snowball into(Fig. to become larger or more serious by growing like a snowball being rolled. This whole problem is snowballing into a crisis very rapidly. The argument soon snowballed into a full-blown riot – thefreedictionary.comTamerlane)
escalate to violence(Migrants at the Polish-Belarusian border have faced freezing and life-threatening conditions throughout the standoff, according to The Wall Street Journal, and this move from Belarus is expected to ease some tensions that have escalated to violence in the last few weeksaldrignedigen)