We know many Democrats were stunned when Donald Trump won a second term as president. We know many are still angry about it. But we're just now learning how angry some of them are.
It's not just grandstanding Democratic lawmakers like Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas. Axios reports that "at town halls in their districts and in one-on-one meetings with constituents and activists," Crockett's more moderate Democratic House colleagues are "facing a growing thrum of demands to break the rules, fight dirty -- and not be afraid to get hurt."
"Our own base is telling us that what we're doing is not good enough," said one Democratic lawmaker (out of nine) quoted in the Axios article. "Some of them have suggested ... what we really need to do is be willing to get shot [in protests at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities] ... that there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public."
Another lawmaker told Axios that constituents say "civility isn't working" and to get ready for "violence ... to fight to protect our democracy." And another said, "It's like ... the Roman Coliseum. People just want more and more of this spectacle."
Obviously, these are Democrats who have moved beyond the defeat-them-at-the-ballot-box stage of politics, and even beyond the protest-by-civil-disobedience stage. They're ready to turn a political fight into a physical fight.
Violence is already going on. In Alvarado, Texas, a militant group broadly allied with Democratic views launched what officials call a "coordinated attack" on the ICE Prairieland Detention Center on the Fourth of July. According to court documents, it started about 10:30 p.m., when a group of 10 to 12 antifa radicals, dressed in all black, began shooting fireworks toward the building. Some began to vandalize parked cars. When unarmed ICE workers called 911, an Alvarado Police Department officer arrived.
"Immediately after the APD officer got out of his vehicle, an assailant in the woods opened fire, shooting the APD officer in the neck area," says the court document. Then another gunman "also opened fire at the unarmed Department of Homeland Security correctional officers. In total, the assailants shot approximately 20 to 30 rounds at the correctional officers." Police later found two AR-15-style rifles and spent casings in the nearby woods.
When the radicals ran away, police rounded them up. Some were still in the woods, and some were escaping down a nearby road, including seven suspects who were "dressed in black, military-style clothing, some had on body armor, some were covered in mud, some were armed, and some had radios," according to the court documents. The officer who was hit in the neck survived; 10 suspects were charged with attempted murder.
This is the radical, violent tip of the protests against the Trump administration's enforcement of immigration law. Other examples of recent radicalization include far-left "Free Palestine" extremist Elias Rodriguez, who is accused of murdering two Israeli Embassy staff members outside the Jewish National Museum in Washington on May 21. Then there is Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City on Dec. 4, 2024. Despite the brutality of his crime, Mangione found himself celebrated in some parts of the left -- his crime minimized or excused -- for what some apparently consider a bold action against an oppressive health-care system.
Beyond that, of course, there have already been riots in Los Angeles and other protests -- some with the participation of Democratic lawmakers or Democratic support groups, like labor unions -- that involved varying degrees of disorderliness.
Finally, there has been an alarming plunge in the number of Democrats who say they are proud to be an American. Back in 2015, when Barack Obama was president, 80% of Democrats said they were extremely or very proud to be an American, according to Gallup. Today, with Donald Trump in the White House, the number is less than half of that, 36%. "Democrats, the percentage who say they're proud to be an American has fallen through the floor," noted CNN data analyst Harry Enten.
Enten also observed that the Democratic numbers are entirely different from Republican numbers. In 2015, with Obama, 90% of Republicans said they were extremely or very proud to be an American. Today, with Trump, the number is 92% -- virtually unchanged.
Take it all together, and the situation is this: Some Democrats are calling on their elected representatives to engage in violence against the policies of President Trump. At the same time, groups that might be characterized as militant allies of the progressive Democratic movement are resorting to violence in an effort to obstruct the president's enforcement of federal immigration law. Some radicals have committed politically motivated murder, for which they received support in some far-left circles. And it is all happening in the context of one of the two major political parties experiencing a sharp drop in the most basic measure of civic devotion: pride in being an American.
It's a troubling picture, and nothing on the immediate horizon suggests it will improve any time soon.
Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner. Email him at byork@washingtonexaminer.com. For a deeper dive into many of the topics Byron covers, listen to his podcast, The Byron York Show, available on the Ricochet Audio Network at ricochet.com/series/byron-york-show and everywhere else podcasts are found.