By Suzanne Bellsnyder
If you didn’t know who Charlie Kirk was before, you likely do now. This week, the 31-year-old Kirk, a husband and father, was tragically shot during a speech on a college campus in America in front of thousands of people, mostly students — something my college-aged daughter made sure I understood was important.
Kirk, the conservative leader of an organization called Turning Point USA, chose as his mission field visiting college campuses to win over the hearts and minds of our youth across this country. Kirk emphatically shared his views on being a Christian and a conservative with his “Prove Me Wrong” appearances, where he would take questions from students brave enough to step up to a microphone. He would answer them with a back-and-forth exchange, challenging their views and helping students see things from his perspective.
Because of this, Charlie was loved by the Right and not so loved by the Left. But whether you agreed with Charlie or not, that’s not the point. Freedom of speech is the First Amendment of the United States Constitution — and if you haven’t figured it out yet, that is the point.
Kirk, someone who didn’t graduate from college, nonetheless earned his place as a close confidant to President Trump, doing what he felt God and his country had called him to do. Charlie’s death is a moment in American history, and we must pause to consider the significance of this event and what it means for our continued American greatness.
I attended an event at University of Texas LBJ School in Austin this past week with Karl Rove on the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America. Rove shared details I had never heard before, including that he was the one who told President George W. Bush that the first tower had been hit. That day was a tragedy that changed us all — but it was also a day when Americans came together to stand up for each other and for freedom.
It is striking that these two days now sit side by side on the calendar. One marks the loss of thousands at the hands of foreign terrorists. The other, the silencing of a single voice here at home. The scale is different, but the lesson is the same: what holds us together is not fear or anger, but our shared commitment to freedom and to each other.
We are Americans first, and conservatives or liberals second. The death of someone for their political beliefs is out of step with what it means to be American. Yet from the moment the news broke, we were pushed to pick sides by politicians, by national media, and by social media speculation. That fear and division is the real danger.
On 9/11, we lost 2,976 innocent souls. On 9/10, we lost one. But in both cases, the threat was the same — an attack on the freedoms that define our country. Let’s not be silenced. And let’s not silence our neighbors who disagree with us. Instead, let’s keep debating, arguing, and proving each other wrong — just as Charlie did — so we can better understand one another and continue in our American greatness.
About the Author
Suzanne Bellsnyder is editor and publisher of the Hansford County Reporter-Statesman and Sherman County Gazette. A former Capitol staffer with decades of experience in Texas politics and policy, she now focuses on how state decisions shape rural life through her newspapers and the Texas Rural Reporter. You can subscribe to the newsletter at www.TexasRuralReporter.Substack.com.
