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Understanding the rise in political violence and solutions

28/22 NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — The shootings in Minnesota have once again raised concerns and questions about politically motivated violence across the nation.

28/22 News spoke to experts in several different fields, and they all agree: There is no one factor that is leading to the political violence we have witnessed in recent years, and no easy answers to, in their words, "De-escalate the political tensions in the nation."

"I think the genie is out of the bottle. I don't think we go back to where we were," Psychiatrist Doctor Matthew Berger told 28/22 News.

Dr. Berger is talking about the political violence that we have seen across the nation.

Over the weekend, the shootings of two state lawmakers and their spouses in Minnesota.

In April, the firebombing of the Governor's mansion in Harrisburg. Governor Shapiro and his family were asleep inside. They escaped the flames.

Last July, then-candidate Donald Trump was struck by a bullet in Butler, Pennsylvania.

In February, there was a firebombing at State Representative Alec Ryncavage's offices in Nanticoke. Police have not pinpointed the motive for this crime, but politics has not yet been ruled out.

"I think discourse is good. I think we need to get more diverse opinions. I think we have to get away from whether you're 100 percent for me or 100 percent against me," Dr. Berger explained.

Dr. Berger also says psychological issues are almost always a factor in violent crimes like these.

"If you do a deep dive a little bit into who these people are, they often have psychological issues and concerns that predated their political issues," Dr. Berger added.

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State Representative Eddie Day Pashinski from Luzerne County says he has never seen the country as divided as it is now.

"Well, you obviously have a lot of frustration by a lot of people, and that frustration is caused by information, whether it's truthful or not, it's creating a high sense of emotion, unfortunately, takes over as opposed to following the rule of law," Representative Eddie Day Pashinski said.

Political science professor Dr. Dave Sosar believes facts are being drowned out by emotions.

"This is American. You got a right to your own personal opinion. It doesn't necessarily mean everyone's going to agree with you," Dr. Sosar stated.

All agree that the political rhetoric has to be scaled back and that there is plenty of blame to go around.