How Polarised Is America? | Inside Story

Jul 15, 2024 | A campaign rally turned into a scene of horror on Saturday, as former US President Donald Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. The gunman fired from a nearby rooftop and was quickly taken down by Secret Service agents. The FBI has now classified it as a potential act of domestic terrorism.

President Joe Biden condemned the shooting and expressed sympathy to his opponent, in a rare break from the animosity between the two men. Could this mark the beginning of a perilous period for political violence in America? Or will the polarisation and tension recede amid the wave of shock?

Presenter: Sami Zeidan

Guests: Rachel Kleinfeld, Senior Fellow at Carnegie's Democracy, Conflict and Governance Program.
Amy Koch, Republican Political Strategist.
Natasha Lindstaedt, Professor of US Government at the University of Essex.

Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage Says It's a "Miracle" That Donald Trump Is Still Alive

Jul 14, 2024 | Mr Farage, who has joined Mr Trump at a number of rallies, said he was "very upset" by the scenes at the Pennsylvania rally.

Speaking to Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, the MP said: "I was very upset when I heard the news late last night, Donald Trump survived by a miracle, frankly."

Mr Farage said he would have "almost certainly" been at the rally, had he not won a seat in the general election.

Trump Attempted Assassination Will 'Divide America' | Watch Americans React to Trump Rally Shooting

Jul 14, 2024 | “An event like this is going to make people think more staunchly about how they already feel and more angry than they already feel”

People in Milwaukee react to the news of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, just days before the Republican National Convention is to be held in the city in Wisconsin.

Lars Hedegaard Assassination Attempt: Danish Islam Critic Targeted In Copenhagen
THE HUFFINGTON POST: COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- A gunman tried to shoot a Danish writer and prominent critic of Islam on Tuesday, but missed and fled after a scuffle with his intended victim, police and the writer said.

Lars Hedegaard, who heads a group that claims press freedom is under threat from Islam, told The Associated Press he was shaken but not physically injured in the attack at his Copenhagen home.

Police said they were searching for the suspect, whom they described as a "foreign" man aged 20-25.

Hedegaard, 70, said the gunman rang the doorbell of his apartment building on the pretext of delivering a package, and when Hedegaard opened the front door, the man pulled out a gun and fired a shot that narrowly missed the writer's head.

"The bullet flew past my right ear, after which I attacked him and punched him in the face, which made him lose the gun," Hedegaard told AP. He said the gunman then fled. » | Jan M. Olsen | AP | Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Verwandt »

Barack Obama Assassination Attempt: Oscar Ortega-Hernandez Says He Is 'Modern Day Jesus'
The man charged with attempting to assassinate President Barack Obama described himself as "a modern day Jesus" in a rambling video tape sent to the Oprah Winfrey channel.

Read the article here | Raf Sanchez | Friday, November 18, 2011
Related »

Libya: Col Gaddafi Targetted in Series of Precision Strikes
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Col Muammar Gaddafi and his armed forces have been directly targetted in a series of precision strikes in Tripoli and the key town of Misurata as concerns grow that the regime is attempting to swamp Europe with refugees.

The new phase of highly accurate attacks, shown in photographs released by the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday, was launched as an increasingly desperate refugee crisis has seen thousands from Libya flee for Europe in just a few days.

In a sign that the regime is trying to force a refugee crisis as a weapon against its Nato enemies, almost 1,900 people from Libya arrived in five boats on the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Linosa this weekend alone. Another vessel sank - bringing the total lost to four boats.

Hundreds of bodies are now washing ashore along the Libyan coast. Some of the refugees said they were forced on to the boats by Libyan troops and police, the International Organisation for Migration reported. Others were given free passage, in contrast to the normal practice where migrants are charged fortunes for the crossing.

"The flow of migrants from Libya to Italy has undeniably accelerated very recently," said the IOM's spokesman, Jean Philippe Chauzy. "Until recently, the flow to Europe was overwhelmingly Tunisians and there were no departures [by sea] from Libya. But as of yesterday, a total of 12,360 people on 35 vessels have arrived in Lampedusa and Malta from Libya." » | Thomas Harding, and Andrew Gilligan in Tripoli | Tuesday, May 10, 2011

'Lehi Considered Assassinating Winston Churchill'
THE JERUSALEM POST: Report: Declassified MI5 files reveal Jewish underground member wanted to kill British PM, foreign secretary in attempt to end the mandate.

The Lehi considered killing Winston Churchill, The Telegraph reported on Monday, citing declassified MI5 files.

