NICD Mourns Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
Along with millions of other Americans, NICD condemns yesterday’s assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk. We urge everyone—left, right, and center—to raise their voice in condemning this and all other political violence to make it clear that those of us who oppose political violence vastly outnumber those who commit or condone it. If you are one of the millions of Americans who agree that political violence is never the answer, record a video sharing your views here: https://www.commonsenseamerican.org/betterthanthis/. We also encourage you to post your condemnation of the horrific attack yesterday in Utah on social media and use #BetterThanThis.
Political violence undermines democracy and discourages the free and open exchange of ideas upon which this nation is built. We are better than this and must push back against the rising tide of political violence by engaging each other constructively.
The attack on Charlie Kirk is particularly tragic considering his impressive commitment to demonstrating the power of discourse and debate aimed at persuasion. Kirk was a leading contemporary figure in making the case that political opinions must be debated substantively and constructively. He rose to prominence primarily by fostering debate on college campuses with his “Prove Me Wrong” forums. At these forums, Kirk would often emphasize that his goal was to facilitate open dialogue on challenging topics. In one previous event, Kirk elaborated this aim clearly: “What is so important to our country is to find our disagreements respectfully because when people stop talking, that’s when violence happens… That’s when civil war happens, because you start to think the other side is so evil they lose their humanity.” It is especially tragic that Kirk’s voice was silenced by an act that was such a contradiction to this philosophy.
In moments like this, when our nation is reeling from a shocking act of political violence, it can feel as if those of us who vehemently reject this type of violence are the minority. It is true that we are experiencing a rising tide of politically motivated violence. It is concerning, and we should take it seriously. One act of political violence is too many.
We must also remember the few individuals actually turn to political violence are extreme outliers. Instances of political violence make a deep impression, but we cannot let them overshadow the reality that there are millions of us who abhor the use of violence to achieve political ends. We may be tempted to reflect on the attacks on Charlie Kirk yesterday, Melissa and Mark Hortman in June, and President Trump last July and believe that the recent political violence is more reflective of our nation than it is. The perpetrators of political violence are the extreme. They are a tiny, fringe minority.
Political violence is morally evil. It’s also utterly ineffective. Whatever one’s cause, choosing political violence will alienate rather than win people to your cause. Charlie Kirk understood that and actively worked to win over people to the causes he cared so passionately about. Through his activism, he attempted to facilitate substantive conversations on college campuses to build a case for conservatism among young people. Regardless of agreement or disagreement with his politics, we should all acknowledge that this type of discourse, not violence, is how we win people to our side in a democracy.
As we mourn the death of Charlie Kirk and send thoughts and prayers to his family in this difficult time, let us also come together to catalyze a renewed commitment to the kind of discourse Kirk championed.