Columbia News

Senator Eric Schmitt, U.S. Senator from Missouri, published a series of posts on October 11, 2025, raising concerns about how incidents of political violence are classified and reported by media outlets and advocacy organizations.

In his first post, Schmitt questioned the classification criteria used by certain groups: "Just to show you how far they stretch the definition of 'right-wing': A member of the Islamic 'Moorish Science Temple' killed a policeman in 2024. ADL called this a right-wing killing because he had expressed affinity for the anti-government 'sovereign citizen movement.'" (October 11, 2025) The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is an organization that tracks extremism and hate crimes in the United States.

In another post made moments later, Schmitt criticized both media coverage and research conducted by left-leaning groups: "The media and their allies in left-wing groups continue to crank out studies like this. Here's The Economist, two days after Charlie's murder. Notice anything weird about their chart? Apparently, there was very little left-wing violence in...2020. Huh!" (October 11, 2025) He referenced a chart published by The Economist following a high-profile incident known as "Charlie's murder," suggesting discrepancies in how political violence statistics are presented.

In his third post, Schmitt summarized his argument regarding the use of such studies: "Those are just a few of many, many examples. You're starting to get the point. These studies are intended to be used as propaganda. The Left gets to wave around glossy infographics claiming political violence is a 'right-wing thing', and the press prints their claims as gospel." (October 11, 2025)

Organizations like the ADL regularly release reports analyzing trends in extremist-related killings and have been cited by national news outlets when discussing domestic terrorism statistics. Critics have at times challenged these methodologies or definitions, especially concerning classifications related to ideology or group affiliation.

The debate over what constitutes right-wing versus left-wing violence has been ongoing for years in U.S. politics and public discourse. Disagreements often center on definitions used by researchers and whether certain individuals or incidents fit neatly into ideological categories.