Charlie Kirk’s death raises fears of ‘beginning of a darker chapter’ for US violence

Social media and widespread availability of lethal weapons make this era more dangerous than the 1960s – and the violence may increase

Charlie Kirk’s killing came amid a rise in political violence in the US, the kind now so frequent that it moves swiftly out of news cycles it would once have dominated.

The list is long and growing. From the two assassination attempts on Donald Trump during his campaign last year to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home burnt in an arson attack in April and the Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband gunned down by a man dressed as a police officer in June, to name a few.