Younger Americans Less Worried About Political Violence and Free Speech Threats, AP-NORC Poll Finds

Ryan Striker, a 34-year-old music teacher in Manchester, New Hampshire, says his worry about political violence comes down to momentum. Anytime it happens, he told pollsters, it seems to snowball. Striker is liberal but politically independent, and he opposes President Donald Trump. His unease is shared by a sizable share of the country, though not evenly across age groups.

The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research surveyed 1,289 adults from Oct. 9 to 13, drawing from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to represent the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. The poll came after a year marked by two violent episodes. In June, Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot to death in their home, and state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were wounded. The Justice Department described it as the shooter's calculated plan to inflict fear and violence on Minnesota elected officials and their families. In September, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead while addressing an audience at Utah Valley University, which authorities also called an act of political violence.

Overall, 44% of adults said they are extremely or very concerned about political violence aimed at conservative figures or organizations, and 41% said the same about violence aimed at liberal figures and groups. The age gap is wide. About half of adults 60 and older are highly concerned about violence against either side, compared with about 3 in 10 adults under 30.

Tony DiGiovine, a 74-year-old Phoenix musician, retired electrical engineer and Democrat, framed his concern through memory. He recalled Kent State, where the National Guard shot and killed unarmed students protesting the Vietnam War in 1970. The Guard isn't trained to patrol American streets, he said, and neither are the armed forces. "Something's going to go wrong," he said.

A similar generational pattern appeared on concern about limits to free speech. About 4 in 10 adults overall are highly concerned about threats to conservatives' or liberals' speech. Among those 60 and older, about half are highly concerned about threats to conservatives' speech, versus about a quarter of those under 30. The gap is smaller for liberals but still substantial.

On the broader question of fundamental rights, however, age did not divide people. About half of adults see a major threat to freedom of speech, and about 4 in 10 say so of freedom of the press. About 3 in 10 see major threats to the right to vote and the right to keep and bear arms. Younger adults appear to believe speech is under threat as often as older ones do, but they are less personally worried about how that affects liberals or conservatives. The vote is different: only about 2 in 10 adults under 30 see a major threat, compared with about 4 in 10 of those 60 and older. Craig Tenhoff, a 58-year-old independent from Simi Valley, California, said it is concerning that people seem to be reaching the point of no longer talking or compromising and instead vilifying opponents.

Party loyalty shapes worry sharply. About 6 in 10 Republicans are highly concerned about violence against conservatives, but only 27% say so about violence against liberals. About 6 in 10 Democrats are highly concerned about violence against liberals, while 38% are about violence against conservatives. The effect is strongest at the ideological poles: conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats are far likelier than moderates in their parties to worry about their own side. About a quarter of independents are highly concerned about violence in either direction.

Max Anderson, a 23-year-old college student in Fort Collins, Colorado, who is an independent and describes himself as liberal, said he worries about violence from across the spectrum. Many people his age aren't doing well, he said, and extreme avenues of action may suddenly feel like a better option.

Views on rights are also split by party. About two-thirds of Democrats say free speech and freedom of the press face a major threat. Among Republicans, about 3 in 10 say so of speech and about 2 in 10 of the press. Jeff Milligan, a 72-year-old Republican from Logan, Ohio, who worries more about violence against conservatives, said he used to be more concerned about threats to fundamental rights. Asked what changed, he answered: "President Trump was elected."