Another story of pre-election insanity has landed in our laps this week, this one taking place in Kingsville, Maryland, on the northwestern outskirts of Baltimore. Neal Houk, a Trump supporter, was out for a ride with his son in their pickup truck yesterday. The Truck was adorned with some pro-Trump signage. They were passing the home of Douglas Kuhn, a Biden supporter and BLM advocate. Kuhn was in the process of putting up a Black Lives Matter sign in his yard. For reasons that remain unclear, Houk decided to honk his horn as he passed Kuhn on his street. The response he received took everyone by surprise. Kuhn dropped the sign, picked up a loaded 12 gauge shotgun, and opened fire. (WJZ News, CBS Baltimore)

A man putting up a Black Lives Matter sign in his yard is being held without bond Monday after he was charged with firing a shotgun at Trump supporters driving by in a pickup truck.

It happened Saturday afternoon in Kingsville. Police eventually booked Douglas Kuhn at the White Marsh Precinct.

Neal Houk and his son said they honked their horn at a neighbor putting up a Black Lives Matter sign.

Thankfully, nobody was injured by the shotgun blast and there was only minor damage to the vehicle. Neighbors confirmed Houk’s story, saying that the situation escalated from a honk of a horn to gunfire in a matter of seconds. Police later tracked down Kuhn, located the firearm and took him into custody. He’s currently being held without bail.

We’re not being told a few things about this story. For example, Houk isn’t saying why he decided to honk his horn at that moment, or whether it was a single tap on the horn or some prolonged honking. But does any of that really matter?

Even if you suspect that it was rude of Neal Houk to hit the horn on his truck in passing, there’s no sane rationale for responding with a 12 gauge. And while we’re on the subject, what was Kuhn doing with a shotgun in his front yard if he was just out there putting up a sign? One of the neighbors suggested that Kuhn may have had some previous signs either stolen or damaged and that could definitely be annoying. But responding with a deadly weapon is definitely a case of escalating a confrontation far too quickly.

Additionally, CBS reports that the initial investigation by the police revealed that the two men had never even met each other before this incident. They were complete strangers. That tells us that there wasn’t any sort of grudge or bad blood between the two of them. This appears to simply be a random encounter that escalated to nearly the point of murder at the drop of a hat.

In any event, this is apparently where things stand in terms of both the election and the Antifa/BLM unrest we see in the streets. The two issues are hopelessly intertwined at this point. Rather than simply showing support for one side or the other and making their voices heard at the ballot box, too many people are answering what they clearly see as a call to war. A Trump supporter was shot in Denver recently and now we nearly had another, similar tragedy unfold just outside of Baltimore. People really need to keep their heads down and be on alert for the next couple of weeks. The violence is spilling over into the suburbs at this point.