Chris O’Leary, Senior VP, Global Operations at The Soufan Group, appeared on Katy Tur Reports and claimed most political violence in America has been from the left. IT IS A LIE!
One had to dismantle the false claim by a supposed MSNBC expert that “most political violence comes from the left,” instead presenting a historically grounded critique showing that the vast majority of U.S. political violence—from the Ku Klux Klan to modern domestic terrorism—has emerged from right-wing forces. In contrast, left-wing violence has been limited, episodic, and institutionally unsupported.
False Assertion Debunked: Chris O’Leary’s claim on MSNBC that left-wing violence predominates is labeled outright a lie.
Historical Right-Wing Violence: Political violence across eras—from slavery and Reconstruction to industrial repression to civil rights attacks—has largely been perpetrated by right-wing actors.
Modern Extremism: Incidents like the Oklahoma City bombing, mass shootings (Charleston, El Paso, Buffalo), and the January 6 insurrection exemplify persistent right-wing domestic terror.
Limited Left-Wing Incidents: While left-wing groups like the IWW, Weather Underground, and the SLA committed sporadic attacks, their actions were isolated, marginalized, and quickly suppressed.
Structural Support & Narrative Bias: Right-wing violence often benefits from alignment with state power and is downplayed by media, while left-wing incidents get exaggerated,...
When John F. Kennedy delivered his 1961 inaugural address, fewer than half of Americans had even been born. Still, his call to service, “ask not what the country can do for you, but what you can do...