Americans must unite against political violence

Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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As these words were written, far more is unknown than known about what sources say is being investigated as an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally Saturday in Pennsylvania.

This much has been confirmed: The former president is safe and is expected to recover from whatever injuries he received. Tragically, two people won’t: A rallygoer and the alleged assassin, both of whom were killed. Two other rallygoers were seriously injured.

The rest is unknown, including the identities of the deceased, the motive of the shooter, how that individual was in a position to attempt such an unspeakable act, as well as the impact the event will have on an America more riven than any time since the Civil War.

While minute-by-minute, hourly and daily developments will reveal more facts that can be verified, these verities are known, and timeless: Political violence is never justified, ever. Those things that unite us are far more profound than those things that divide us. Now is a time for unity, for all to express their sorrow, their hopes and, if they are people of faith, their prayers for those deceased, for the former president and the entire Trump family, as well as the broader family of America.

Wisdom in the moment is a rare gift. But words from two with firsthand knowledge of similar tragedies stand out, one from today and one from another fraught time in relatively recent history.

Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, herself the victim of an attempted assassination, wrote on X in the wake of the shocking news that “Political violence is terrifying. I know. I’m holding former President Trump, and all those affected by today’s indefensible act of violence in my heart. Political violence is un-American and is never acceptable — never.”

And on the night of April 4, 1968, then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of an assassinated president and later slain himself, took to the social media of his time — the back of a flatbed truck — and gave a spontaneous speech in Indianapolis responding to the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

It said, in part, “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another.”

Let us all dedicate ourselves to the ethos of Giffords and Kennedy in this difficult time for our challenged country.