(New York, N.Y.) — Counter Extremism Project CEO Mark D. Wallace issued the following statement regarding the apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania yesterday evening:

“I denounce this horrific attack in the strongest terms. While President Trump was mercifully spared by a matter of inches, another innocent rally attendee, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, was killed.

For too long, political discourse, especially in this country but increasingly abroad, has been dominated by extremist rhetoric, amplified and permitted to flourish by years of lax social media policies.

Regardless of the shooter’s motive or political affiliation, this shocking incident should serve as a call to return to moderation, bipartisan consensus-building, and much stronger social media regulation against incitement from both extremities of the political spectrum—characteristics of healthy societies for which CEP has consistently advocated since it launched ten years ago.

We must make deliberate efforts to retreat from the abyss of extremism, which leads inexorably to these horrific episodes of murderous violence.

My thoughts are with the family of Mr. Comperatore, and I wish President Trump alongside at least two others critically injured in last night’s attack a full and speedy recovery.”

To read about CEP’s pioneering efforts to combat extremist radicalization online, see here.