Hate Is Not the Answer

14 October marks the birthdays of two opposing martyrs.

George Floyd was born on 14 October in 1973. Floyd died after resisting arrest by a Minneapolis police officer.

Charlie Kirk was born two decades later on the same day. The nation, notes Isaac Shorr in Spectator US, is still coming to terms with his assassination. Kirk was speaking on 1^st amendment rights to students on the Utah Valley University campus two weeks ago

Floyd, unknown to the world before his death, died as the result of a tragic mistake; officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, but on the basis that he killed Floyd unintentionally.

Kirk was struck down by an assassin with an explicitly political motive. The 31-year-old Kirk had founded and built one of the most powerful organizations in the country, not to mention he had been the confidant of President Donald Trump.

Each of these deaths was not just a tragedy. Each had a profound political and social influence on the national psyche.

How that day is marked by Floyd and Kirk’s followers will tell America how close it is to a boiling point.

The House and Senate have passed a resolution deeming the 14 October a National Day of Remembrance for Kirk

It will be an  inoffensive measure aimed merely at encouraging the country “to observe this day with appropriate programs, activities, prayers, and ceremonies that promote civic engagement and the principles of faith, liberty, and democracy that Charlie Kirk championed.”

Among the 22 Democrats to walk out of the House chamber during the vote was Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.

That act marked a stark contrast from June 2020, when Pelosi and her colleagues – dressed up in performative Kente cloth stoles – knelt for eight minutes and 46 seconds – the time Floyd was pinned under a cop’s knee for – in the Capitol Building’s Emancipation Hall to honor Floyd.

From Nancy Pelosi:

“We’re here to observe that pain. We’re here to respect the actions of the American people to speak out against that.” 

America was able to observe that pain in real time.

Floyd’s death kicked off a summer of divisive disorder that yielded pain, destruction, and still more death.

For example, in Minneapolis and St. Paul (the Twin Cities), more than 1,500 businesses were damaged, and well over $500 million in property destruction was wrought in violent riots in the days after his killing.

Many businesses are still (5 years later) struggling.

The Insurance Information Institute reports that across 20 states, $1 to $2 billion in paid insurance claims were forthcoming. In addition, 17 people died “in incidents stemming from the unrest” following Floyd’s death on 25 May.

For example, David Dorn, a 77-year-old, retired black police officer, was shot and killed after responding to a break-in at his friend’s pawn shop in St. Louis.

Then there was Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Kirk’s planned murder was based on his strong beliefs. Kirk’s murder was openly celebrated by the far left, and the mainstream press lied about it.

No riots, no violence, no vandalism, no economic ruin followed Charlie Krik’s murder.

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly 

Good people lamented the deaths of both George Floyd and Charlie Kirk. Bad people tried to take advantage of both tragedies, reports Shorr.

… how 14 October is marked will show whether the left has learned lessons from its last self-righteous moral panic – and likely demonstrate that the country is not yet done excusing the indefensible, both then and now.