The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) describes itself as “a nonpartisan research institute leading the field of cybersocial science.” Back in April, Fox News described NCRI’s then-new piece as a disturbing new report that revealed that violent political rhetoric online, including calls for the murder of public figures like President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, was being increasingly normalized, particularly on the left:
“What was formerly taboo culturally has become acceptable,” Joel Finkelstein, the lead author of the report, told Fox News Digital. “We are seeing a clear shift – glorification, increased attempts and changing norms – all converging into what we define as ‘assassination culture.’”
The NCRI study traces the cultural shift back to the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson by Luigi Mangione in December 2024. What followed, researchers say, was a viral wave of memes that turned Mangione into a folk hero.
According to the study, these memes have sparked copycat behavior targeting other figures associated with wealth and conservative politics.
“It’s not just Luigi anymore,” Finkelstein said. “We’re seeing an expansion: Trump, Musk and others are now being openly discussed as legitimate targets, often cloaked in meme culture and gamified online dialogue.”
A ballot measure in California, darkly named the Luigi Mangione Access to Health Care Act, is just one real-world outgrowth of this online movement.
NCRI conducted a non-probability based nationally representative survey of more than 1,200 U.S. adults, weighted to reflect national census demographics. The findings were stark: Some 38% of respondents said it would be at least “somewhat justified” to murder Donald Trump, and 31% said the same about Elon Musk.
When counting only left-leaning respondents, justification for killing Trump rose to 55% and Musk to 48%.
“These are not isolated opinions,” the report states. “They are part of a tightly connected belief system linked to what we call left-wing authoritarianism.”
“Trump represents the perfect target for assassination culture. He’s powerful, he’s rich and he’s provocative,” said Finkelstein to Fox News Digital. “That puts him on the highest shelf for those who glorify political violence.”
When asked whether destroying a Tesla dealership was justified, nearly four in 10 respondents agreed it was, to some degree. Among self-identified left-of-center participants, support for vandalism and property damage was significantly higher.
“Property destruction wasn’t just an outlier opinion, it clustered tightly with support for political assassinations and other forms of violence,” said Finkelstein. “This points to a coherent belief system, not just isolated grievances.”
[…]
Finkelstein believes the psychological roots of “assassination culture” are a mix of ideological radicalism and feelings of powerlessness, particularly in the aftermath of electoral losses.
“When people feel like they have no say, no future and no leadership offering vision, they become susceptible to radical ideation,” he said. “And that’s when the memes turn into permission structures for real violence.”
D party courts have refused to prosecute an open and shut case of accessory after the fact for Charlie Kirk’s killer. D party courts back D party muscle.
Generation Alpha is going to be a wild ride.
What a curious new phenomenon. Search for “Payal Modi” and “squirt gun”. And that was in Dallas of all places.
Yeah, about that. Didn’t it take turn to «Different backpack, different jacket….only a $10k reward lol. What a joke,» immediately?
And wonder of wonders, 5 days later a suspect was detained… still carrying the same gun, and manifesto. What a joke, indeed.
Why “authoritarianism”? Some of these clowns would do among the Socialist Revolutionary gang.
Stolypin: Look, how about you guys get a coherent programme and become a lead government faction and out of everyone’s hair?
SRs: Haha, no, we have fun being terrorists.
The next contenders: Uh huh… (scribbles down memo to self: «exterminate SR like rabid dogs the moment we can»)
To me, the most astonishing thing about the left’s self-appointed ‘warriors’ is not just that everything they espouse would be crushed (to the point of exile and even execution) by their future idealised leaders, but that they cannot see it.
History has innumerable examples of not only opposition being curtailed, but even more that allies, friends and helpers are dealt with even faster–and harsher. After all, someone who has shown violence in order to get a ‘better person’ into office, is not going to be tolerated in the slightest once the ideal is achieved.