Prominent conservative commentator Michael Knowles addressed the growing threat of political violence during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday. Speaking before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Knowles emphasized the urgent need for federal action to counteract what he described as a consistent and accelerated threat of leftist terrorism.
“The federal government must act now to stop the consistent and accelerated threat of leftist terrorism. For a legislator to deny the threat and neglect the remedy might once have been chalked up to ignorance. Today, it is nothing less than a complicity,” Knowles declared.
The hearing, titled “Politically Violent Attacks: A Threat to Our Constitutional Order,” featured testimony from several experts aside from Knowles. These included Chad Wolf of the America First Policy Institute and former acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; Daniel Hodges, a Washington, D.C., police officer; William Braniff, executive director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University’s School of Public Affairs; and Kyle Shideler, director and senior analyst for homeland security and counterterrorism with the Center for Security Policy.
Near the beginning of his opening statement, Knowles laid out his position on which side of the political spectrum—Left or Right—is more responsible for the rising violence in the United States. Below are four key takeaways from his testimony:
### 1. The Left Is ‘More Violent’ Than the Right
“[L]est I be accused of partisan invective… no less an emblem of American liberalism than The Atlantic magazine published an article citing a recent study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, admitting that the Left is more violent today than the right,” Knowles stated.
He then recounted a personal experience with violent protesters in April 2023. The Daily Wire host had been invited to debate transgender issues at the University of Pittsburgh. Before the event, dozens of left-wing protesters—including some with their faces covered—burned an effigy of Knowles.
### 2. A Close Encounter With Violence
“As the Pittsburgh fire department put out my burning effigy, an Antifa operative named Brian DiPippa, hiding behind his wife, Krystal, rolled two smoke bombs under police barricades,” Knowles said.
He described how Brian DiPippa threw a firework at police officers, resulting in burns and “life-altering injuries to a female officer.” DiPippa was ultimately sentenced to five years in prison, while his wife received three years’ probation. Knowles voiced frustration over the sentencing, implying it was too lenient given the severity of the crime.
### 3. Punishment Must Match the Crime
“I think we should all be able to agree that throwing an explosive at a group of people is no mere minor indiscretion. That is a very serious crime. That’s attempted murder, the kind of crime that merits life in prison,” Knowles asserted.
He also highlighted a controversial endorsement involving Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who supported Democratic Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones despite Jones having made inflammatory statements in private text messages, including wishing “two bullets to the head” upon a former Virginia House speaker.
“You certainly cannot have law enforcement officers who would engage in this kind of violent rhetoric against half of their constituents. So long as anyone stands by an endorsement such as that, their words are meaningless. They are shedding crocodile tears on the topic of political violence,” Knowles added.
### 4. A Tragic Reminder: The Killing of Charlie Kirk
Reflecting on the gunshot killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, Knowles said, “There was no more gracious, generous, or charitable debater on college campuses than Charlie Kirk, and he always endeavored to hear out the other side… to give them the benefit of the doubt. And he was killed for it. He was killed for ideological reasons. And it has to be an inflection point.”
Knowles concluded that the nation must use such tragedies as turning points to take decisive action against political violence in all its forms.
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Michael Knowles’ testimony highlights his conviction that left-wing extremism poses a significant and growing threat to America’s constitutional order—one that demands a firm and immediate response from lawmakers and law enforcement alike.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/10/28/conservative-pundit-shares-close-encounter-with-politically-violent-attacks-senate-panel-hearing/
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