Gasoline keeps being tossed on a smoldering fire in the US | ELAINE HARRIS SPEARMAN

The United States has gun violence as one of its leading and most notable causes of horrible deaths and life-altering injuries. It is among the leaders in non-wartime violent deaths that wreak havoc upon its own people, Democratic and Republican alike.

The U.S. is a leader among peaceful nations in attacks upon innocent school children; attacks upon people participating in marathons and attending live musical concerts; people attending services or events at churches and synagogues; the LGBT community living their own lives at clubs and events; everyday people shopping at a Wal-Mart; even families attending parades and movie theaters and public parks.

All of these bullet-riddled events do not include outright assassination of a president of the country as well as noted civil rights leaders and members of Congress at a ball game.

The catastrophe that will forever be in the history books, and emblazoned in the minds of all who witnessed the act, is the live, real time coverage of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection where people were hunting other people to kill or maim in the U.S. Capitol building. We saw lawmakers running for their lives and being escorted to hiding places.

We saw a former president urge the “Proud Boys to stand by,” while urging the crowd to “storm the Capitol building.” Denials can come forth and stream like a mighty river, but the film footage is there for all of time.

The invasion of the home of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband was severely injured as the intruder searched for Pelosi, and the interrupted plot to kidnap and murder the governor of Michigan are violent acts that many Americans do not wish to face that occurred in this country.

As we look at the actors and shooters in most if not all of the mass shootings and violent personal attacks, most of the actors fit a very similar profile. According to the National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology and Educational Center, which studies those who threaten public officials, “Those with an ideological bent veered toward right-wing, racially-motivated — and often misogynistic or religious — violent extremism.”

According to the center, the person who tried to shoot former President Donald Trump “more closely resembles the man who shot more than 400 people at a Las Vegas concert, killing 60.” The motive is still not understood, according to police.

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All involved guns (Pelosi’s attacker had a second object), and most involved AR-styled weapons primarily suitable for military-type use.

Don’t be fooled by late, lazy rhetoric. Who are the people who have called for some form of gun control that makes sense? Who are the people who have continuously fought back with a selfish, misguided interpretation of Second Amendment rights?

How many young, loner males living with their parents, and using digital surveillance, have been purchased AR-style weapons by their parents? Why?

What campaign has been fueled by hatred and division and charged with vows of revenge? Who has urged and praised violence with a greeting to Putin the murderer to “do what the hell he wants to Ukraine,” as people fight for their very existence?

Who used the example of a violent act to demonstrate what he could get away with, and the base would blindly follow? The world knows when and where the “new” vitriol in politics began. What has begun is the perennial “investigations,” particularly by the GOP in Congress.

They are focused on an attempt to place blame for the assassination attempt against Trump on President Joe Biden and the Secret Service. There is an absolute refusal to face the truth of the gasoline that has been continuously thrown on a smoldering American fire.

A report was confirmed to USA TODAY that “Trump’s security was increased in recent weeks after intelligence showed Iran had been plotting to kill him.” The National Security Council issued a statement that “Iran has sought revenge since Trump ordered the killing of Qassem Soleimani.”

Iran’s mission to the U.N. issued a statement that “Trump remains a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law, a legal path to bring him to justice.”

So many innocents have died in this country at the hands of those who closely resemble the attempted assassin. Where was the hue and cry by the people now being seen and heard in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump? Don’t other people’s lives matter as much?

The talk can be quelled regarding Trump being a unifier. He never was, and he never will be. His poisonous rhetoric has soaked every fiber of what was once the Republican Party and its supporters.

This is exhibited to me by the widow of the man killed by the killer refusing to accept President Biden's call, saying her husband “was a devout Republican,” who would not have wanted her to talk to Biden, according to a USA TODAY article. Her choice, but so much for graciousness and unity from Republicans.

I speak from being a lifelong member of the Methodist Church, now United Methodist. Most of us, whatever the denomination, have no knowledge of the faith practices of those who have taken it upon themselves to uplift Trump in Biblical terms. They should take heed to hitching themselves to a bandwagon of Trump not being killed as a “God-ordained act” that makes him triumph over death.

According to the Bible, God uses a great many things to make us understand what He has been telling us for ages. The Ten Commandments reign supreme.

As the “apostle wannabes” continue down this path of praise, how many times have they chastised Trump for words, acts and behavior that do not comport with biblical teachings? Review what the Bible says about vengeance, hate, love, failing to attend the needs of the poor, liars, adultery and false prophets.

Many times, God chooses to continuously reveal arrogance, evil and liars so that the people can come to understand what He has given that is good. Without seeing wrong behavior, people may fail to recognize right.

Revelation 21:8 tells us that liars will end up in the lake of fire. Revelation 20:3 tells us the devil must be loosed for a time.

Elaine Harris Spearman, Esq., a Gadsden native, is an attorney and is the retired legal advisor to the comptroller of the City of St. Louis. The opinions expressed are her own.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Elaine Harris Spearman looks at assassination attempt on Trump