Editorial written by Idaho Statesman Editorial Board.
The killing of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday on a college campus in Utah is undoubtedly an act of political violence that should have no place in America.
The irony is that if the person who assassinated Kirk did so because of opposition to Kirk’s political ideology, the shooting only serves to make Kirk a martyr, to amplify his message and to hurt their own.
Political violence never advances your side of the political argument. Attempting to silence someone with whom you disagree does not make your case.
Robert F. Kennedy was killed in a politically motivated assassination. Today, he is often glorified.
One could argue that the shooting at then-candidate Donald Trump’s rally helped him to win the presidency.
Already, the social media world is blaming “the Left,” ridiculously accusing it of “assassination culture,” forgetting that a Democratic Minnesota state legislator and her husband were shot and killed, and another Democratic state legislator and his wife were shot in a politically motivated assassination in June.
It doesn’t matter what “side” the political violence comes from or is directed at; it’s flat-out wrong and appalling no matter where it comes from.
But blaming an entire group of people for the actions of one person is part of the problem.
To blame “the Left” for Kirk’s assassination or to blame “the Right” for the killing of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman only invites more political violence.
The vilification of political sides on social media has exacerbated the increasing coarseness of our discourse.
Kirk has been to Idaho at least a couple of times, most recently to the Boise State University campus, where he challenged transgender rights, and argued against abortion rights and universal health care.
He held a rally at the Ford Idaho Center in 2021, at which a participant asked when it was appropriate to use guns against political enemies.
We won’t discuss today the politics of Charlie Kirk, some of his views or the positions he’s taken.
Because that doesn’t matter.
No one, regardless of their political views — agreeable, abhorrent or otherwise — should pay the price of free speech with their life.
And no one group should be blamed for it.
It has to stop.
