The assassination of Charlie Kirk today, during a speaking event at a Utah university, is an abhorrent act that strikes at the very foundation of our democratic values. Freedom of speech, guaranteed by our Constitution, should never come at the price of fear, violence, or loss of life. No matter where one stands on the political spectrum, every American deserves the right to express themselves safely and without threat.

Charlie Kirk was a husband and father of two young children. Those kids are now without a father, and that’s not a political viewpoint or an abstract idea to be debated, it’s the harsh and unforgiving reality.

My prayers go out to his family during this devastating time. May this tragedy serve as a sobering reminder that political disagreement must never cross the line into violence. If we allow hatred to silence voices, then we all lose a core piece of the freedom that defines this nation.

As a people, we must commit ourselves to a culture where ideas are debated with words, not with violence.

In an exchange between Ukraine UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslystya and Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s UN Ambassador, Kyslystya sharply warns of the attacks by the Kremlin on Ukraine: “…there is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell!”