Political violence is abhorrent. It undermines democracy and cannot be tolerated. But the rush to turn conservative activist Charlie Kirk into a martyr for the MAGA movement risks fueling the very division we should be working to contain.
As a Black man, I find this martyrdom for someone who has so blatantly pushed racist sentiments not only troubling but also infuriating. Kirk built his platform on provocation. One of his recurring arguments was that Black Americans get ahead because of their skin color, supposedly taking opportunities from more qualified white candidates. This is covert racism and dog whistling, dressed up as concern for “fairness.” By framing racial equity as a threat to white advancement, he stirred resentment while legitimizing bigotry.
The president and his administration have gone beyond condemning violence. They have labeled Kirk a patriot for freedom and truth, language that casts him as a heroic figure and makes his conspiracy theories sound credible, even though many can be debunked as lies. Worse, the president has accused the “radical left” of engaging in political assassinations. Such rhetoric only inflames tensions, amplifying Kirk’s victimhood narrative and hardening the grievances of his supporters.
Even though I do not agree with Kirk’s politics, I feel for what his family is going through. No family should have to live with the fear and uncertainty that follow threats or acts of violence. Condemning political violence must always be the first response.
But free speech is not freedom from consequence. When leaders spread racism, grievance and misinformation, society has a responsibility to call it out. That responsibility cannot be met through violence, nor by creating false martyrs out of provocateurs.
Rejecting violence is only the first step. Refusing to reward those who profit from division is the next. Only then can this country cool its political temperature and move toward healthier debate.
Sickness in the air
We don’t yet know what motivated the assassin who shot Charlie Kirk, but the reason may not be as obvious as it first seems. It could be political frustration boiling over into violence. Or it could be something darker and simpler: a desire to be a hero in someone’s eyes, with Kirk chosen as the symbol that would bring the recognition the killer craved.
We’ve seen this pattern before. In December, an insurance executive was gunned down in New York City. To a certain segment of society, the shooter became a symbol of rebellion against the corporate repression they believe keeps them down. “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore” isn’t just a movie line anymore — it’s a rallying cry for those who see violence as a shortcut to meaning.
There’s a sickness in the air, fed by political disappointment and amplified by a media machine that insists daily we live under a fascist, racist president. Many sincerely believe this. Others simply want it to be true because outrage has become their narcotic. The more we mainline anger, the more we elevate grievance, the more attractive symbolic violence becomes to the unstable and the ambitious alike.
When the assassin is caught, we may discover a manifesto dripping with ideological justifications. Or we may find nothing more than someone who wanted his name in the papers. Either way, the result is the same: In a culture that rewards rage and elevates villains to folk hero status, monsters don’t need much of a motive.
Altar to violence
In the past three months, there have been two politically motivated assassinations. This is not the future I was promised. It is not the future I have promised my daughter. And it will not be the future I promise my son when he arrives in December.
Yet this is the future we have chosen. The future Americans have been yearning for — one spurred on by fear, cowardice and greed. A future where kindness and compassion are mocked as weakness. A future where power goes to whoever can seize it fastest. A future where political allegiance matters more than human dignity.
This is the world we are building for our children. We want them to grow into bullies and thieves. We have embraced greed as good, “might makes right” and the belief that the ends will always justify the means. We have decided that targeted killings are acceptable — as long as the victims are on the “other” side. We have created a society in which the opinions of a murderer carry more weight than the lives that are lost.
We have built an altar to violence, and we feed it daily. Unlike the tree of liberty, this altar demands a blood sacrifice — of children, women, friends and neighbors. With each death, its call grows louder, demanding more.
As we slide further into collective madness, history will remember us as the barbarians we chose to become. We are all complicit. And we will all be called to account when the time for truth and reconciliation comes.
When the time comes, will you be a person who fans the flames? Or will you be a peacemaker?
If we do not stop the violence here and now, it will consume us all.
— Will Wetzel, Decatur
Brush up on history
The shooting of Charlie Kirk, the fallout and repercussions around it and Stephen Miller’s wife’s social media response to it all have brought me to one salient conclusion.
It’s never a good day when any American citizen is shot and killed. No matter who they were or what they believed. It’s time we all just shut up.
It’s time to cease our opinions, calmly gather our thoughts, read our American history and study our Constitution. It’s time to think for ourselves and return to the roots of our nation and the aspirations of our Founding Fathers.
I have two titles to recommend that I am currently reading. The first is “The Oxford History of the American People” by Samuel Eliot Morison, Volumes I, II and III, first published in 1965. It’s a real tome. Start with Volume I, and I bet you can’t put it down. That is if you can find a copy. 1965 was a while ago.
The second is Richard Atkinson’s new trilogy of “The American Revolution.” Volumes I and II are now available. Another tome, but a real page turner.
Learn about the war that brought us independence from King George III and the imperialist British monarchy. And then there’s the Constitution. You can get a clear, unabridged, free-of-commentary copy of the document. It’s worth the time to read and ponder the points and parts that are important to you.
Yes, it’s time to read for ourselves and think and not just react. It’s time to understand our country, its plan of government and what it is that binds us together as Americans.
