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John Wilkes Booth leaning forward to shoot President Abraham Lincoln as he watches Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865. Image courtesy Wikimedia. Public Domain.

COMMENTARY: 100 of the Worst Incidents of Political Violence in U.S. History

By Hank Lacey on September 13, 2025

Last updated on May 15, 2026

Kirk’s murder is the latest in a long line of killings motivated by ideology

The murder of right-wing firebrand Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 has provoked some commentators to call the crime one of the worst examples of political murder in America history. Every murder is an abomination. Every murder ravages families and friends of the victim and deprives the community of a voice and a soul. In the case of Kirk’s death, we do not yet know who killed the far-right rabble-rouser or why that person did so. But even if the shooting was motivated by someone’s disturbed view of politics, it is probably not reasonable to call the felony the worst of its genre in the annals of the nation.

In the nearly 250 years of our collective experience as a country, there have been dozens of even more shocking murders and other violent crimes perpetrated for political reasons. Some of them, such as the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and William McKinley, probably had significant impacts on the course of history. All of them shocked Americans when they occurred. 

I have listed 100 of these roughly in the order of my perception of their historical significance. That perception could, of course, be incorrect. I do not claim that this is an exhaustive list. All of the events listed here involved political motivations, including overt racism and anti-labor ideology. 

  1. Boston Massacre (five people killed) – March 5, 1770
  2. Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln – April 14, 1865
  3. Lynchings of Black Americans, 1877-1950 (about 4,300 victims)
  4. Wilmington Massacre (60-300 persons killed) – November 10, 1898
  5. Red Summer of 1919 (many deaths)
  6. Tulsa Massacre (many deaths) – May 31 to June 1, 1921
  7. 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing (four people killed) – September 15, 1963
  8. MOVE Bombing (11 persons killed) – May 13, 1985
  9. Osage Indian Murders (many victims) – 1910s to 1930s
  10. Ocoee Massacre (about 56 people killed) – November 2, 1920
  11. Ludlow Massacre (19 persons killed) – April 20, 1914
  12. Herrin Massacre (23 persons killed) – June 21, 2022
  13. Assassination of President John F. Kennedy – November 22, 1963
  14. Assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. – April 1968
  15. Assassination of Sen. Huey Long
  16. Pottawatomie Massacre (five persons killed) – May 24 and 25, 1856 
  17. Atlanta Race Massacre (at least 27 persons killed) – September 22-24, 1906
  18. Mountain Meadows Massacre (120-140 persons killed) – September 7 through 11, 1857
  19. Memorial Day Massacre (10 people killed) – May 30, 1937
  20. Bath School Disaster (45 people killed) – May 18, 1927
  21. Rosewood Massacre (eight people killed) – January 1923
  22. Everett Massacre (five people killed) – November 5, 1916
  23. Columbine Mine Massacre (six people killed) – November 21, 1927
  24. Centralia Massacre (six persons killed) – November 11, 1919
  25. Newberry Massacre (six people killed) – August 18, 1916
  26. Matewan Massacre (11 persons killed) – May 19, 1920
  27. Battle of Blair Mountain (10-33 people killed) – August 25, 1921
  28. Assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy – June 1968
  29. Pratt Street Massacre (16 persons killed) – April 19, 1861
  30. Lawrence Massacre (185-200 people killed) – August 21, 1863
  31. Philadelphia Nativist Riots – May 6 to 8 and July 6-7, 1844
  32. Sand Creek Massacre (100-600 persons killed) – November 29, 1864
  33. Assassination of President James A. Garfield – July 1881 (he died in September 1881) 
  34. Colfax Massacre (at least 83 and as many as 153 persons killed) – April 13, 1873
  35. Opelousas Massacre (at least 35 persons killed) – September 28, 1868
  36. Assassination of President William McKinley – September 1901
  37. Death in combat of Sen. Edward D. Baker at hands of traitorous Confederate soldiers during Civil War – October 21, 1861
  38. Chinese Massacre (at least 18 persons killed) – October 24, 1871
  39. Ellenton Massacre (at least 25 and as many as 100 persons killed) – September 15-16, 1876
  40. Coushatta Massacre (at least 11 and as many as 26 persons killed) – August 1874
  41. Insurrection and coup attempt at U.S. Capitol – January 6, 2021
  42. Thibodeaux Massacre (at least 35 people killed) – November 22, 1887
  43. Haymarket Affair (11 persons killed) – May 4, 1886
  44. Bay View Massacre (7 persons killed) – May 5, 1886
  45. Election Riot of 1874 (8 persons killed) – November 3, 1874
  46. Lattimer Massacre (19 persons killed) – September 10, 1897
