The assassination of a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband and the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife at their homes are just the latest addition to a long and unsettling roll call of political violence in the United States.

The list, in the past two months alone: the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, the firebombing of a Colorado march calling for the release of Israeli hostages, and the firebombing of the official residence of Pennsylvania's governor — on a Jewish holiday while he and his family were inside.

Nevada has too seen an apparent escalation in political violence. In May, a man who made antisemitic threats against Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and her family was sentenced to slightly less than four years in federal prison, and in October 2022, a Reno man was sentenced to as many as 15 years in jail for making death threats to Nevada officials, including then-Gov. Steve Sisolak, state Treasurer Zach Conine and former-Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson (D-Las Vegas). 

Lawmakers across Nevada condemned the Minnesota attack. In a statement to The Nevada Independent, Gov. Joe Lombardo’s office said that “political violence of any kind is despicable” and called it a “senseless tragedy.”

"We've entered into this especially scary time in the country where it feels the sort of norms and rhetoric and rules that would tamp down on violence have been lifted," said Matt Dallek, a political scientist at George Washington University who studies extremism. "A lot of people are receiving signals from the culture."

Politics behind both individual shootings and massacres

Politics have also driven large-scale massacres. Gunmen who killed 11 worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, 23 shoppers at a heavily Latino Walmart in El Paso in 2019 and 10 Black people at a Buffalo grocery store in 2022 each cited the conspiracy theory that a secret cabal of Jews were trying to replace white people with people of color. 

That has become a staple on parts of the right who support Trump's push to limit immigration.

The escalation in anti-immigrant rhetoric has some Latino lawmakers in Nevada worried.

Assm. Cecelia Gonzalez (D-Las Vegas) said in an interview with The Nevada Independent that she is looking into increased security measures for her and her family. She said that recent escalations during immigration protests, such as the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles, have her especially worried. 

“When you do become vocal, you do become a target,” Gonzalez said. 

The United States has a long and grim history of political violence. Experts say the past few years, however, have most likely reached a level not seen since the tumultuous days of the 1960s and 1970s, when icons such as Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated.

Similar to other states, Nevada lawmakers (with the exception of the governor) don’t receive their own security details. Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) said she has been talking with legislative police to make sure that lawmakers are safe and learn more about necessary precautions they can take. 

Meanwhile, Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, said in an interview with FOX5 that he had to request a security detail this year due to an increase in threats. 

“We're all part-time legislators, so we all have jobs and families and other things in the community that we regularly participate in and neighborhoods that we live in,” Cannizzaro said. 

Ware noted that the most recent surge comes after the new Trump administration has shuttered units that focus on investigating white supremacist extremism and pushed federal law enforcement to spend less time on anti-terrorism and more on detaining people who are in the country illegally.

"We're at the point, after these six weeks, where we have to ask about how effectively the Trump administration is combating terrorism," Ware said.

Of course, one of Trump's first acts in office was to pardon those involved in the largest act of domestic political violence this century — the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, intended to prevent Congress from certifying Trump's 2020 election loss. Trump pardoned eight Nevadans for their involvement.

Those pardons broadcast a signal to would-be extremists on either side of the political debate, Dallek said: "They sent a very strong message that violence, as long as you're a Trump supporter, will be permitted and may be rewarded."

Eric Neugeboren contributed to this report.