Eliyahu Bet-Zuri, a member of the underground group during the time of the British mandate, reportedly suggested in November 1944 that Lehi, or Stern Gang, members fly to London to kill the prime minister and force the British out of Mandatory Palestine, sparking concern in MI5 that Jewish extremists might try to assassinate foreign secretary Ernest Bevin, as well.

"As soon as [Bet-Zuri] returned to Stern Group headquarters, he proposed to suggest a plan for the assassination of highly placed British political personalities, including Mr. Churchil, for which purpose eimssaries should be sent to London," a sources within the Lehi told Major James Robertson from MI5's Middle East section.

Four months later, Bet-Zuri was executed in Cairo for assassinating Lord Moyne, the British Minister in the Middle East. » | JPOST.COM STAFF | Monday, April 04, 2011

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Survives 'Assassination Attempt'
THE TELEGRAPH: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has survived a bomb attack on his convoy, according to reports.

Al Arabiya television said an attacker threw a bomb at Mr Ahmadinejad's convoy before being detained.

A home-made bomb exploded near the convoy, a source from the president's office told Reuters, but Mr Ahmadinejad, who was travelling from an airport in the western city of Hamadan to give a speech in a sports arena, was unharmed. >>> | Wednesday, August 04, 2010

ZEIT ONLINE: Präsident Ahmadineschad überlebt Anschlag: Auf Irans Präsidenten Mahmud Ahmadineschad ist ein Attentat verübt worden. Das Staatsoberhaupt sei bei dem Anschlag unverletzt geblieben, teilte das Präsidialamt mit. >>> Zeit Online, dpa, Reuters, AFP | Mittwoch. 04. August 2010

LE TEMPS: Une bombe explose dans le convoi d’Ahmadinejad : Le président, en déplacement ce mercredi, aurait échappé à un attentat, indiquent plusieurs médias locaux. Une bombe aurait fait des blessés dans un minibus du convoi >>> AFP/ATS | Mercredi 04 Août 2010

Iran Opposition Leader Mehdi Karoubi Escapes Mob Bullets After Mourning Victims
TIMES ONLINE: Iran’s most outspoken opposition leader has had a narrow escape after his car was hit by bullets as he fled from a mob of government supporters.

Mehdi Karroubi’s armoured car was hit at least twice as it pulled away from the angry crowd, breaking the front and back windows. Mr Karroubi was unhurt.

The shooting was an ominous development in the seven months of internal strife that have engulfed Iran since the hotly disputed presidential election in June that handed victory to President Ahmadinejad.

Mr Karroubi, 72, has been attacked with bricks and teargas before but never with bullets, and in recent days the regime has sharply increased its efforts to crush a resurgent opposition. It has fired on demonstrators and staged rallies that have demanded the execution of Mr Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, the other leader of the so-called Green Movement. >>> Martin Fletcher | Friday, January 08, 2010

Festnahmen nach möglichen Anschlags-Plänen gegen Obama
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Denver - Wegen mutmaßlicher Pläne für einen Anschlag auf den demokratischen Präsidentschaftsanwärter Barack Obama während des Parteitags in Denver sind nach Medienberichten vier Menschen festgenommen worden. Wie der lokale Fernsehsender CBS34 am Montag berichtete, sagte einer der Männer den Behörden, sie hätten Obama "von einem "geeigneten Punkt aus mit einem Gewehr erschießen" wollen.

Der Anschlag war angeblich für Donnerstag geplant, wenn Obama vor den Teilnehmern des Parteikonvents offiziell die Nominierung zum Präsidentschaftskandidaten annehmen soll. Festnahmen nach möglichen Anschlags-Plänen gegen Obama >>> | 26. August 2008

LE FIGARO: Un complot contre Obama 
déjoué à Denver ? : Selon une chaîne de télé américaine, un homme lourdement armé et deux autres personnes ont été arrêtés soupçonnés de vouloir s'en prendre au candidat démocrate à la Maison-Blanche. Le FBI enquête pour évaluer le sérieux de la menace >>> | 26.08.2008

THE TELEGRAPH: Plot to Kill Barack Obama: Three 'White Supremacists' Arrested: Three men with suspected links to white supremacist groups are in custody in Denver after being arrested with rifles and a telescopic sight amid fears of a plot to assassinate Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate >>> By Toby Harnden in Denver | August 26, 2008

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Democrats Divided by an Obama-Shaped Wedge: At the Democratic National Convention this week, it will become clear that the Democrats have a long way to go before they can speak of unity. The party is split into at least three factions >>> By Gabor Steingart | August 25, 2008

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