  47. Bloody Monday (at least 22 persons killed) – August 6, 1855
  48. Freedmen Massacres – 1866 to 1876
  49. Attempted Assassination of President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt and murder of Chicago mayor Anton Cermak – February 15, 1933
  50. Goingsnake Massacre (11 people killed) – April 15, 1872
  51. Rock Springs Massacre (28 persons killed) – September 2, 1885
  52. Chico Chinese Massacre (four persons killed) – March 14, 1877
  53. 1891 New Orleans Lynchings (11 persons killed) – March 14, 1891
  54. Attempted Assassination of President Ronald W. Reagan – March 30, 1981
  55. Attempted Assassination of President Gerald R. Ford – September 5, 1975
  56. Attempted Assassination of President Gerald R. Ford – September 22, 1975
  57. Four attempted assassinations, including conspiracies, of Abraham Lincoln between election in 1860 and his death in 1965 (February 23, 1861; December 1863; August 1864; April 1-10, 1865)
  58. Murder of Nine Kent State University students by Ohio National Guard members – May 4, 1970 
  59. Caning of U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner – May 22, 1856
  60. Murder of U.S. District Judge John Roll and five other persons and Attempted Murder of U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords – January 8, 2011
  61. Murder of Mayor George Moscone and City Councilmember Harvey Milk – November 27, 1978
  62. Attempted Assassination of President Theodore Roosevelt – October 14, 1912
  63. Murder of Rep. McDonald by Soviet armed forces in attack on Korean Airlines Flight, 1983
  64. Assassination of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and murder of her husband Mark – June 14, 2025
  65. Fort Hood shooting (14 persons killed) – November 5, 2009
  66. Charleston Church Shooting (nine people killed) – June 17, 2015
  67. Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting (11 people killed) – October 27, 2018
  68. Isla Vista killings (seven people killed) – May 23, 2014
  69. El Paso Wal Mart shooting (23 people killed) – August 3, 2019
  70. 2022 Buffalo Shooting (10 people killed) – May 14, 2022
  71. Assassination of U.S. Circuit Judge Robert S. Vance – December 16, 1989
  72. Attempted Assassination of President Andrew Jackson – January 30, 1835
  73. Two Attempted Assassination of President William Howard Taft – October 1909 and 1910)
  74. Attempted Assassination of President Herbert Hoover – November 19, 1928
  75. Two Attempted Assassinations of President Harry S. Truman – 1947 and November 1, 1950
  76. Two Attempted Assassinations of President Richard M. Nixon – April 13, 1972 and February 22, 1974 
  77. Attempted assassinations of President William J. Clinton – January 1994, October 1994, and October 2018 
  78. Plot to kill President George W. Bush – May 2022
  79. At least 11 assassination attempts and/or advanced plots to kill President Barack H. Obama
  80. At least three attempts to kill President Donald J. Trump during his first term, including plots
  81. Two attempts to assassinate President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
  82. Attempted Assassination in Pennsylvania of former President Donald J. Trump, 2024
  83. Assassination of American Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell – August 25, 1967
  84. Murder of U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan – November 18, 1978
  85. Murder of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas’ son – July 19, 2020
  86. Attack on U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s husband – October 28, 2022
  87. Murder of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow’s husband and mother – February 28, 2005
  88. Assassination of U.S. District Judge John H. Wood Jr. – May 29, 1979
  89. Assassination of U.S. District Judge Richard Daronco – May 21, 1988
  90. Murder of U.S. Territorial Judge (New Mexico) John P. Slough – December 15, 1867
  91. Murders of U.S. Reps. James Hinds, John Pinckney, Jose Chaves, Allard Lowenstein; former Reps. Josiah Anderson, Thomas Hindman, Thomas Haughey, Edward Holbrook; Rep.-elect John Clayton 
  92. Attempted Murder of U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise – June 14, 2017
  93. Murder of Governors Charles Bent (1847), Edwin McCook (1873), William Goebel (1900), and Frank Steunenberg (1905) 
  94. Murder of George Ashburn, U.S. Senate candidate – March 31, 1868 
  95. Murders of at least 29 state legislators in U.S history 
  96. Murders of at least two state court judges in U.S. history 
  97. Murders of at least three statewide office holders in U.S. history 
  98. Murders of at least seven other mayors in U.S. history and at least two other city council members in U.S. history 
  99. Murder of Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown – December 15, 2000
  100. Assaults on U.S. Sens. John Stennis and Rand Paul

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Hank Lacey

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