Amid a year of violence and division in the United States and abroad, the quadrennial Global Summit to End Hate will once again be held in Pittsburgh this week, October 21-23.
The conference was founded in response to the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh that killed 11 people, and brings together experts and leaders from around the world to address hate-fueled violence. Discuss tactics to use. This year, it will be held just days before the sixth mass shooting. anniversary of the tragedy.
The summit comes after two previous assassination attempts on former President Trump (including one just 40 miles from the city) and the ongoing sharp ideological divide between the US presidents. It will be held immediately after the election. Political violence is at the forefront of this year’s summit.
“There has never been a more important time than now for everyone to take a moment to reflect and learn concrete steps they can take to reduce the risk of hate-motivated violence. With or without it,” Brett Steele, Summit president and president of the Prevention Practitioners Network, said in an online video.
Mary McCord, executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Advocacy (ICAP) and visiting professor of law at Georgetown University, spoke on a panel discussion about reducing political violence. She stressed that political violence is not just physical violence but can also include intimidation, intimidation and harassment.
“It may be based on race. It may be based on ethnicity, religion, LGBTQ status. It may be based on ideology, and it may make people uncomfortable to participate in processes that are core to our democracy.” I will.”
Participating in protests and rallies, petitioning the government, attending board meetings and public hearings, participating in election polls, voting, and even running for office are all part of this. McCord provided an example of a democratic process.
“These are all things that are fundamental to our democracy: citizen participation, and threats of intimidation and harassment, and even actual acts of violence, can really undermine citizen participation.”
McCord also pointed to misinformation as a driving force behind ideologically motivated attacks, both online and offline. She specifically noted that false reporting about immigrants has recently spread in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, and Springfield, Ohio, drawing national attention to the predominantly Haitian immigrant communities in both towns and making them targets of hate and physical intimidation. emphasized. McCord said this political rhetoric is fueling a widespread and unsubstantiated narrative about unpopular voting.
“All of this is going to morph into another type of false narrative, because it feeds the idea that ‘you can’t trust an election just because non-citizens voted,'” McCord said. “There’s no basis in fact. But that’s how the seeds of a false story germinate and grow and grow and become more and more false.”
As Election Day approaches on Nov. 5, it’s important to recognize that people can be vulnerable to political violence in the form of threats and intimidation both before and after they go to vote, McCord said. said.
“Early voting has already begun in many states, and for those who haven’t started yet, we’re right on the cusp of it,” McCord said, adding, “So there are many different types of political There is a possibility of violence.”
In states like Pennsylvania, where vote counting takes several days, McCoy said it’s important for local governments to prepare for the threat, as false reports about delayed results could spread as they did in 2020. .
Although McCord is concerned about the current state of national politics, he is hopeful about the continued efforts he has seen to directly unite people from different ends of the ideological spectrum and bridge political divides. spoke.
“It’s really hard to say vicious, mean, disgusting things to someone’s face,” McCord explained. “And if you say, ‘Oh, you have a family,’ or, ‘Your son plays Little League,’ or, ‘Your dad worked all over the place.’ , and when people start talking about things like, “We have these things in common,” people begin to understand each other’s human sides, and the differences in political views become the differences in how they spend their days and how they raise their children. It doesn’t have much of an impact,” McCord said.
The Ending Hate Summit, which focuses on political violence, will continue Tuesday with keynote speeches from CBS News correspondent Major Garrett and former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who survived a 2011 assassination attempt and mass shooting.
