Days After NYT Excused Murder, Would-Be Assassin Went For Trump
A would-be assassin allegedly trying to target Trump administration officials was caught on video rushing a Secret Service checkpoint during an event attended by President Trump and members of his cabinet, with reports that he carried a shotgun, a handgun, and knives. The article argues this attempt reflects a broader pattern rather than isolated events: it points to earlier media and political commentary that, in its view, rationalized or normalized violence.
It claims that days before, marxist streamer Hasan Piker defended the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, using the idea of “social murder” to suggest the victim was guilty through the healthcare system, and that the New York Times treated the confrontation as “lively” without meaningful pushback. The author than connects this to the alleged timing and contents of the later suspect’s manifesto-described as invoking conspiracy-like claims and suggesting elected officials don’t deserve compliance-arguing such justifications can lower the threshold for real-world violence.
From there, the piece argues that for years parts of the media and political figures have legitimized or softened portrayals of left-wing political violence, citing examples such as fundraising tied to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, certain comparisons and coverage of riots, and sympathetic framing of violent activists or anti-ICE agitators. It concludes that when major outlets elevate arguments that excuse violence, they implicitly make future attacks seem more acceptable.
A would-be assassin with reported intent to target the Trump administration was caught on video charging through a security checkpoint during an event attended by the president and members of his cabinet. This marks yet another assassination attempt against Donald Trump, and like the others, Saturday’s attempt did not happen in a vacuum.
Just days before the attempted assassination, Marxist streamer Hasan Piker defended Luigi Mangione’s December 2024 alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson during an interview with the New York Times (NYT). He invoked Friedrich Engels’ concept of “social murder” to suggest that Thompson was guilty of “systematized forms of violence” through the health care system.
According to Piker, Thompson was “engaging in a tremendous amount of social murder.”
It was stunning commentary to say the least. But what was more shocking was that the Times’ Nadja Spiegelman described the interview as a “lively” exchange. There was no pushback against Piker’s defense and justification of murder, just the Times lending its name-brand “credibility” to the idea that some killings are justifiable.
That was April 22.
Four days later, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen was allegedly seen on surveillance footage rushing a Secret Service checkpoint at the White House Correspondents Dinner while reportedly armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives. Gunfire hit one agent who was wearing a bulletproof vest and has since been released from the hospital. Allen’s now widely-reported manifesto describes his intent to target Trump administration officials — many of whom were present at the dinner.
It marks one of several assassination attempts against Trump in less than two years that did not happen in a vacuum. When people like Piker openly rationalize and justify murder, and then one of the most influential newspapers in the country treats it as some kind of thoughtful exchange rather than an abhorrent act, it sends a message that some violence can be excused.
And so when a would-be assassin comes along, he doesn’t need to be directly encouraged to commit violence, he just needs to believe that his actions are acceptable under a media-pushed framework that murder can sometimes be OK if “proper” justification is found. In fact, the manifesto making headlines after Saturday admits as much. Although it does not refer to Trump by name, it clearly accuses the president of being a “pedophile, rapist, and traitor” — unsubstantiated narratives often pushed by corporate media. Allen also reportedly wrote that he is not required to “yield [elected officials] anything so unlawfully ordered.”
“The United States of America are ruled by the law, not by any one or several people. In so far as representatives and judges do not follow the law, no one is required to yield them anything so unlawfully ordered,” the manifesto reads.
This would-be assassin’s apparent belief that he was justified in violently targeting a duly elected president did not come from nowhere. Instead, the media has for years legitimized or excused left-wing political violence.
Then-candidate for Vice President Kamala Harris encouraged her supporters to donate to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, “which provided bail money to the militant anarchists facing charges for setting fire to Minneapolis” during the deadly George Floyd riots, as The Federalist previously reported. Don Lemon (who had not yet been fired from CNN at the time) compared George Floyd riots to the Boston Tea Party. The Huffington Post published a mini-documentary claiming “Riots Built America.”
Moments after news broke that Charlie Kirk was shot, MSNBC Analyst Matthew Dowd called Kirk “one of the most divisive” figures and added: “Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions …You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place.” Dowd was later fired.
And more recently, the propaganda press and left-wing outlets have run cover for anti-immigration enforcement rioters and other agitators like Renee Nicole Good. Video footage appeared to show Good charge and hit an ICE agent with her car before the agent shot her.
In the wake of Good’s death, The Atlantic published a piece saying, “No matter how many more armed men Trump sends to impose his will on the people of Minnesota, all he can do is accentuate their valor. No application of armed violence can make the men with guns as heroic as the people who choose to stand in their path with empty hands in defense of their neighbors.”
When The Times and other outlets elevate arguments that justify, excuse, and implicitly encourage violence, they are actively lowering the bar for what is acceptable, and in doing so, they are implicitly giving a pass to more violence.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
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