A former FBI agent has issued a stark warning, suggesting that political violence is only beginning to escalate as we move into 2026.

In 2025, the political landscape took a grim turn when conservative influencer and founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, was tragically killed on September 10th. While authorities have yet to publicly disclose a motive, they have characterized the incident as a “political assassination.” This has heightened fears regarding the rising trend of ideologically-motivated violence across the United States.

According to investigators, a bullet allegedly used by the suspect, Tyler Robinson, bore the chilling inscription, “Hey fascist, catch.” This detail has intensified the ongoing debate about the extent to which heated political rhetoric is manifesting as physical violence.

Signs of this trend are becoming increasingly apparent. The Department of Homeland Security reported in November a staggering 1,150% surge in assaults and violent incidents targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in 2025, in stark contrast to the previous year under the Biden administration.

Adding to the climate of tension, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a 2024 campaign rally. Crooks was subsequently shot and killed by Secret Service agents, underscoring the volatile nature of current political divisions. (As reported by Fox News Digital)

In late September, one ICE detainee was killed, and two others were injured when a gunman opened fire on an agency facility. The suspect, later identified as Joshua Jahn, allegedly searched apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents.

Officials said Jahn had a handwritten note that stated, “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?”

The same pattern of targeted, ideologically-driven violence also surfaced when there were two assassination attempts against now-President Donald Trump. On July 13, 2024, authorities said 20-year-old Thomas Crooks fired several shots during a Butler, Pennsylvania rally, one of which struck Trump in the ear. Just a few months later, on Sept. 15, 2024, 58-year-old Ryan Routh was arrested after authorities said he was seen armed with a rifle in a sniper’s hide near the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Former FBI agent Jonathan Gilliam said Kirk’s death fits into a broader pattern that has become increasingly difficult to ignore. In an interview with Fox News Digital, he warned that political violence is being normalized.

Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Supreme Court for a suppression hearing on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.  (Curtis Means for Daily Mail via Pool)

“I think there are signs that this type of violence is being normalized,” Gilliam said. “When you look at, for instance, Luigi Mangione in the assassination of an insurance CEO, what you’ve seen is that a large part of the population was somewhat OK with that and have made him into somewhat of a hero.”

Gilliam said he’s concerned that some Americans’ tolerance for political and ideological violence has only expanded in recent years.

“When they go out, and they commit acts of violence, but not killing, people start to ask the question, ‘is that justified?’ And then, when it gets more and more violent, there will be less people, but actually still a great vast majority of those people that have been convinced will agree and justify the violence,” Gilliam said.

Joshua Jahn, 29, is the man who opened fire on an ICE facility in Dallas, Texas, authorities said. (Contributed to Fox News)

Gilliam warned he thinks the U.S. hasn’t witnessed the peak of political violence, but it will only get worse.

“I believe that political violence, as we know it now, has just started,” Gilliam said. “So when we look now at the political violence that’s happening, we’re also seeing much more violent behavior, very targeted behavior. It’s violence and killing against different Jewish groups, against Christians, against people who are outwardly trying to have dialogue. And so rather than support that dialogue, what we have seen is political violence to shut that violence down or that dialogue down.”