Analysts warn U.S. could be heading towards political violence: The Guardian

LONDON, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Analysts have warned that the United States could be heading towards widespread political violence, British newspaper The Guardian has reported.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, 2021. According to the newspaper, though extremist groups are under renewed pressure, the threat they pose has not disappeared.

Within minutes of Trump's indictment earlier this month, threats and even calls for civil war were surging on social media platforms used by his supporters, said a Guardian editorial published on Friday.

The violent rhetoric doesn't just come from the grassroots. The Arizona Republican Kari Lake announced that "to get to President Trump, you're going to have to go through me, and you're going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me ... Most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA (National Rifle Association)."

In the United States, the growth of threats and political violence in recent years is undeniable. Last year, research found that more than two in five Americans think a civil war is at least somewhat likely within the next decade.

No one foresees a straight confrontation between forces as in the 1860s, let alone a geographic split. What some experts fear is a guerrilla-style asymmetric conflict waged by a decentralised movement, with small groups or lone attackers targeting minority targets such as synagogues or gay clubs, civilians more broadly, infrastructure, or figures such as Democratic politicians, judges, and election officials, the newspaper added.