Wednesday September 10, 2025, Congress in the House of Representatives took a moment of silence for Charlie Kirk – killed by a gun shot while speaking publicly at a Utah university campus.
That same day a shooting occurred at Evergreen High School, a public school. Three kids shot, two died at the hospital, one still in critical care– but no such moments were given from Congress.
Charlie Kirk, was not in a government job. The contrast in response raises important questions. While the death of any individual whether a public figure or a student deserves compassion and acknowledgement, the government’s role is to serve all its citizens equally. Public schools are often described as safe spaces, particularly for children, and yet when that safety is violently breached, the silence from leadership can feel deafening.
Charlie Kirk was a polarizing figure, known for his outspoken views, including controversial comments about gun violence.“It’s worth the cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment”, Kirk stated in one of his more well-known quotes of his career. This has caused some people to be polarized by the amount of empathy he has been given. A lot of frustration has also arisen from his previous lack of empathy to others killed from gun violence. His view of empathy, be it “ does a lot of damage,” is creating a lack of empathy for him from others.
Two school shootings happened on September 10, one in Utah and one in Colorado; hundreds of people were traumatized, 3 people are dead. The effect of people watching a public man die, the fearfulness of realizing that they were in a shooting, has been pushed under the rug to be used as a martyr of hate instead of change.
We must be clear: both tragedies deserve acknowledgement. Both families, communities, and witnesses deserve support. Violence, whether it takes the life of a public speaker or a student in a classroom is not something to be ranked, but to be recognized for what it is: a failure to protect life. True leadership demands consistency, empathy, and a willingness to respond to all suffering equally. The lives lost at Evergreen High School are not footnotes. They are not less deserving of grief, respect, or remembrance. Moving forward, the hope is that our national response reflects that truth.
Editor note: The Grizzly Gazette could not locate the original source of Kirk’s quote on empathy as aired on “Real America’s Voice”; the video is sourced from a 3rd party recording of the clip. Through reviewing multiple 3rd party recordings of the news segment, we are confident in the accuracy of this report. Visit our “About” page to review the Gazette’s code of ethics and standards of verification.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/us/charlie-kirk-house-republicans-democrats.html
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/09/11/evergreen-high-school-shooting-colorado-updates/
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/charlie-kirk-shot-utah-death-09-11-25
