Swiss politicians react with disgust to Trump assassination
Published: Sunday, Jul 14th 2024, 15:10
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The attempted assassination of US presidential candidate Donald Trump has also caused consternation in Switzerland - and raised concerns about a dangerous polarization in society.
President Viola Amherd described the attempted assassination as "unacceptable". "I am shocked by the shooting in Pennsylvania," the centrist Federal Councillor and Defense Minister announced on Platform X on Sunday. "Violence in politics is unacceptable and contradicts all our common democratic principles."
FDP President and member of the Council of States Thierry Burkart expressed his shock. "There must be no place for political violence in a democracy," wrote the 48-year-old politician from Aargau on Platform X. "The perpetrator is always responsible. But it is also the responsibility of the political parties to counteract the polarization in society."
"We must all unite"
SVP parliamentary group leader and National Councillor Thomas Aeschi from Zug praised the deployment of the US security forces. Thanks to a rapid response, further damage could be prevented, he wrote on X.
The US ambassador to Switzerland, Scott Miller, tweeted that there is no place for political violence in America. "And we must all unite to condemn it."
There have also been physical attacks and threats against Swiss politicians in the past. The number of threats has recently declined. Nevertheless, the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) registered an average of one report of a suspected threat almost every day last year.
Particularly spiteful tone
For example, Fedpol received 290 threat reports last year, 238 fewer than in 2022. During the coronavirus pandemic, when resentment towards politicians was particularly evident, there were 1215 reports.
However, the content of the threats has recently been worrying and the tone has been particularly hateful, Fedpol wrote in its 2023 annual report. In 62 cases, the authority classified the threats as so serious that it took measures. These included the admonition of dangerous individuals, criminal charges or so-called borderline letters, in which the authorities make it clear to people that they are on the threshold of criminal liability.
Massacre in Zug cantonal parliament
The bloodiest case of violence against politicians in Switzerland in recent history occurred in 2001 in the Zug cantonal parliament, when a gunman stormed into the chamber, killed three members of the government and eleven members of parliament and injured 15 people, some of them critically, before shooting himself. As a result, security measures for politicians in the country were tightened.
In mid-September 2021, angry citizens - mainly opponents of the authorities' coronavirus measures - attempted to storm the Federal Palace. The police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets. There were injuries.
In the run-up to the 2011 SVP Albisgüetl conference in Zurich, the then National Councillor Hans Fehr was attacked by several people wearing black masks, thrown to the ground and beaten with punches and kicks. The attackers were allegedly members of the autonomous left-wing scene.
Explosive device on the Rütli
On August 1, 2007, an explosive device detonated after the federal celebration on the Rütli. No one was injured; the then SP Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey was present at the celebration. The perpetrator of the attack - apparently a lone offender - was later arrested.
In 1984, a bomb detonated at night at the house of the then FDP Federal Councillor Rudolf Friedrich. No one was injured. At the end of July 1998, Friedrich's weekend home in Winterthur burned to the ground. Investigators assumed it was arson.
In the same year, there was also an attack on the house of Hedi Lang, then a member of Zurich's SP government council. She escaped with the horrors.
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