Charlie Kirk shooting is a warning about rising political violence | Opinion
Founder and president of the youth organization Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a college event in Utah on Wednesday. The shooting death of Kirk shocked the country — and me, personally.
When I was the president of the Palm Beach Young Republicans in 2015, I traveled in many of the same South Florida political circles as Kirk. And while I didn’t always agree with him, the idea of political violence being used against him — or anyone — should be terrifying for this whole country.
Events are still unfolding, and we don’t know exactly what happened. More information may come out to change our views in this terrible moment. But right now, it looks as though Kirk’s death represents a devastating escalation in America’s political division. Regardless of political affiliation, the sobering reality of Kirk being shot while speaking on a college campus — about politics — is deeply troubling.
Political violence has no place in America. No matter the victim, Wednesday’s events strike at the foundation of American democracy.
The moment we accept violence as a means to silence those we disagree with or justify senseless acts of violence against those we disagree with, we’ve abandoned the principles that make American democracy possible. And we become something darker and far more dangerous than our founders intended.
Our system allows for Americans the ability to debate, protest and disagree without resorting to violence. The First Amendment allows us for free speech — even if it offends or angers us. But it never permits violence.
A full investigation will be conducted to get all the facts. That will take time. But one thing must be made clear: This is not who we are as Americans. Our nation was built on the peaceful transfer of power, on ballots deciding elections and on citizens engaging one another as equals, not enemies.
No one should fear being shot for sharing their political views.
But how do we hold onto that idea when, just up the road, in Fort Pierce, Florida, the man accused of attempting to assassinate is going on trial? Jury selection has begun in the case against Ryan Routh, charged with trying to kill President Trump on his West Palm Beach golf course in 2024.
And a few months ago, in June, a gunman shot and killed one Minnesota lawmaker and her huband and wounded another lawmaker and his wife in what prosecutors said was an effort to carry out political assassinations.
In the aftermath of the Kirk shooting, there was lots of condemnation of political violence by public figures and politicians. That’s good, but it’s the bare minimum. On X, I saw calls for the need to tamp down the political rhetoric. While I appreciate the sentiment, I think this is a moment for reflection on the path ahead.
In the coming days, many will call for gun reform and others will condemn the shooter as cowardly. They’ll pull the suspect’s voter registration, and the discussion will turn into a partisan argument.
But we must not allow this moment to desensitize us to political violence. In 2011, when sitting Democratic Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot at a political event, it was alarming and terrible. When Republican Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise was shot during a Congressional baseball practice in 2017, it was awful. In 2025, Kirk’s death adds another chapter to that dreadful cavalcade.
I don’t know what it will take to end shootings in America. But I do know this: If we normalize political violence, America ceases to be the shining city on a hill that Reagan once spoke of, an image that I try to hold onto in dark moments like this.
I refuse to believe this is who America is — or who we become.
Mary Anna Mancuso is a member of McClatchy’s Miami Herald Editorial Board. Her email: mmancuso@miamiherald.com
This story was originally published September 10, 2025 at 6:55 PM.