By Kevin Kiley – June 15, 2024
This Saturday, our country experienced a terrifying act of political violence – a murder, an attempted assassination, an assault on American democracy itself.
My prayers are with President Trump and his family, who just endured, and by the grace of God survived, an unimaginable horror. Mere centimeters – perhaps a tilt of the head, or a gust of wind – made the difference between life and death.
My prayers are also with the family of Corey Comperatore, a volunteer fire chief and American hero who died shielding his family from the gunfire, as well as with the two other victims who suffered severe injuries.
I am grateful for the many acts of bravery from law enforcement and first responders at the scene. To all the men and women in uniform who lay their lives on the line every day, thank you. You are the best and bravest among us.
At this moment, there are a great many questions. I am working with Speaker Mike Johnson and colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get immediate answers and make vital changes to assure nothing like this can happen ever again.
The apparent ease with which the gunman was able to fire at a former president and presumptive presidential nominee defies comprehension. It is a fundamental and bewildering security failure that endangered not only former President Trump’s life, but the very foundation of our free and democratic society.
Candidates for national office must be able to present their policies and ideas without fear that they are taking a mortal risk. And citizens who choose to participate in the electoral process by attending rallies and expressing their views must have the same assurance. Otherwise, democracy cannot work.
We cannot have a society where a single bullet, fired by a single deranged individual, can override tens of millions of votes – transforming the parameters of our politics from persuasion and values to plotting and violence.
The assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy in the 1960s caused America to make significant changes to the training, techniques, and resources devoted to protecting presidents and presidential candidates. A similar moment of reckoning and reform followed the attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981.
In this moment, we face the same urgent task: to identify what went so wrong and take all necessary steps to fix what is broken. There is no time for a long, protracted process; we need immediate answers and immediate change. The protection of our national leaders – which amounts to the protection of our democracy – must be ironclad.
There is another imperative in this moment, which I believe is no less urgent: to come together as a country. To come together around the values we share as Americans.
When I think about the state of our country, even before this weekend’s terror, it’s not just that we are on the wrong track. It’s that we are of sync. Our political divisions keep getting worse. It’s weakening us, making us less capable of solving problems and building a better future.
This is a time to remember that our political opponents are not our enemies. Supporting a different party or presidential candidate should never tear apart the much deeper kinships of family, community, and country. Even in America’s time of greatest division, Abraham Lincoln, presiding over a country literally torn apart, called for “malice towards none” and “charity for all.”
If we can embrace this spirit, then the tragedy and trauma we have all just lived through may also present an opportunity: to rediscover the rhythm of American civic life, to begin repairing the fabric of our political community, and to refocus our gaze on on the commitments we share: to our flag, to our Constitution, to the sacred truths of our declaration of independence.
We all have a part to play in forming a better American community. And I believe we can rise to this occasion. Thank you, and may God bless our country.
Sincerely,
Rep. Kevin Kiley
Member of Congress
