Assaulting people for having contradictory opinions is completely awful and those partaking in such actions should face the consequences - that said - there seem to be a lot of people in this thread that are rather ironically using this as an opportunity to generalise and vilify the left.

This kind of division is exactly what caused this violence to occur in the first place. Yes, the attackers were likely left leaning. No, that does not mean that being liberal inherently makes you more violent. Likewise, the recent tragedy in Quebec does not prove that conservatives are inherently more violent. (Not equating these events, just a timely example.) These people are violent because they're completely convinced that 'the other side' is evil - which they use to justify their own extremism.

This is a problem for both sides of the political spectrum. Many people exclusively exist in communities where their views are continually validated. The only way this shit stops is for both sides to take a deep breath, admit that they're not infallible and have a damn discussion.

We're all effectively hoping for the same thing, half the country aren't a group of mustache twiddling caricatures hellbent on destroying your life.