In the wake of the attempted assassination, Trump’s campaign messaging continued undeterred, casting immigrants as the source of violence in the United States. Yet the shooting that left Trump with an injured ear was allegedly committed by someone who fits the typical profile of perpetrators of targeted violence — a young, white man described by some former classmates as a bullied loner. The suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks was registered to vote in Pennsylvania, and only citizens may register.
“Targeted violence is often done by angry people who don’t have well thought out narratives but are more impulsive and idiosyncratic,” said Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at CSU San Bernardino.
He said said most targeted violence is committed by young, white men in their teens and early 20s. Studies show immigrants commit less crime than U.S.-born citizens.
Using data collected between 2012 and 2018 from the Texas Department of Public Safety, researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that undocumented immigrants had substantially lower crime rates than native-born citizens across a number of felony offenses including violent crimes, drug crimes and property crimes.
A similar study by Alex Nowrasteh at the Libertarian Cato Institute found that undocumented immigrants had a homicide rate 14% below that of native-born citizens. Texas is the only state to keep data on the immigration status of people arrested for specific crimes.
Ran Abramitzky, a Stanford University professor who helped lead a nationally representative study comparing incarceration rates among immigrants and U.S.-born citizens from 1870 to 2020, recently told The Times that “as a group, immigrants have had lower incarceration rates than the U.S.-born for 150 years.”
But political fear mongering isn’t responsive to facts, Levin said, which is why the GOP will continue blaming immigrants for violent crime.
When have facts gotten in the way of the GOP?
(Except for when Grindr crashes under traffic spikes during their convention in Chicago, ofc. Those pesky facts frustrated just about all of 'em.)