California’s hostage crisis shows political violence is at a breaking point 

The kidnapping of two U.S. Forest Service employees in Northern California earlier this month should concern Americans for reasons that extend well beyond the remarkable outcome. The employees survived more than 15 hours in captivity before FBI negotiators persuaded their alleged captors to surrender peacefully.

But the incident also underscores a troubling reality: Ideological violence in the U.S. continues to evolve in ways that make ordinary Americans increasingly vulnerable. 

According to investigators, the suspects allegedly targeted the employees because they were federal workers. If that motive is confirmed, it would represent yet another example of individuals viewing public servants not as people, but as symbols of a government they oppose. 

That trend is becoming increasingly familiar. 

Over the past several years, threats and violence directed at election officials, judges, healthcare workers, law enforcement officers and other public servants have become more common. Political polarization has fueled a climate in which some individuals increasingly see violence as an acceptable means of expressing grievances against institutions. The California incident suggests that even employees performing routine work in remote locations are no longer insulated from those risks. 

There is another lesson from this case that deserves greater public attention. 

Hollywood has conditioned us to believe hostage situations end with dramatic tactical assaults. In reality, the most successful hostage resolutions are........

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