Did Donald Trump’s assassination attempt put a civil war into motion? Were we simply mere inches away from another full-blown civil war occurring? Did the shooter’s failure save us?

For those still stuck as statists in the left vs. right paradigm lie, this incident is a big deal. A member of the ruling class was shot at, and hit by all media accounts. According to the Denver Gazette, the shooter’s intentions almost do not matter. Donald Trump is so reviled by a large faction of this country and so beloved by another faction, that were he murdered it would spark more violence.

President Joe Biden would be, to borrow a phrase of his, “put in the bullseye.” Trump supporters would look for ways to retaliate. Violent Antifa extremists would rise in support of the assassin. So are Trump supporters going to retaliate? Probably not. Most of them talk a good game about “freedom” while still voting for a master to rule them and everyone else.

The United States has not had a political assassination in the memory of most Americans. If Trump were eliminated, it would—to be crass for a moment—help Democrats’ chances in November. If one party improved its political odds through murder, the reaction would be extremely violent.

I don’t believe we would have had a years-long civil war if Trump were assassinated. But we would have had weeks or months of political violence. –Denver Gazette

Trump, who is 78 years old, had just begun a campaign speech in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Pittsburgh, on Saturday when shots rang out, hitting the former president’s right ear and streaking his face with blood.

Did his reaction to the shooting signal to his followers that he expects them to react with violence? “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Trump mouthed to supporters, pumping his fist, as Secret Service agents rushed him away. His campaign said he was doing well and appeared to have suffered no major injury besides a wound on his upper right ear.

The FBI identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect in what it called an attempted assassination. He was a registered Republican, according to state voter records, and had made a $15 donation to a Democratic political action committee at the age of 17.

The suspect was shot dead by Secret Service agents, the agency said, after he opened fire from the roof of a building about 150 yards (140 m) from the stage where Trump was speaking. An AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle was recovered near his body. –Reuters

One thing is for sure, this attack heightened longstanding worries that political violence could erupt during the presidential campaign and after the election no matter who is selected to rule the slaves. Sadly, the slaves are going to fight each other, and not the masters and enforcers controlling them and stealing the fruits of their labor.

The concerns partly reflect the electorate’s polarization, with the country appearing bitterly divided into two camps with divergent political and social visions. Americans fear rising political violence, recent Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, with two out of three respondents to a May survey saying they worried violence could follow the election.

Perhaps this is a psychological operation. Maybe it’s organic. Either way, it is going to ratchet up the tensions already present in statists on both sides of the political aisle.