We must condemn all acts of violence, no matter your political beliefs

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Kevin Raye of Perry, a realtor, small-business owner and former chief of staff to former U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, served as the 114th president of the Maine Senate. 

We live in gut-wrenching times. News of Wednesday’s evil cold-blooded murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk is the latest in a sickening string of heinous acts of violence against public figures. In the just past few years, we’ve seen:

Republican members of Congress practicing for a charity baseball game come under gunfire, with House Republican Whip Steve Scalise gravely wounded.

A conspiracy to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and secure weapons of mass destruction in an effort to overthrow her administration.

A mob attack law enforcement officers and break into the U.S. Capitol attempting to violently overthrow the results of a presidential election.

The 82-year-old husband of Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi severely injured in his home by an intruder who viciously attacked him with a hammer.

A would-be assassin come very close to taking the life of former President Donald Trump, then the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson brutally executed on his way to give a speech.

An intruder set fire to the home of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro while he and his family slept.

Tesla dealerships attacked and vehicles set afire as a form of retaliation against Elon Musk’s policy positions.

State Rep. Melissa Hortman, speaker emerita of the Minnesota House, her husband Mark, and even the family golden retriever savagely murdered in their own home, and a Democratic state senator and his wife grievously wounded in a similar attack at their home.

Likewise, America has seen a steady stream of horrific mass shootings in recent years, many of them in schools, and one even occurring right here in Maine leaving 18 innocent people dead in Lewiston.

Our great nation is broken in many ways. That is evidenced by the fact that some people seem to reserve their horror and condemnation primarily for acts of violence and brutality against public figures with whom they align politically.

What does it say about America if we don’t all agree that these vile acts are wrong no matter who the victim is?

How can anyone possibly think that murder or attempted murder is less evil or less worthy of condemnation when the victim is someone with whom they disagreed politically?

If you think the murder of Kirk is somehow less heinous than the murder of  Hortman and her husband, then you are part of what is wrong with America. Likewise if you were unmoved when the Hortmans were slaughtered, but are outraged by the killing of Kirk, then you are part of what is wrong with America.

There can be no place in a civilized society for political violence. Period.