacks. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in astatementthat the attacks “could not have been carried out without coordination with and approval of the United States,” adding that the U.S. will be “held responsible for the dangerous consequences of Israel’s adventurism.”

The U.S. has denied any involvement in Israel’s strikes, a position that the Trump Administration has repeated multiple times since Friday.

“We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in astatementreleased soon after the strikes started, describing the attack as “unilateral action” by Israel. Rubio admitted Israel had informed the Trump Administration of the attack, which both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have alsoreiterated. The U.S.evacuatedembassy staff from across the region the day before the attack last week.

In a post on Truth Social urging Iran to “make a deal,” TrumpsuggestedFriday that he was also aware of “the next already planned attacks,” which would be “even more brutal.” Later that day, when asked by theWall Street Journalif he was given a heads-up about the initial attacks by Israel, he suggested that description was an understatement,responding: “Heads-up? It wasn’t a heads-up. It was, we know what’s going on.”

But on Saturday night, following further strikes, Trump againposted: “The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight.”

Israel’s attackhad been months in the making. Reports in May ofIsrael’s preparations to strike Iransuggested that the Trump Administration would not assist Israel in such an operation, especially as Washington was in the midst of negotiating a nuclear agreement with Tehran.

But news outletAxios reportedFriday that Israeli officials said the strikes were in fact coordinated with the U.S., claiming that the Trump Administration publicly pretended to oppose an Israeli attack but gave Israel a “clear U.S. green light” in private.

According to the latest reports, the U.S. has even intervened to shape the attack. U.S. officials told Reuters, theAssociated Press,CNN, and others that Israel had informed the Trump Administration of a credible plan to assassinate Khamenei and that the White House waved Israel off the plan.

Netanyahu spokesperson Omer Dostri later denied those reports,callingthem “fake.” “There’s so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I’m not going to get into that,” Netanyahu said when asked about it onFox Newson Sunday. “But I can tell you,” he continued, “we’ll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States.”

The unclear messaging about the extent of U.S. involvement, however, could reflect mixed priorities between the U.S. and Israel.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and an expert on U.S.-Iran relations,toldNPR that “clearly there had been coordination and some form of a green light” by the Trump Administration for the Israeli strikes.

“Trump is making a major gamble here, thinking that this actually will soften the Iranian position and make them capitulate,” Parsi added. “If they don’t, what are his options? And this is where I think the Israelis are hoping that the Iranians will not capitulate and that will force the United States into the war.”