On Saturday, July 13, multiple shots rang out at a campaign rally for Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, leaving one bystander dead, the former president wounded and millions of Americans questioning the state of politics in the United States.

Noah Wahl, the Limestone County Republican Party chairman, was one of the many Limestone County residents who was left stunned by the attempted assassination that occurred during the weekend.

“I was shocked, and then as it started to unfold I was very concerned about Trump as well as the people who were seriously injured,” Wahl said. “Violence should never be a part of politics in America. I don’t want this to cause further division; obviously Republicans and Democrats have our differences, but they’ve got to be worked out at the ballot box.”

Ken Hines, the former chairman of the Limestone County Democratic Party, also voiced his thoughts on the shooting to The News Courier. He noted that the event on Saturday should be used as a wake-up call to remind people how superficial the division between the two parties are.

“Obviously, the two parties have very different aims, goals and ways of achieving them, but they are just parties,” Hines said. “They are two volunteer organizations; there is no such thing as real memberships. In Alabama, you can’t even register to be a Republican or a Democrat, you just register to vote.”

Hines emphasized that what the two political parties have become in recent years abandons the institutions, the history and the progress the country has made to overcome countless problems in the past.

“Violence should never be an alternative option for disagreements between the two groups in our politics,” Hines said. “What happens in the future, in November and in the next four years, should be a political and judicial process, not someone lying on a roof with a rifle.”

Elected officials from Limestone County and the city of Athens expressed their opinions on the matter, mentioning their displeasure with how the political field in the United States has become more volatile.

“The thing is, we live in a country where we are getting more divided every day, and it’s sad,” Limestone County Commission Chairman Collin Daly told the News Courier on Monday, July 15. “We are getting so divided, there’s no common middle ground anymore.”

Daly described the events on Saturday as serving no purpose other than causing harm to people who do not deserve it.

“A senseless act of violence, that’s what gets me,” Daly said. “I’m thankful that no more people were injured than they were, but still that one life can never be replaced. We live in a country where senseless acts of violence are rampant, and I don’t know how we get through that.”

Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks described his outlook on the event, noting how ashamed he was to see how governmental affairs had taken a turn in the time he had been in office.

“It is a shame that you have to be worried about national security, but that seems to be the times we are living in recently,” Marks said. “Crazy actions lead to more crazy actions, and it is heartbreaking to think we have to live through assassination attempts. It has become a tougher political climate, and we have got to be unified together to change that.”

Marks said that as the political climate has continued to worsen he has felt no heightened sense of worry in terms of his safety at the local level, but Daly stated that he has always worried about his wellbeing while serving the public as an elected official.

“I will be honest with you — and I don’t care what elected office you hold — people hold an elected official to a different (level) of accountability,” Daly said. “We have commission meetings, and you always wonder in the back of your mind, if somebody who’s had a bad day is going to come in here.”