SLO County responds to killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk | Opinion
Counter speech with speech, not violence
As an old-line conservative, I have a high regard for free speech. One of the most worrying aspects of the woke movement has been the desire on the Left to throttle the speech of anyone with whom groupthink disagrees, trying to cause the offender to be fired or socially ostracized. Any comment with which the crowd disagrees is to be labeled hate speech and vilified. Now, after the assassination of Charlie Kirk the MAGA crowd is starting to embrace the same playbook.
I was not a follower of Charlie Kirk or his organization, but I have read that he defended free speech with the motto “Prove me wrong!” Unless this country wants to follow Western Europe into the abyss of stifling speech, it is time those on the Left and the Right learn that speech is to be countered with speech, not with attacks on the person and livelihood of those with whom we disagree. Don’t like what I say? Prove me wrong.
Roger D Randall
Los Osos
Wake up, America
While so many politicians are pointing the finger of blame and offering various opinions about the causes of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, no one mentions how our Divider-in-Chief, Donald Trump, has set the tone of intolerance, vindictiveness and demonizing any form of opposition to him or his administration has further opened the door to various forms of violence, both physical and verbal. As said in the plumbing world, “#$%^&*” runs downhill as so much of Trump’s uncivility trickles down to the fringes of our society. Charlie Kirk echoed much of Trump’s opinions and supported his policies, helping him to get re-elected. Donald Trump has declared war on predominantly democratic states and cities, voting rights, the underprivileged and disenfranchised and any entity, which dares to stand up to his bullying and growing dictatorship and wants to change the name (if he hasn’t done so already) of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, reflecting his philosophical emphasis on defeat and destruction rather than peace and prosperity, unless it is the prosperity of himself and his cronies. In 1947, Congress realized the primary function of our military was defense against any present and future adversaries, in order to minimize the risks of war. Trump, however, prefers to threaten the world with the possibility of the U.S. declaring physical and economic war against anyone who opposes the U.S., rather than peacefully defending us and the rest of the world against the evils of war. He admits to loving a good fight! Trump once warned against the danger of us losing our democracy unless he was elected president and now that he has been re-elected, he has done everything in his power to turn our democracy into his dictatorship. Please wake up, America.
Dominick Lacovara
Los Osos
Thoughts and prayers
For years now, every time a shooting (mass or otherwise) occurs, conservative commentators and political figures lament the possibility of the tragedy being “politicized,” that is, people fielding ideas on how to prevent similar tragedies in the future. It’s not the time, they say, to suggest action, merely to send “thoughts and prayers” to the survivors of the victims. For them, the time for action never comes.
But now, with the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, their script is flipped. Before the shooter’s identity was even known, they were making sweeping assumptions about the killer and the killer’s motives, and calling for widespread action against their ideological opponents. In short, they’ve politicized the heck out of the sad event. A principle that is only applied when it suits immediate needs is not a principle at all. Anyone who has called for restraint in the wake of tragedy before needs to do so now, or just openly acknowledge and accept their own hypocrisy. Keep sending thoughts and prayers to Kirk’s family and friends, and leave it at that.
Michael Seden-Hansen
Paso Robles
Stoking the flames
Somehow, SLO wait staff is being held to a higher standard than the U.S. President. Per your Friday article, Giuseppe’s announced that it had fired one of its employees in the name of “professional conduct” after being notified of the employee’s post on their personal Facebook about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Hundreds of comments flooded in, paying thanks to Giuseppe’s for toning down the rhetoric ... and blind to the President laying the blame for the attack squarely at the feet of the Left, deeming them “directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country” before the suspect was even identified. Some nigh-anonymous Facebook post by a longtime employee so besmirched this local California pizzeria that they faced financial ruin unless they fired and denounced his use of his freedom of speech? No, the Right started a witch hunt and Giuseppe’s acquiesced. There is only one man in all of America who can cool down the temperature of this country, and that’s Trump, but it needs to be through both words and actions, not casting blame. Don’t condone violence. Don’t join the witch hunt. Don’t patronize Giuseppe’s. Don’t ignore Trump stoking the flames.
Chad Brantley
Morro Bay
Another tyrant king
Exactly 249 years ago, WE THE PEOPLE gained our freedom from a tyrant king. Since then, we have been a leader of the world and example of democracy and freedom to all. As a gift, France sent a symbol to celebrate our achievement in the form of a statue of a magnificent woman holding a torch which still stands in the harbor of New York. The poem inscribed on its base welcomes the tired and weary of the world to find hope and freedom in this nation. Sadly, that is no longer relevant. France has requested the return of its gift, and the poem has become a mockery. Another tyrant king is sitting in our capitol and chipping away at our Constitution and our freedoms it guaranteed us when our founding fathers created it.
I urge you, Americans, pay attention to what is slipping away under your noses. Fight by contacting your Congress members and asking for them to stand up and find their spines to vote NO on the tyrant’s atrocities.
Janet F. Langton
Templeton
Disagree better
The need seems never greater for us all to outrageously build bridges of communication, meaning listening to understand and re-humanize all of us, not argue and scapegoat, to overcome the loneliness and isolation that further fuels divisiveness so that we may all do our part in turning away from violence. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Let no man pull you so low as to make you hate him.”
Lorraine Kitman
Arroyo Grande
This story was originally published September 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "SLO County responds to killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk | Opinion."
