Local voices were quick to offer condolences to the family of Charlie Kirk and call for an end to political violence after the conservative activist was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
Press Secretary Emily DeJoy shared with the Current the message sent to Marblehead Republican Town Committee members calling on them to “lift up Charlie’s family in prayer” and “stand united against political violence.”
“As we grapple with this tremendous loss, now is the time for unity,” the statement read in part. “Our conservative movement has always stood on the foundations of faith, resilience, and community, and that must remain steadfast today.” The full text of the statement appears here.
On X, Congressman Seth Moulton also decried the rise of political violence in America.
“Political violence of any kind has no place in our country,” he wrote. “We also should get serious about addressing the root causes of this violence, or it will only continue to grow.”
He also expressed his condolences for Kirk’s family, including his wife and two children, ages 3 and 1.
“As a father of two young girls myself, I can’t imagine what they’re going through tonight,” he wrote.
But Moulton subsequently drew criticism from remarks he made on CNN the following day, which were amplified by the website Mediaite.
Moulton suggested that President Trump could show he’s “serious” about wanting to stop political violence by overturning pardons he issued for those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“If the president is serious about stopping political violence, then maybe he should start by rescinding the pardons for all the domestic terrorists who came to the Capitol on Jan. 6 to kill cops, to kill Speaker Pelosi, to kill — to kill Vice President Pence,” Moulton told CNN’s Kate Bouldan on “CNN News Central.”
Moulton again called for “an honest conversation about the origins of this political violence and why it has risen so dramatically since Donald Trump’s first term.”
“We need to have that conversation if we’re serious about stopping it,” he said.
On Friday, Moulton reported on X in a now-deleted post that his CNN remarks had led to his office receiving “an extraordinary number of violent and graphic threats yesterday and today from right-wing individuals online and over the phone — directed toward me, my family, and my staff — after I pointed out the simple fact that President Trump should join Speaker Johnson and other level-headed Republicans in condemning political violence, not inciting it further.”
Moulton wrote, “The solution to political disagreement in America is never violence. It should be easy for everybody to say that.”
But Moulton’s CNN appearance did not sit well with Marblehead resident Sharman Pollender.
“At what point will you, and your party, acknowledge that this divisive approach is part of the problem?” Pollender wrote in a letter to the Current.
She suggested to Moulton, “It’s time to act like an adult, have a real conversation like what Charlie (Kirk) would’ve had and focus on righting the wrongs instead of doubling down on them.”
Kirk, 31, was the founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, and Wednesday’s event was a part of the organization’s “American Comeback Tour.”
A suspect in the shooting, 22-year-old Utah native Tyler Robinson, turned himself into authorities and was arrested Friday morning. Robinson, who had been a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St. George, Utah, could face the death penalty.
