Freedom?

That same day Republican influencer Charlie Kirk was gunned down by a 22-year-old on a college campus. On Aug. 27, two children were killed and 17 others wounded when a gunman opened fire on Catholic Mass attendees in Minneapolis. One boy named Victor, laid his body over his friend underneath the pew to protect him from bullets that were raining through the stained glass windows. Victor was shot in the back, badly wounded, but recently released from the hospital. On July 28, a gunman killed four people and wounded another in a Manhattan skyscraper (owned by a family with whom one of my dearest friends has close ties). On June 14, Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman, her husband, and their dog were murdered by an assassin who had earlier shot Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. That gunman had a long list of other Democrats he had planned to kill. As I was drafting this column there was a mass shooting at a bar in North Carolina and another at a Mormon Church in Michigan. The United States of America, 2025.

I encourage readers to go online, pick any political or civic leader, any influencer, news anchor and see what they said in the aftermath of each of these horrific incidents. Look up what the president of the United States said and did. Did they call for unity, action, thoughts and prayers, lay blame on some group or some type of person, encourage revenge or hope? What did your social media feeds look like after each tragedy? Which posts did you like, promote, comment on, or block? 

After Charlie Kirk’s alleged shooter had been caught, Utah’s governor said “For 33 hours I was praying that if this had to happen here, that it wouldn’t be one of ‘us.’ That somebody drove from another state, somebody came from another country. Sadly, that prayer was not answered the way I hoped for. Just because I thought it would make it easier on us if we could just say ‘Hey, we don’t do that here.’”

I have to admit something about myself. When incidents like these happen, until the culprit has been identified, I always think to myself “please don’t let it be an LGBTQ person, an immigrant, a person of color or … .” Why? Because I know that when it is one of “us,” blame will be cast against whole swaths of people. The president of the United States, with scant information about Charlie Kirk’s alleged shooter, said, “We have a radical left group of lunatics out there, just absolute lunatics, and we’re going to get that problem solved. We just have to beat the hell out of radical left lunatics.” Wow.

I have worked with thousands of liberals, progressives, Democrats, Green Party members, libertarians, independents, some Republicans and even a few anarchists. Many of my colleagues in peacemaking are progressive Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims and Unitarians. Others are atheists. Still others are “spiritual but not religious.” None of the people or organizations I have worked with have ever advocated for or celebrated violence against those with whom we disagree. Despite our commitments to nonviolence, many Republicans accuse us of being violent or encouraging violence. House Freedom Caucus leader Congressman Chip Roy demanded that progressive organizations and individuals (do they mean me?) be investigated as “anti-American,” blaming them for “death and injury to thousands of Americans.”  

“They” scare me but we will keep standing up for democracy, peacefully, nonviolently and loudly. Oct 18 is the next massive mobilization, nokings.org. Some say our protests don’t matter. Jimmy Kimmel being back on the air nationwide belies that. Let’s get out on the streets and make our numbers known. “They” are not demons or evil and neither are “we.” We disagree with an authoritarian vision for America and the dismantling of safety nets like Medicaid and SNAP. We will support candidates who will work toward our vision, one in which there is equality, social justice, rule of law, freedom of speech, gun safety, and peace, where, yes those who have the most pay a little more to make sure that those who have the least have at least enough for dignified, healthy, and secure lives. Radical? I don’t think so. Dangerous? Nope. Violent? Never. Hopeful? Yes. 

Craig Wiesner is the co-owner of Reach And Teach, a book, toy and cultural gift shop on San Carlos Avenue in San Carlos. Follow Craig: craigwiesner.bsky.social.