START in the News: Data, Context, and the Complex Landscape of Political Violence

Oct 28, 2025

In the weeks since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, allegedly by 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, START has received numerous inquiries and questions about how to classify this killing, how it reflects the state of the nation’s politics, and how to respond. This newsletter rounds up some of those interviews to share with our constituents and stakeholders how we have been talking to the media about this event.

Kirk’s killing in some way exemplifies the difficulties we can face as researchers in categorizing and classifying acts of violence in the immediate aftermath of the event. Social media was quickly flooded with rumors and conspiracy theories: the shooter was groomed by transgender terrorists; the shooter was hired by Israel; the shooter was hired by supporters of President Trump to distract from the Epstein files; it was a false flag attack. Individuals seized on disparate interpretations of singular details to justify their interpretations. One key example of this was the inscription of “Bella Ciao” on one of the bullets found at the scene. Political influencers and actors who are typically identified as being right of the U.S. political spectrum quickly pointed out the anti-fascist origins of the phrase in. Political influencers and other actors more commonly associated with the U.S. left pointed towards the presence of this song on a “groyper” Spotify playlist. However, Ciao Bella is also found in multiple online games, a world where Robinson spent a lot of time.

While new information about Robinson’s motivation is likely to emerge, since he is facing trial, I think it is critical to put this one event in the context the country is facing. After all, on the same day as Kirk’s killing, there was a school shooting in Colorado that was at least partially motivated by white supremacy. And we’ve seen other acts of extremist violence from across the political spectrum in the weeks before and after Kirk’s killing. As you read the analysis from Michael Jensen, linked further down in this newsletter, you’ll note the large increase in terrorism and targeted violence plots and attacks. And those plots and attacks are not emanating from just one ideology. Furthermore, a good number of them seem to be motivated by a complex mix of political and personal grievance.

With communities across the country facing increased violence from diverse sources, it is more imperative than ever to have rigorously collected data and analysis. This, in fact, has been one of START’s most important motivations since we first opened our doors in 2005 – to help policymakers, practitioners, and the public understand the causes and consequences of political violence. Crucially, START and researchers in this field also work to understand what policies and practices we can put into place to prevent the next attack. None of this is inevitable.

The federal government is largely disengaging from this work. There have been mass cancellations of data collection and other research funding; offices whose mission is to support local communities to prevent terrorism and targeted violence have been gutted; personnel have been taken off of counterterrorism missions and diverted to other portfolios. With these shifts in federal priorities, state and local governments, the private sector, and civil society organizations are left to pick up this work. START remains committed to this mission space, despite sizeable obstacles and challenges.

Amy Pate, Ph.D.
Acting Director & Executive Director