WASHINGTON, July 14, 2024 – The U.S. Capitol Historical Society is shocked and saddened by this weekend’s terrible events in Butler, Pennsylvania. What appears to be political violence should never be a part of our great experiment in self-governance. Our system has endured for nearly 250 years because Americans understand that, whatever our differences, procuring democracy requires both the peaceful transfer of power and our ability to run for office without fear of violence or retribution.

As Thomas Jefferson eloquently reminded us, “every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.”

It’s important to remember, though, that we’ve been here before. Four times the leader of our country has been assassinated with more than a dozen other such attempts. Members of Congress and their families have also endured numerous attacks, recently at a grocery store, on a baseball diamond, and even in the Capitol itself.

But that same history has shown that, in the face of such tragedy, the American people can, and often have, with great resolve, come together to move forward—without disruption to our democracy—by calling upon “the better angels of our nature.”

It is our fervent hope that we, the people, will do so once again.