A Day of Two Tragedies: Why No One Should Die for What They Believe

Cole

Cole

— 5 min read
Photo of a shattered microphone on a podium with an American flag backdrop and bullet impact, symbolizing gun violence, silenced speech, and threats to free expression in the United States.

Hey y’all, welcome back to The Mar-A-Loco Report.

Quick disclaimer: This blog is going to be a little more controversial than usual. I want to be crystal clear up front — I do not condone gun violence of any kind, against anyone, for any reason. What follows is my attempt to grapple honestly with the tragedy of Charlie Kirk’s death, the Colorado school shooting, and the bigger issues they reveal about gun violence and free speech in America.

On Sept. 10, our country was rocked by two horrific events. In Utah, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot in the neck while speaking at Utah Valley University. Just one minute later and 450 miles away, a 16-year-old opened fire at a high school in Colorado, critically injuring two students before turning the gun on himself. Two very different worlds collided in the space of sixty seconds. One involved a polarizing public figure, the other innocent kids. Both sprang from the same grim soil: a nation awash in guns.

When I first heard about Kirk’s death, I felt sad for his family and friends. I still disagree with almost everything he stood for, but empathy shouldn’t be reserved only for those we agree with. Losing a loved one is devastating, regardless of politics. Disagreement is the lifeblood of a free society. Debate can be fierce; it should never be fatal. To murder someone because of their beliefs is an assault on all of us and the freedoms we claim to cherish.

No One Deserves Death for Their Ideas

Kirk founded Turning Point USA at 18 and wielded influence in MAGA circles. He was 31 when a bullet took his life. As news spread, right-wing commentators rushed to call for civil war and violent retribution. Far-right influencers lit up social media with cries of “This is war,” while some called on the president to invoke the Insurrection Act and declare the left an enemy of the state. Former Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes pledged to rebuild his militia for “public protection.” Even Elon Musk amplified posts labeling Democrats “the party of murder.”

Violence begets violence. It is never the answer. I mourn the loss of Charlie Kirk because I mourn all loss of life. I also grieve for the students and teachers in Colorado, whose school became a war zone. Our empathy does not hinge on ideology.

The Scale of America’s Gun Crisis

While pundits trade blame, the statistics scream for attention. Nearly 47,000 people died from gun-related injuries in 2023. More than half of those deaths were suicides, while about 38 percent were murders. In 2024, gun homicides and accidental shootings still claimed more than 16,000 lives. Though those numbers are down from pandemic highs, they remain staggering. The per-capita gun death rate in 2023 was 13.7 per 100,000 people. By mid-September 2025, America had already endured more than 300 mass shootings. When almost 47,000 people—neighbors, children, teachers—die in a single year, we cannot pretend these are isolated incidents.

Charlie Kirk himself once argued that the carnage was “worth it” to preserve the Second Amendment, calling gun deaths an acceptable price of freedom. That statement resurfaced after his assassination, underscoring the cruel irony that he was discussing gun violence moments before he was shot. Our response should not be to take glee in his death. It should be to confront the ideology that normalizes tens of thousands of deaths as collateral damage.

When Speaking Costs You Your Job

In the days after the killing, the country’s so-called free-speech warriors launched a clampdown on speech. Teachers, firefighters, a Secret Service agent, and even a junior strategist at Nasdaq were fired or suspended for social media posts deemed disrespectful. A Carolina Panthers communications coordinator lost their job for quoting Kirk’s own words about gun deaths being “worth it.” Two Florida educators were removed from classrooms after one posted, “This may not be the obituary we were all hoping to wake up to, but it is a close second.” Another referenced his 2023 remarks that some gun deaths were an acceptable trade-off.

I see some of these firings as justified — praising someone’s death crosses a moral line. But most appear unjustified when people were punished simply for mentioning Kirk or quoting his own words. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a hunt for any service member who mocked or appeared to condone the murder. Conservative activists encouraged doxxing campaigns and threatened to ruin the careers of those who “celebrate” the death.

Meanwhile, many of the same people calling for punishment once cheered violence or mocked past victims. After Paul Pelosi was assaulted with a hammer in 2022, Representative Clay Higgins posted a mocking photo, and right-wing influencer Laura Loomer spun conspiracy theories. Kirk himself once joked that someone should bail out Pelosi’s attacker. This hypocrisy reveals a deeper rot: calls to violence are tolerated when they target political opponents, but mere dissent is grounds for firing when the victim is on the right.

Free Speech Isn’t a One-Way Street

We must be able to say two things at once: no one should ever celebrate the death of another human being, and no one should condemn a death either, because death itself is tragic, no matter who it happens to. At the same time, no government or employer should be policing opinions about public figures. Freedom of speech protects unpopular views and criticism of power. It does not protect violence or harassment. Yet the recent purge shows that the right’s commitment to speech is selective. The Trump administration has promised to take action against foreign nationals who “praise or rationalize” the shooting, while some Republicans have proposed deporting critics and banning them from social media for life. That is state-sponsored censorship in the name of free speech.

We Can’t Accept Death as Normal

America is at a crossroads. Disagreement can be spirited, but it must not end in bloodshed. We cannot accept a status quo in which kids practice active shooter drills as often as fire drills, or where calling for the release of an assailant is protected speech but quoting someone’s past words is a firing offense. Historians remind us that the United States has a “long, dark history” of political violence, and experts warn that today’s polarized rhetoric and easy access to firearms have made such violence feel “shockingly regular.”

Empathy doesn’t mean endorsement. I do not condone violence against anyone, no matter their political beliefs. I will continue to call out lies and expose hypocrisies with receipts and real policy analysis. We can demand accountability without cheering death. We can mourn victims and fight to make sure no one, on any side, meets the same fate.

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