Editorial written by The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press Editorial Board.
The shooting death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Wednesday is a tragedy. Whether someone enthusiastically supports Kirk’s views or vehemently opposes them does not matter; this nation cannot endure by resolving its differences with the barrel of a gun.
While the United States has been repeatedly stained by political violence, the climate today demands more from us all — greater accountability for such acts through the criminal justice system, robust action to keep weapons away from those with ill intent and more responsible rhetoric in our public discourse.
Kirk, 31, was speaking before about 3,000 people at an open-air pavilion on the Orem, Utah, campus when a single shot struck him, causing the panicked crowd to scramble for safety. He was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Kirk was the founder and president of Turning Point USA, a youth-oriented conservative political organization, and was one of the nation’s most popular political commentators. Known for his incendiary, far-right views, he was speaking at the first stop of a college tour that included a scheduled appearance at Virginia Tech later this month.
There’s no question that Kirk was an influential voice in American politics, but the often abhorrent views he amplified do not deserve civic veneration. It would be grotesque to use those views to minimize the terrible cost of the violence that claimed his life.
Kirk’s death leaves a wife without her husband and his children without their father. Everyone who attended the event experienced an unimaginable trauma, a circle expanded to include the untold millions who couldn’t escape the graphic footage circulating on social media.
The video player is currently playing an ad. Poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, speaking after the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, said, “No one deserves a tragedy.” Yet America keeps witnessing tragedy and after tragedy as extremists turn to violence in the public square.
Begin with the fact that those determined to sow death and chaos are able to purchase firearms with relative ease. While Kirk was a rabid opponent of gun control, deadly weapons are so commonplace that most mass shootings only create fleeting ripples of attention. Curbing political violence must involve dealing forcefully with the gun violence that plagues our communities.
Next, there must be stern punishment for those who employ violence toward political ends. When hundreds of people storm the U.S. Capitol to try to halt certification of a fairly decided election, they should be held accountable, not given presidential pardons. Such actions excuse political violence and, worse, invite more.
Finally, those who hold elected office, work in the public sector or even engage in political debate in their communities must understand that words have power. What we need, more than ever, are those in the public sphere to act with humanity, empathy and compassion — people who work to turn down the temperature of our political discourse before it boils over.
There must be a unified condemnation of political violence, clearly and without reservation, whenever it occurs.
Just this year, attacks against Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, also a Democrat, were met with shrugs and indifference from the right; in contrast President Donald Trump asserted on Wednesday, without evidence, that Kirk’s shooting was the fault of Democrats and their incendiary rhetoric. Those on the left are similarly quick to call out their opponents for stoking the fires of division while ignoring their colleagues and allies who do the same.
