Beshear warns against ‘anger’ over political violence after Charlie Kirk shooting
Gov. Andy Beshear had harsh words for the rise in political violence the country has seen over the past year, but said he personally continues to feel safe.
Beshear made the comments at a Sept. 11 press conference, one day after Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative activist and influencer, was assassinated on camera at a college event for his organization, Turning Point USA. The shooting has prompted calls from across the political spectrum against political violence and to tone down political rhetoric.
Beshear was no exception in his comments Thursday.
“My faith teaches me that all children are children of God, and one was just ripped away from us way too early, and whether or not I agree or disagree with anything he said he’s got two little kids at home that love their dad like my kids love me. It’s an incredibly violent moment that should never happen anywhere,” Beshear said.
The shooting comes as political violence is on the rise in the United States.
President Donald Trump was grazed by a bullet in a shooting that killed one bystander at a campaign rally last year. In June, two Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota were shot at their homes; a lawmaker and her husband were killed. A fire was set at the house of Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, in April over the state of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
With some on the political right blaming rhetoric from the left — as many on the left blamed rhetoric on the right after the Minnesota shootings — as Trump did during a speech Wednesday night, Beshear said that “anger doesn’t help us heal.”
He used the example of his own response to the shooting death of Tommy Elliott, a close friend and political ally, at Old National Bank in Louisville two years ago.
“We’ve seen, rightfully, everybody speaking out against it, but it can’t be used to further divide this country, and shouldn’t be. Let’s just stand up against violence each and every time — period,” Beshear said. “I know that there are some folks out there that are probably hurting... I know how angry it can make you, but anger doesn’t help us heal.
“Anger doesn’t help us make sure that this doesn’t happen in the future, and lashing out at groups of people cannot be the answer to creating a better commonwealth and a better country.”
He said that leaders on every side should condemn speech that “just goes too far,” including suggestions “that one group of people aren’t American or don’t deserve to be here,” or incites violence.
From a policy standpoint, Beshear added one suggestion: a so-called “Red Flag” gun law. While such a law, which would allow temporary removal of guns from people who have shown signs they could be a risk to themselves or others, has been proposed with bipartisan support in Kentucky, it’s never made it far in the GOP-controlled legislature. The governor lamented that fact.
Though details around the shooter’s origin and his home state are still unclear, Utah does not have such a law in place.
“We don’t have a lot of tools that other states have to prevent, whether it’s an act like this or certainly some of the school shootings that we’ve seen, and that’s pretty simple: It’s a red flag law,” Beshear said. “I think a red flag law allows law enforcement to go to the courts when they know somebody’s about to commit murder, and hopefully stop it before it starts. I know some might be worried about Second Amendment rights, but that’s what a court is for, to uphold the Constitution.”
The governor added that he personally felt safe despite the rising number of violent acts against political figures.
“I’ve got one of the best security details anybody could ever ask for. (There are) more people around me trying to protect me than than a lot of Americans or a lot of people who are in these positions, so I worry less about me and my family because of my trust in the people that show up every day to protect us,” Beshear said. “But I do worry about others that are out there. In the end, we’ve just got to make sure that we never, ever accept what happened yesterday.”
During Beshear’s nearly six years in office, the governor has taken measures in an attempt to protect both himself, his family and the state Capitol building.
In 2020, security fencing was installed along the perimeter of governor’s mansion after a group hung Beshear in effigy in a tree on the Capitol grounds following a Second Amendment rights rally. The administration also shut to traffic a road between the Capitol and the Capitol Annex due to security concerns, an effort that has frustrated some Republicans.
