Letters to the Editor (Oct. 2, 2025)

Lesson learned amid political violence in the United States

Editor:

The despicable assassination of Charlie Kirk provides a teachable moment about political violence.

Within hours of the shooting, up until the shooter’s political affiliation was made public, the right wing assumed the shooter was a left-wing extremist. Various right-wing TV personalities and the president, each tried to outdo the other in claiming that the left wing was full of hate and violence and had “declared war.”

In a breath-taking level of hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness, some advocated for all left-wing organizations to be canceled; some even claimed that the right wing was the side of restraint.

The left wing universally condemned the despicable act. I heard no one, anywhere, trying to joke or downplay the shooting. Many on the left wing criticized what Kirk said, but still supported his right to free speech. None even implied that he should be silenced in any way.

And then, after the alleged perpetrator was discovered not to be left wing, the hate speech didn’t stop, and our president said nothing to try to bring the country together.

Do you ever wonder what would happen if a left-wing progressive had been murdered? No need to wonder. Just a few weeks ago, Democratic Rep. Melissa Hortman and husband, Mark Hortman, were killed by a right-wing gunman armed with a long list of other Democratic targets he was going to kill had he not been stopped.

What was the response from the political right wing? Ridicule and jokes, and doubling down on artificial accusations of the left-wing. I’ve heard nothing from Trump — other than more polarizing rhetoric. He made no attempt to bring us together, instead demonizing opposition.

When a left-wing politician or influencer is murdered, I didn’t hear one left-wing person advocate harming right-wing people or organizations.

The ADL says 74 percent of extremist-related murders are committed by right-wing extremists, and 4 percent committed by left-wing extremists.

Given the greater coverage of Charlie Kirk’s death compared to responses to Melissa and Mark Hortmans’ deaths, was Kirk’s life somehow worth more than the Hortmans’ lives? With Kirk’s shooting, a father was taken; with the Hortmans’ shooting, a mother and father were taken.

Then there are those children who are murdered in school shootings every week. We barely hear about them now; school shootings are normalized. Are any of their lives less important than Kirk?

Many of these shooters have mental problems. Would better mental-health treatment facilities reduce shootings? The right wing is famous for cutting back on mental-health treatment programs. A previous republican New Mexican governor destroyed the state’s mental-health treatment program over six years ago and it still has not yet fully recovered.

Should I fear for my life for this letter? The fear of speaking out is how the cancer of fascism infects a country. Trump’s rhetoric is stoking that fear. Joseph McCarthy would be proud.

Is this MAGA’s Reichstag moment? It’s well past time for his supporters to wake up and listen to him objectively. Trump supporters, you voted for this: that I, an American, should fear voicing my opinion.

Paul Kinzelman

Peralta