People For's National Political Director Markus Batchelor is quoted in the Grio on Trump shooting and political violence.
Amid continued calls for peace and calm following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, leaders and experts have expressed concern for retaliatory actions, particularly among extremist groups and the safety of Black and brown communities leading up to and during Election Day.
“It’s been documented over the last couple of years that we’ve seen a rise in violence, around political violence in particular,” Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis told theGrio. “I’m certainly concerned for sure that folks have the opportunity to exercise their rights as Americans, whether it be at the ballot box or voicing their opinions.”
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“We’ve got to, for sure, give localities the resources they need to make sure that polling places are safe,” said Markus Batchelor, national political director at People For the American Way. “These hallmarks of political violence, whether it was the current assassination attempt on President Trump, or whether it was Jan. 6, or whether it was two Black women in Georgia being intimidated because of their role – all of these have an impact.”
Protecting Black voters and election workers, which has been a major concern since 2020, is imperative, said Batchelor, who called on elected officials to do what is necessary so that they can “participate and make their voices heard without fear of intimidation or harm.”
Concerns about extremist groups being emboldened by the Trump assassination attempt aside, Batchelor told theGrio that People For the American Way, a progressive advocacy group founded by famed TV producer Norman Lear, hopes it will “spark” a moment for “both sides of these [political] divisions” to use their power to quell tensions.
“It’s going to be important that everybody … really just tries to bring the temperature down,” he urged.
