As of this Friday, when  this article is being published, it is exactly 10 days until the November 5th Presidential Election, where hundreds of millions of Americans will go out and vote for the next President of the United States. This election has been touted as one of the most important in American history, and will shape the future of this country, the meaning of democracy, and the power of the President. Both sides of the election have adopted increasingly hostile rhetoric, with the Harris-Walz Democratic campaign recently stating that they believe the Trump-Vance Republican ticket fits the definition of Fascist. This comes after Trumps’ former Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Mark Milley, stated that he feared Trump would try to execute Milley if he were re-elected, additionally calling Trump a “fascist to the core” in a new book by reporter Bob Woodward. On the other side of the argument, the Republican ticket led by Donald Trump has claimed that Kamala Harris is a communist, and will be a dictator and persecute republicans. They also have frequently attacked current POTUS Joe Biden over his age and health, even after Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed Harris. 

Current Vice POTUS and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris speaking to a crowd during a rally in Georgia. (Drew Angerer/AFP)

This election, plainly put, is likely one of the most important in recent memory. Both sides of the election present very different views on almost every issue presented, from Democracy to the Constitution and abortion rights. Already, record numbers of Americans have gone out and started early voting and mail-in voting, with over 32 Million votes reportedly having been cast, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab. These record-breaking numbers reflect the mass anxiety permeating American society, with some limited cases of election-related violence already being reported. The most prominent was the recent arrest of a man connected with three shootings at a Democratic party campaign office in Arizona, one of the seven “swing states” that will determine the outcome of this election. The suspect, 60-year-old Jeffery Michael Kelly of Maricopa County, was found to have “over 120 guns and 250,000 rounds of ammunition” in his possession, according to Maricopa County prosecutor Neha Bhatia, and was charged with 3 counts of Terrorism and other related crimes.

Bullet Holes in the windows of a now closed Democratic Party campaign office in Tempe, AZ. (Gabriel Sandoval/AP PHOTO)

Maricopa County, which is where the large city of Phoenix is located, is only one of many areas throughout the country where violence has occurred. The most infamous spout of violence was the July 13th, 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump by Thomas Matthew  Crooks, a 20-year-old Republican. Crooks, armed with an AR-15 style rifle, fired several times at Trump while he was speaking on immigration during a campaign rally in Butler, PA. One of the bullets fired by Crooks, captured in this now famous image by photographer Doug Mills, was captured in a photo taken by him as the shooting began.

One of the bullets fired by Thomas Crooks at former POTUS Donald Trump streaking past his head during a campaign rally in Butler, PA. Reportedly, if Trump had turned his head only a few inches, he would have been killed. (Doug Mills)