22-year-old Tyler Robinson is facing charges for the murder of Charlie Kirk, a man who debated college students to get them talking and thinking for themselves.
At a press conference (video below) held just after the alleged shooter was captured last week, Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) recognized that violence is happening everywhere every day; he called that "tragic" and asserted that every life taken is "a child of God who deserves our love and respect and dignity."
But he submits a political assassination is "much bigger" than an attack on an individual because it is "an attack all of us … on the American experiment."
"Political violence is different than any other type of violence," he said. "It cuts to the very foundation of who we are, who we have been, and who we could be."
He believes human connection is the key to better times.
People who know Robinson describe him as an extremely intelligent person who has followed current events and spent much of his time online or playing video games.
After the F.B.I. released surveillance images of the suspect and asked for the public's help in identifying him, The New York Times reports that users on the messaging platform Discord noticed a resemblance.
"Tyler killed Charlie!!!!" one wrote, apparently in jest after Robinson told his friends on the platform that his "doppelganger" was trying to get him in trouble.
His family, friends, and acquaintances say he had become increasingly political in recent years, but given the chance, he opted not to debate Kirk at the mic last Wednesday..
"[Charlie] said when you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to commit violence," Gov. Cox noted. "He said what we as a culture have to get back to is being able to have a reasonable agreement where violence is not an option."
Johns Hopkins Medicine, Ballard Brief, and other sources confirm that too much time on social media and the absence of human connections have negative effects. Isolation can lead to mental health disorders, poor physical health, substance abuse, and more.
According to Ballard Brief, Gen Z is the loneliest generation the world has seen.
And at a time when the Left has successfully redefined so many things – like saying "misgendering" someone causes physical harm – Gov. Cox set the record straight.
"I hear all the time that words are violence. Words are not violence," he stated. "Violence is violence."
He confessed that this assassination has made him as angry and as sad as he has ever been, but he remembers Charlie Kirk's words and encourages young people to do the same.
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive … without limit," the governor relayed. "Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."
"Turn off your phone, read scripture, spend time with friends, and remember internet fury is not real life," Gov. Cox quoted. "It's going to be OK."
He said violence will never be solved "if we can't have a clash of ideas safely and securely, especially those ideas with which you disagree."
He hopes Charlie Kirk's words help people realize that rage is not the only path, that they have an opportunity to build a culture that is different and better. That does not mean pretending differences don't matter. It means embracing differences and having those hard conversations.
Robinson is set to be charged on Tuesday.
