How The Left Became Violent

Protests turned to riots. Debates turned to deplatforming. And somewhere in the last decade, a political ideology that once championed free speech began silencing its opponents — sometimes with force.In this episode, I trace the transformation of left-wing activism from peaceful protest to what some scholars call "militant intolerance." From the 2017 Berkeley riots where masked agitators smashed windows and threw Molotov cocktails to shut down a conservative speaker, to the 2020 unrest following George Floyd's death that caused over $2 billion in damage, to the ongoing harassment of Supreme Court justices at their homes. Is this a genuine shift in strategy? Or the work of fringe elements amplified by social media? Based on FBI data, academic research, and first-hand reporting, this episode examines the evidence without partisan spin. Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play — because understanding political violence requires looking at uncomfortable truths from all sides.