Last year, Axios reported something that now feels chillingly prophetic after the incident in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Back in July, Democratic lawmakers revealed that they were seeing a disturbing trend at town halls and constituent meetings: increasingly aggressive demands from their base to throw out the rulebook, break norms, and even put themselves in harm's way to oppose Trump's agenda.
Clearly, they weren’t bluffing. This week alone, Renee Nicole Good attempted to run over an ICE agent with her car in Minneapolis on Wednesday, resulting in her being shot and killed, and federal agents shot two anti-ICE protesters in Portland. One can’t help but wonder if left-wing activists are deliberately escalating tensions to try to get shot in the name of the cause.
Sounds crazy? Well, more than two dozen House Democrats spoke with Axios last year, many anonymously, about what they were hearing from constituents and activists. The picture they painted showed anger inside the base evolving into something far more troubling: outright disregard for American institutions, political traditions, and the rule of law.
ICYMI: This May Be the Best Analysis of the ICE Shooting Video Yet
One House Democrat put it bluntly. "This idea that we're going to save every norm and that we're not going to play [Republicans'] game ... I don't think that's resonating with voters anymore.”
Another described "a sense of fear and despair and anger" among voters that meant Democrats "can't keep following norms of decorum.” The demands went beyond frustration with legislative gridlock.
Some grassroots activists even suggested lawmakers must be "willing to get shot" when visiting ICE facilities or federal agencies. The same lawmaker recalled being told that "there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public.”
There needs to be blood.
Others heard constituents declare that "civility isn't working" and warn them to prepare for "violence ... to fight to protect our democracy.”
One Democrat recounted receiving messages calling to "storm the White House," though they acknowledged extreme voices always exist online. Even lawmakers not hearing overt calls for violence reported seeing voter panic and fury driving demands for brute-force tactics.
And it wasn’t coming from marginalized people. Here’s what I wrote about it last year:
These aren’t fringe outbursts or hollow threats; they’re coming straight from the heart of the Democratic base. The people fueling this rhetoric aren’t struggling or disenfranchised; they’re “economically secure, well-educated white voters in upscale neighborhoods,” according to the report. This isn’t the voice of the oppressed; it’s privilege masquerading as revolution. It’s a calculated descent into mob mentality, cloaked in moral pretense, where calls for violence are the latest means to virtue signal their radical left-wing bona fides.
And Democrats knew this. Yet, today, they’re acting shocked. But they privately admitted at the time that their base is consumed by anger and spectacle rather than strategy. Attempts to redirect that energy toward winning back Congress in 2026 went nowhere, with lawmakers describing voters as too angry to be reasoned with and likening the mood to a “Roman coliseum” craving nonstop drama.
It all makes sense, doesn’t it? Left-wing activists aren’t simply protesting ICE operations; they’re deliberately trying to cause bloodshed in support of the cause of resisting Trump.
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