09/11/2025: Right to Free Speech, Not Free Murder

I was walking past an older woman I see every morning when I go for a run, and I stopped to read a message scrawled in pink and blue sidewalk chalk. So did she. She turned to me and told me she was visually impaired, and she asked me to read it for her. It was a message asking for prayers for Charlie Kirk.

We both walked off in the same direction, and she said, “Crazy world.” I said, “Yeah, it’s sad.” And that was it. You can see his name has already been smudged out in the photo I took, and by the time I came back to actually take the photo, more had been wiped away. 

My exchange with that stranger was such a human moment that I’ve been thinking about it ever since. The weight of the fact that the words on the sidewalk were so quickly fleeting was heavy. It’s like everyone’s memory is already wiping this tragedy from their minds even though something terrible has just happened in the grand scheme of humanity, as well as the country.

And my heart cries for the world today. 

I don’t remember a time where we weren’t in a war on terror against our neighbors. You think the reason we remember this day is sad? It is absolutely tragic. But what’s also tragic? Not being able to be free to disagree. Last I checked, we have a right to free speech, not free murder. But even that first right is clearly being denied. 

This is not about sides, or what you believe. A man was wrongfully killed, and it is a tragedy that it’s come to this. Whether you agree with someone’s views or not, they don’t deserve to die, especially in a violent way, just for speaking what they see is their truth. He was a son, a husband, a father, a friend, but most important, he was a human just like you and me. 

And if you’re one of the people jumping to take a side or to declare war on people who oppose you, then all I have to say to that is shame on you. You are the problem. Your ignorance and your lack of sympathy is the problem with this world. 

I believe that humanity did have a heart, once. But we’re a far cry from that reality now, and we are doomed. I fear for what’s to come, and today I will remember the reason we honor the fallen, and with an already heavy heart I’ll also remember yesterday, and fear where we are headed as a nation.

Just remember that if you want to be entitled to your opinions and world views, then so does the other side. You have to agree to disagree, and when a tragic incident befalls another human being, who was exercising the rights he is entitled to just like you are, you have to remember your humanity, and what this really means for us and our freedom. 

It isn’t a war against sides. It’s a war for our basic human rights.