BY MICHAEL GRAHAM

When the link reached my text message inbox, I told myself not to click on it, that I did not need to see the brutal images that would inevitably follow.  But my thumb acted as if disassociated from my mind and pressed.  The brutality that followed was worse than anything I could have conjured in my imagination.  For the rest of my life, I never want to see what happened to Charlie Kirk happen to another human being.  It was visceral, it was vicious, the pain and horror inflicted on that young man is too horrid to put into words.  I shudder at the sheer terror and excruciating pain he must have endured.  This violence must be condemned in the most forceful of terms possible.

Kirk is a man with whom I agreed on nothing, and whose past statements provoked my outrage.  Over the past days, I was reminded that he even once stated, “I can’t stand the word empathy, actually.  I think empathy is a made-up, new age term that – it does a lot of damage.” (Fact Check: Charlie Kirk once said empathy was 'made-up, new age term').  The full context seems to indicate a preference for sympathy and that he was not devoid of sympathy for others, but having empathy implies an understanding of someone’s feelings and circumstances, particularly the pain they feel.  Regardless of the full implications of his words, I do feel both empathy and sympathy for the man and his family.  As fellow human beings, we all should.  And we should all work to see the common humanity in and to feel empathy and sympathy for each other.

I abhor much of this man’s statement and actions.  A self-proclaimed free speech champion, he setup a company and website specifically designed to harass and intimidate professors for their speech.  (Trump Calls Journalists “Enemy Of The People” During Pennsylvania Rally Minutes Before Man Storms Into Media Section | Vanity Fair).  He misogynistically advised a 14-year-old girl that the only real reason she should go to college is to find a man to marry.  ("You will find a husband": Charlie Kirk tells 14-year-old girl to get an "MRS degree" - Salon.com).  Discounting hundreds of years of slavery and Jim Crow oppression, he has stated that, “We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s” and that “MLK is awful[.]”  (How Charlie Kirk and TPUSA Plan to Discredit Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Act | WIRED).  This is a man who joked after the vicious hammer attack on Paul Pelosi – one that could have led to Mr. Pelosi’s death and perhaps, under different circumstances, the death of the former Speaker of the House – that a “patriot” should bail out the attacker.  (Charlie Kirk: 'Bail Out' Alleged Paul Pelosi Attacker).

To be frank, I believe this man leaves behind a toxic legacy of division that stoked fear, and made us angrier at each other.  But I still see his humanity, I am still haunted by the images of his death, I am still disgusted by his murderer, and I still feel empathy and sympathy for his family.  Anyone can understand the depths of despair his spouse must be feeling and the gaping void that must occupy his children’s hearts now that they must grow up without a father.  It should be universal to the human experience that we understand that pain and feel sorry for the suffering of others.

The vast majority of democratic leadership has come out with full-throated condemnation of this assassination, and I’ve seen messages of unity from democratic leaders like Barrack Obama (Obama condemns 'despicable violence' that killed Charlie Kirk), Gavin Newsom (Gavin Newsom, Nancy Pelosi condemn Charlie Kirk killing), and Kamala Harris (Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Top Democrats Condemn Charlie Kirk Shooting - Newsweek), as well as the vast majority of leaders on both sides of the aisle (Trump, former presidents, politicians condemn Kirk assassination).  I read Jimmy Kimmel’s words on this shooting (Jimmy Kimmel on Charlie Kirk's Death: Stop the Angry Finger Pointing), and see the wisdom in his statement:

“Instead of angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?  On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”

But I cannot excuse or abide the recklessness of others (‘This Is War’: Right Blames Left for Charlie Kirk Death | TIME), who in this time of immense fear and confusion demonize and rally their followers against perceived enemies, starting with the President.  Trump has repeatedly called the press enemies of the people (Trump Calls Journalists “Enemy Of The People” During Pennsylvania Rally Minutes Before Man Storms Into Media Section | Vanity Fair), and has called political opponents “communist, Marxists, fascists, and radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country” (Trump called his political opponents 'vermin' echoing language used by Hitler : NPR), among other offenses.  In this moment, when healing is needed, after we’ve seen democratic legislators and their families assassinated in Minnesota (Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, husband killed in attack - Session Daily - Minnesota House of Representatives), the Democratic Governor’s mansion in Pennsylvania fire-bombed while the governor and his family were still inside (Gov. Josh Shapiro recounts evacuating arson fire in pajamas at Pennsylvania governor's residence - CBS Pittsburgh), and Trump himself faced an assassination attempt that left innocent bystanders dead (How a lone gunman breached security in Trump's assassination attempt: a year in review), Trump is claiming that radical left rhetoric is “directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today.”  (‘This Is War’: Right Blames Left for Charlie Kirk Death | TIME).  As of the publication of this article, we have no idea who was responsible for the shooting.  This dehumanizing rhetoric, this stoking of fear and anger, pours the proverbial gasoline on the fire.

While MSNBC fired analyst Matthew Dowd for suggesting Kirk’s hateful words may have led to hateful actions (MSNBC fires Matthew Dowd after Charlie Kirk comments, reports say), Jesse Watters of Fox News irresponsibly declared, with no consequences, that “they” are at war with “us” (Jesse Watters reacts to Charlie Kirk’s assassination: ‘They are at war with us!’ | The Independent), words that could provoke additional violence and retribution, that appeal to the worst of our instincts.  “We” are all Americans with friends, neighbors, and loved ones.  What should be a moment of unity – of each of us standing up and saying enough of violence in the name of politics and politicians – can spiral and tear us apart if we let it.

This is a deeply angry, deeply divided, toxic era of political turmoil.  It is an era that demands responsible leadership and rhetoric, it demands more empathy and sympathy for our individual humanity.  We are each of us more than a political movement, more than a politician’s constituency.  We are unique individuals of different races, colors, creeds, backgrounds, and faiths who stand for the great American principles committed to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, the rule of law, and equal protection under those laws.  Those are the ideals that unite and bind us, that we must stand up for and fight for as one.  This American moment demands we see the humanity in each other and that we allow ourselves to be guided by the better angels of our nature.