Americans must defend our nation’s freedoms and reject political violence
Ninety years ago, an assassin gunned down Louisiana Gov. Huey P. Long. He died two days later on Sept. 10, 1935. His son, Russell Long, declared, “It is the ballot rather than the bullet which should determine America’s destiny.”
On Sept. 10, 2025, an assassin killed Charlie Kirk, who was on a college campus debating. Someone chose to confront his words with a bullet, what the nation now chooses will determine our destiny.
Kirk, at 18, cofounded Turning Point USA. In his early 20s, he knew how to get attention and could be rather brash. As he got older, as we all do, he matured. He got married and had kids and his message of raw political engagement morphed into telling young people they could get married, have kids and go to church.
As someone who writes a lot and speaks three hours a day without a script, this is one of those times I struggle for words.
It should be a common understanding in civic society that though you may dislike or even hate a political opponent, you do not gun them down. If Americans decide we cannot settle our difference without bullets, we no longer have these United States.
This tragedy brought the worst in many Americans
Charlie Kirk liked to engage in debate. He invited those with whom he disagreed to debate him. They often left as friends. In fact, it is notable that in the 12 hours after his assassination, many of the voices speaking out to praise him and condemn the attack are those who he had debated.
What feels so different about this is not the “nut picking,” or finding the random internet troll celebrating Charlie’s death. Instead, the number of people who feel comfortable, under their own names as doctors, lawyers, teachers and others going onto social media to celebrate and cheer this father of two being gunned down because they do not like his politics.
There was the “emotional support teacher” in Pennsylvania who declared she would “extend absolutely no empathy for people like that.” There was the acclaimed novelist who wrote, “Hope the bullet’s okay after touching Charlie Kirk.” There was the Carnevale Associates employee who declared Kirk “faced the consequences of his own actions.” The assistant dean of students at Middle Tennessee State University declared, “Hate begets hate. ZERO sympathy.” The Fairview Park City Council President in Ohio declared, “A lot of good people died today. Charlie Kirk wasn’t one of them.”
The New York Times editorial board wrote, “This editorial board disagreed with Mr. Kirk on many policy questions, and we are unreservedly horrified by his killing. We grieve for his loved ones. We mourn his death.” Major Democratic politicians from Barack Obama to Hakeem Jeffries condemned the assassination. The New York Yankees had a moment of silence. The leaders set the right tone, but it is disturbing to see prominent Americans outside politics who felt comfortable so openly cheering or justifying the death of a person solely because they dislike his politics. If that thinking, on the left or the right, becomes normalized, the country will struggle to survive.
We can disagree without wishing our neighbors harm
In 2016, when I announced I would not support Donald Trump, three men came to my home to threaten me and my family. A group of boys on the playground at my kids’ school attacked my son, then 8, because their parents hated me. My 11-year-old daughter’s classmates prepared a guide on how to commit suicide for my daughter, believing if she killed herself, I might see the light. I have, thankfully, not suffered violence intended to take my life. But I know the hate all too well from both sides of the aisle for speaking up.
Speaking up is what Americans are supposed to do. We can disagree and our response should be a rebuttal, not violence. Americans should abhor the idea of any other American, regardless of their views, being gunned down over politics — a realm in our lives that has grown far more expansive than it was ever intended to be.
When any American decides it is OK to kill another American because of their political views, who guards the line that cannot be crossed? Who determines the boundaries? The answer is no one. When college deans and town council presidents and teachers lose their moral compass enough to be comfortable with the death of others because of their views, that creeps down into our classrooms and town squares.
The people at the top want the bullets to stop because they both recognize the political process needs speech and debate, but also, they could be next. It is when the people at the bottom are okay with the bullets that our civic foundations begin to crumble.
Charlie Kirk, among others, would say, “Decline is a choice.” If we choose to silence words with bullets, we have made the choice to decline. I am an optimist about our nation. I think we were founded on ideas and ideals. We often struggle to live up to them. Here is our own turning point where we can decide to recommit to the Declaration of Independence, our constitutional order, and the Bill of Rights, or we can commit to decline.
A week before Charlie Kirk died, he gave an interview in his radio studio and said, “You have to try to point them toward ultimate purposes and toward getting back to the church, getting back to faith, getting married, having children...I’m trying to paint a picture of virtue of lifting people up, not just staying angry.”
The Apostle Paul declared to the Ephesians, “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Both quotes are sound advice. It is better we try to know our neighbor than wish him harm. Charlie Kirk’s assassination should be a wake-up call for everyone that our time to decide our destiny has arrived – will it be with ballots or bullets.
Erick Erickson is conservative commentator and hosts the Erick Erickson Show nationwide, broadcasting middays on WSB Radio in Atlanta.
