Sept. 12, 2025 5 AM PT
To the editor: The killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk wasn’t simply unhinged and violent, it was additionally phenomenally silly, relying on the shooter’s targets (“Shooting of Charlie Kirk was ‘political assassination,’ Utah governor says,” Sept. 10).
The primary query I’d ask the shooter who killed Kirk can be this: What have been you attempting to perform? What was your goal? If the target was to silence the person and put an finish to his campaign, then all I can say is that, in all chance, the precise reverse goes to occur. His voice won’t solely be amplified, it is going to start to resonate with those that weren’t even all in favour of it to start with. That’s what martyrdom accomplishes, and Kirk might be going to be remodeled from a mere human being into an emblem — and you’ll’t kill an thought with a bullet. I can not overstate simply how silly this was.
Arthur Saginian, Santa Clarita
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To the editor: I’m shocked and sickened by the evil taking pictures of Kirk at Utah Valley College. There isn’t any place for horrific violence like this. Both we’re a rustic that values range of viewpoints and free speech or we’re doomed. Individuals want to have the ability to converse on campuses and in different public areas with out worry of being shot. I’m considering of his household at the moment.
Paul Bacon, Hallandale Seaside, Fla.
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To the editor: We should always all be deeply saddened by Kirk’s killing. We should always all ship condolences to his spouse and kids. However we should always not lionize this man. He was a right-wing ideologue who was anti-gun control and has engaged in rhetoric condemned as antisemitic, together with anti-immigrant and anti-transgender statements. He shouldn’t be awarded honors, nor mythologized.
Betsy Handler, Santa Monica
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To the editor: Horrific occasions like Kirk’s slaying make obvious to me that the 2nd Modification to our Structure is clearly not working as supposed. These few phrases in that modification are working extra as an inspiration to kill a presumed enemy than a deterrent to a disgruntled adversary. They’ve develop into the go-to textual content in response to so many of us’ grievances.
Is our authorities able to something resembling a sane discount of weapons in America? Different international locations have managed as a lot.
Sylvia Lewis Gunning, Thousand Oaks