The gunshots that rang through a political rally and injured former President Donald Trump on Saturday were, in truth, aimed at all Americans.
No matter how passionate people may feel about politics and candidates, violence directed at one participant in the nation’s democratic process is an assault on all Americans, regardless of ideology. The integrity of that process ensures that laws and the will of the people reign supreme in a nation that has long been the envy of the world.
Violence is the henchman of coercion. It is the opposite of freedom. As Trump himself said in a message hours after the shooting, “It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country.”
We are grateful that Trump was not seriously injured. But we are left to mourn the innocent rally attendee who was killed, and pray for those who were wounded. It is up to all Americans now to make sure the violence ends in Butler, Pennsylvania.
At a time when rumors swirl through the internet at lightning speed and passions are easily inflamed, all Americans must resolve to not answer violence with violence, to not answer anger with anger. We must instead remember the words of Abraham Lincoln, who in his first inaugural address told a broken nation that he hoped “the mystic chords of memory” would lead to every heart being touched “by the better angels of our nature.”
We urge all to pray for those better angels to emerge. We urge peace as details surface about the alleged shooter, his motives, his possible alliances and his own political viewpoints, if there are any. We urge the nation’s politicians, pundits and civic leaders of all stripes to champion calm and reason, ensuring that ideas shape the course of the nation’s future.
We are grateful President Biden quickly announced his campaign would immediately pull all television campaign ads. We were heartened that Trump was able to post to social media that he had survived a shot to “the upper part of my right ear.” He offered his condolences to the individual who lost their life. And we second his hope that “God bless America!”
Despite the passions of politics, Americans have enjoyed a relatively long season free from political violence in presidential campaigns. Ronald Reagan was the last president to be shot, on March 30, 1981. Thankfully, he survived.
Before him, President Gerald Ford survived two assassination attempts in September of 1975 without being shot. And, of course, the last president to be killed in office was John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963. We need not recount each act of violence in our nation’s history. We can note the tremendous efforts to come together, to mourn together, and to regroup with renewed commitment for a bright future.
After Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was killed, the Deseret News asked: “When will we learn that violence breeds violence, that every rash act like the killing of Senator Kennedy helps bring on restrictions and repressions that weaken America? When will we learn to disagree without impugning each others’ motives or integrity, and to temper the language of our criticism with a view to its possible consequences?”
We then quoted former President Theodore Roosevelt after he had survived a would-be assassin’s shot: “It is a very natural thing that weak and vicious minds should be inflamed to acts of violence by the kind of foul mendacity and abuse that have been heaped on me.”
Those words easily could have been written today or at any other time in American history when violence has attempted to rob freedom.
In the coming days, much will be written and said about the alleged causes of Saturday’s shooting. Certainly, the Secret Service will assess how a shooter could have come within range of the former president unchecked.
The details are important, particularly to those who are charged with keeping candidates and rallies safe.
But emotions and national mood are even more important than details. Saturday’s shooting was a tragedy. One person is dead, in addition to the alleged shooter. Others are injured. What follows must be a time of mourning and sober self-reflection. The nation’s future depends on it.