We shouldn’t have to live like this in America.

A right-wing political figure like Charlie Kirk shouldn’t be shot and killed in broad daylight on a Utah college campus. Not for anything he had said, or for who he was, or for any reason.

A Democratic state lawmaker like Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband shouldn’t be assassinated in their home, as they were in June. Not for anything they had said, or for who she was, or for any reason.

And children shouldn’t be routinely shot in schools, as two students at a Denver area high school were on Sept. 10, about the same time Kirk was shot one state away.

Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, as America does what it always does

I shouldn’t have to text my kids and tell them to avoid the horrific viral video of Kirk being shot. I shouldn’t have to worry that images of real, graphic violence like that will, bit by bit, steal parts of their souls.

We shouldn’t have to cringe as online ghouls from across the political spectrum celebrate, speculate or pontificate on the latest shooting.

Who doesn't condemn violence? That should be a given.

We shouldn’t have to live in a country where the instant a tragedy like the killing of Kirk or the Denver school shooting happens, every politician and every soul with a social media account rises up and boldly declares: I CONDEMN VIOLENCE OF ANY KIND!

Of course you do. That should be a given. Those who don’t condemn violence of any kind are outliers, attention seekers, opportunistic ideologues.

Condemnation of violence is inherently human.

America is broken by violence, and Kirk's death is just the latest act

But we live in a country that has so much violence – political violence, street violence, domestic violence – that we find it necessary to either take out our bullhorn and make clear our dislike of violence or blame the violence on people we don’t like.

All of that is horrible. It’s not how a functioning society should operate.

I’m a liberal. I couldn’t have possibly disagreed more with Kirk’s politics. I think his sometimes hateful words and right-wing activism did real harm. I think his pro-gun rhetoric was deplorable. But all I felt as news of the Utah shooting unspooled was horror.

He was a human being. He had a young family. Whatever the shooter’s motive, whatever the shooter’s political party or beliefs, there’s no universe in which what happened was anything but a tragedy.

And that, I guarantee you, is how most people in America felt. Because most people abhor violence. Most people know it’s wrong. Most people want peace and safety and the freedom to speak their mind without threat of harm.

Social media and the blur of news fog our sense of humanity

That reality gets blurred by the 24-hour news cycle and the ideological screamers and the blurring firehose of social media posts.

I’ll say it again, when people feel the need to openly declare their opposition to any form of violence, when there’s enough uncertainty out there that Americans decide they must routinely plant a flag about their position on the matter, the country has a problem.

A problem with violence, of course. But more fundamentally, a problem with how we address violence.

Why not try everything to prevent all forms of violence?

It can be stopped, but Americans don’t seem able to agree on how to get that done. Fewer guns? Better mental health services? Stricter laws? Toned-down rhetoric? More prayer? Better education?

How about all those things? How about we collectively recognize we’ve got a problem and cut the left vs. right crap and figure it out. How about we stop demanding everyone declare their deep opposition to senseless violence and start bridging the very divide that is undoubtedly making the violence worse.

I’ve been writing about horrific shootings like the one in Utah for too long to be optimistic. What happened to Kirk should never happen to anyone. But I brought up the assassination of the Minnesota lawmaker and her husband near the top of this column to show how quickly tragedies like these happen and then fade, then happen again, and again, and again.

A declaration of opposition to violence gets us nowhere

I condemn violence in all forms. There, are you happy now?

The very fact that I have to do it tells you Americans need to pull their heads out of their political holes and forge a path to a place where a person’s condemnation of violence is simply assumed.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Charlie Kirk's death is abhorrent – and a reflection of our violent country | Opinion

Reporting by Rex Huppke, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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