Attack a 'sign of fraying democracy'

Experts say assassination attempt may see some polarized Americans act out in dangerous ways

- KELLY GERALDINE MALONE

The image is a stark one: former U.S. president Donald Trump pumping his fist into the air with an American flag in the background as blood trickles down the side of his face following a shooting at a campaign rally.

Photographs capturing the aftermath of the attack are already indelibly imprinted on the American consciousness, both for their dramatic content and for their appearance at a critical time in an increasingly polarized political climate for the United States.

"That will be in history books forever," said Matthew Lebo, a specialist in U.S. politics and chair of the political science department at Western University in London, Ont.

Rhetoric has become increasingly antagonistic in recent decades, he said, culminating in the attempted assassination of Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Video showing Trump touching his ear, then dropping to the ground and being covered by Secret Service agents, has played on a loop across news stations in the United States since the shooting.