A Troubling Day To Say The Least

I never liked Charlie Kirk. He was a provocateur who made his mark by saying some horrible things about the LGBTQ+ community, single women, and people of color, among other subjects. In fact, when our local radio station fired the afternoon drive-time DJ to replace him with Kirk’s syndicated radio show and piped it through speakers located outside their storefront, I would cross the street when I was working downtown when he was on so that I wouldn’t have to hear him. He was a sanctimonious know-it-all who barely lived long enough to be as such. That being said, he had a wife, a family, and, obviously, a personality that connected with many people, whether for the right reasons or not. I had (and made) the choice to tune him out and move on to other things. One thing I know is, he didn’t deserve to go out like that. Many of us (Myself included) write things publicly that someone else doesn’t like. They may even despise us personally for what we say, but it’s our right to say them. Kirk had that same right. While “freedom of speech” doesn’t come with freedom from accountability for what is said, it shouldn’t come with an instant death sentence from someone 200 yards away.

What happened today was tragic. We don’t know enough about the shooter, but they appeared to be working alone and obviously knew what to do with a long-range rifle, seeing as how his one shot found its mark. I can only imagine the horror that must have gone through the minds of the witnesses, whether they liked him or not. At the time of the shooting, Kirk was involved in a debate over transgender shootings:

Audience member: “Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?”

Kirk: “Too many.” (In fact, there have been five mass shootings committed by transgender individuals since 2015).

Audience member: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

Kirk: “Counting or not counting gang violence?”

Those were his last words.

There was swift and immediate bipartisan condemnation of the shooting. While the socials were peppered with stinging comments on Kirk’s life and controversial statements, especially his comments on the Second Amendment ("I think it's worth it. I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights."), for the most part the news was met with widespread condemnation of gun violence and the shooting as a whole.

What’s even more tragic, however, is the immediate blame laid on “the left” by the likes of Laura Loomer and Elon Musk:

Musk went as far as to refer to the “left” as a “party of murder.” Later, he posted this:

While the FBI stated they have a person of interest in custody, no one knows if that is actually the shooter, nor do they know their motive. What’s being perpetuated by the likes of Loomer and Musk is highly volatile, vitriolic, and provocative. Will they be blamed for any potential retaliation against liberal figures now?

Meanwhile, almost simultaneously, a shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado this afternoon left four students hospitalized, three of them with gunshot wounds, including the suspected shooter. All three remain in critical condition at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, while a fourth student sustained injuries while fleeing the scene. Authorities said the incident took place on school grounds but outside the building, and that the shooter used a handgun, though it remains unclear whether the suspected shooter’s wound was self-inflicted or if more than one shooter was involved. More than 100 police officers responded, along with federal agents, as terrified students fled and parents gathered at a reunification center at Bergen Meadow Elementary School. Governor Jared Polis issued a statement stressing that students deserve to attend school without fear, while the Jefferson County Education Association linked the tragedy to the lingering trauma of the 1999 Columbine massacre and demanded meaningful action to end gun violence in schools. Community members described the event as shocking and surreal, with one student calling it “a one-in-a-million thing” and a parent acknowledging she always feared it was a matter of “when, not if.” A vigil was scheduled at Flatirons Community Church in Golden, and all Jefferson County school athletics and activities were canceled in the wake of the attack.

This story, of course, has been completely swallowed up in the news cycles by Kirk’s shooting and subsequent death. And that’s the real tragedy.