This is the 24th anniversary of the Twin Towers being struck by our enemies. A day when approximately 2,996 people lost their lives in one of the most horrific acts of violence our country had ever seen. This was a day when 343 New York firemen, 23 New York policemen, and 37 Port Authority officers lost their lives in the ultimate sacrifice of saving people devoid of political affiliations.
9/11 is supposed to be a day of hope and remembrance. Instead, I feared that we were going to have a day (weeks, months, or years) of despair and a calling for political retaliation.
I was writing a piece on 9/11 for a couple of days when I was given the news that Charlie Kirk, 31 was murdered at Utah Valley University in Orem, UT. The news struck me into a contemplative state of mind. The irony of why was not lost on me, but this was no laughing matter.
Kirk was in Utah debating the most ill-informed liberals he could find. It was business as usual for the polarizing conservative figure. He was speaking about gun violence and the 2nd Amendment when a single bullet struck Kirk in the neck in front of the crowd, his employees, and worst of all, in front of his wife and children, according to a report by the BBC.
He was struck from 200 yards away according to authorities. It was a clear day with winds between 9 and 14 mph in Orem, UT when Kirk was struck down.
The shot is on par with a more novice shooter if they were aiming for Kirk’s head. A wind at 14 mph would veer a bullet about 6 inches from the desired target. Those 6 inches from his neck would be somewhere in the head.
Over my decades on this planet I have never seen things as bad as they are now on the political landscape.
There was a time when a killer was a killer and they were disposed of justly. Now everyone wants to politicize a sole gunman while trying to champion their preferred martyr. I have seen and heard it on both sides of the political spectrum. This is NOT the way of a country that was once the standard. These are the actions of a country that is lost and drunk with power. I’ve seen less fights at a Chicago Bears vs Green Bay Packers game.
The struggle for political dominance is not what this country was about. The usefulness of a killer and an innocent life was not what this country was created for.
Everyone using this tragedy for political prowess, a reason to become violent, or just views on their preferred social media platforms are simply put, pieces of shit. This is about a family that lost their loved one to nothing more than having an opinion that differs from theirs.
These acts of violence should be condemned by all with no regard for the killer’s family, political views, or their pronouns. This is a person with a sick mind that should spend the rest of their natural born life behind bars.
We all need to stop making the shooter a “we.” This is not a we situation. This was the action of a high fructose nut pie. A gunman that should have been caught by now, though I feel he won’t be for a bit longer in hopes of some more gasoline being put on this fire. It took a mere 70 minutes to find Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963 with a fraction of the technology that we have today.
We all know the motivation of this killing. It was the same motive that caused the shootings of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, Harvey Milk, Gandhi, Ronald Reagan, and Malcom X; the list keeps going on and on. These are motives for a singular incident. These are the actions of a murderer, nothing more and nothing less.
Let’s reflect on a time in 2001 when the United States of America came together and triumphed during distress. We need to go back to a time when America was actually great. When we knew the strengths of our differences.
One person’s bullet does not speak for millions of people.