That is a question I have been asking myself a lot here lately. 

My last column was written before the tragedy that occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. Truly what occurred that day never should have happened. Unjust violence should never be justified. Political Violence is something that should NEVER be allowed within our country, it should be absolutely abhorred by everyone. 

The people online who make posts about wishing those bullets would have been more accurate, or the posts calling for someone to take the same course of action against President Joe Biden, disgust me in many ways.

The people who sit back and let this hate grow and fester within our country are not the only ones who have taken me aback. The gross negligence of both the FBI and Secret Service have been growing lately and came to light on July 13.

The shooter, who I will not name due to the fact I don't think he deserves any attention for this, should not have ever been allowed near that venue, much less on a rooftop, with a firearm, within range of former President Donald Trump. He was on the roof and spotted almost 20 minutes before action was taken to neutralize the threat.

This is an event that I believe no  matter what party you align yourself with you should want answers about what happened on that fateful day. I not only want answers but I also want someone to be held accountable for the lack of awareness and neglect of their position. 

This makes me fearful of the state of our country, that someone with a government funded, government trained, and an agency with a vast amount of resources, cannot protect one person. That really makes me fearful of my own safety within our country.

It’s events like these that will lead us to another civil war, we have so much hate and anger mounting in our country.

We have had act’s like this a multitude of times within the past decade, including the Insurrection in our capital building on Jan. 6, 2021. 

In October of 2022, speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi’s house was attacked and her husband was violently assaulted within his own home.

The attempted kidnapping of governor Gretchen Whitmer in October of 2020.

These actions are being enabled by viewers on a global level, encouraging these actions, and providing tips and idea’s online of how to do it, or how to get away with it. Violence in general should never be something that is romanticized or encouraged, much less violence against our political figures. 

So back to my original question: What is happening? Does anyone have an answer to this? Is there any way to actually stop this violence and hatred within our country? 

Kaison Joyner is the legals clerk of The Covington News. He can be reached at kaijoyner@covnews.com.