<p>Recent racialized mass shootings have exposed a gap in understanding political responses to these incidents and how they are perceived by people of shared identity with the targeted group. I argue that for Black Americans, but not white Americans, racial identity serves as a crucial cue for evaluating violence. A conjoint experiment that considers multiple attributes of violence finds support for this argument. Racial identities – who is targeted and who perpetrates violence – can increase anger and punitiveness in response to an incident, even when accounting for other characteristics, like casualties incurred. Violence makes Black respondents angrier and more punitive when directed at the racial in-group. Importantly, and in contrast, violence does not make white Americans angrier or more punitive when their racial in-group members are targeted. This paper provides evidence for a distinct relationship between Black and African-Americans and civilian-perpetrated violence, whereby these incidents – when racialized and committed by racial out-groups – are perceived with heightened anger and punitiveness.</p>