For the second time in just two months, there has been an alleged assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

I took my time to absorb the media coverage on this issue, and sadly, I noticed that many people do not view the situation—a man aiming a rifle at Trump on a Florida golf course before he was apprehended—as serious as the previous incident.

The first attempt in July, when a gunman fired shots at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania and almost injured him, seems to have numbed the public response to these violent acts. The narrow escape during that event might have contributed to the desensitization.

Additionally, we naturally start to overlook events when they become frequent. Every act of political violence should be seen as a crucial alert for America.

We must reject the normalization of political violence

None of this behavior is acceptable. We should never treat it as normal.

Much like school shootings that come and go in media coverage, attempts on politicians’ lives are becoming increasingly less startling. For years, we have expected young people to adapt to the reality of school shootings without significant changes to their safety. We are beginning to do the same with politically motivated violence.

In recent years, there have been multiple instances of political violence, such as the assassination attempts against Trump, the attack on Paul Pelosi (husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi), the threat against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and the congressional baseball shooting. Each incident had clear political motivations. You may have already overlooked them.

Alongside these violent acts, we’ve seen numerous mass shootings and riots disrupting our cities, along with efforts to undermine a peaceful transition of power.

This ongoing violence is anything but normal, and the tensions that provoke such actions have been fueled, at least in part, by our political leaders. Most leaders likely do not support violence in their name, but they need to be careful about how their rhetoric can incite extreme responses.

Can our elected officials improve their approach?

This isn’t to partially blame one political party or leader for this increase in violence. Everyone has contributed to the situation.

However, it is crucial for leaders to guide the narrative, and when political tensions intensify, those in charge must act to calm the situation. Waiting for a tragedy to occur is far too late for a wake-up call.

Whether it’s the years of escalated rhetoric from Democrats regarding Trump or his unfounded assertions about a stolen election, all of it must come to an end.

To date, this hasn’t happened. After the January 6th Capitol riots, Trump continued to propagate claims of a stolen election. Democrats have similarly failed to rein in their extensive criticism of the Supreme Court following the attack on Justice Kavanaugh. Time and again, political violence has been met with increased hostility.

I urge our leaders to stop viewing rival political victories as threats to democracy. We have witnessed how this mindset only exacerbates issues.

As Americans, we must regard political violence as severe each and every time it occurs. Our leaders need to recognize that this kind of political atmosphere is intolerable. No rational American wishes for political violence to become the norm.

We have an obligation to communicate that the current situation is not acceptable.

Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for YSL News and graduated from DePaul University with a degree in political science.