Opinion
OPINION: Charlie Kirk reflected who we are. That’s why this hurts so much
Skyler Beltran | Utah County Commissioner
The assassination of Charlie Kirk has shaken me and our community. I find writing about it both therapeutic and a way of building community in this moment of grief. Charlie Kirk was, in so many ways, a reflection of us.
I’m a 33-year-old conservative, a husband, a father of two little kids and an elected official representing this community I care so much about. Like many of you, I’ve had a hard time processing this tragedy. In the past 24 hours, I’ve felt an overwhelming mix of emotions.
I’m deeply saddened for his family, a wife and children who look all too similar to mine and many of yours who are now facing life without their husband and father. I’m heartbroken for the thousands who witnessed this atrocity firsthand and must carry that trauma forever. I grieve that a man came to Utah County and will not return to his family.
I’ve also been angry. Angry that hatred and darkness led someone to choose murder. Angry at the vile comments posted online by a few who lack empathy and respect for life itself. Angry that our home, this place we love, will be forever marked by this infamous event.
I’ve been anxious. Anxious about what this means for our community and the safety of our public spaces. Anxious because I, too, receive threats regularly, against me and even my children, and I know how fragile the line is. Anxious about raising kids in a world so heavy with violence, division and chaos.
Our community feels this loss so profoundly because Charlie Kirk represented so much of who we are, whether you agreed with most of his positions or not. He was young, and Utah County is the youngest county in the youngest state in the nation. He was a man of deep Christian faith, and Utah County is a place where faith runs deep. He was conservative, and we are a conservative stalwart. He preached marriage, family and the blessing of children, and we live those very values. He was patriotic, and Utah County is deeply rooted in love for God and Country.
This was not just an attack on a man. It was a domestic terror attack on our people, on our community and on the values we hold most dear. That’s why we feel it so heavily, why it cuts so deeply. It happened in what should have been a safe space, on the steps of a campus so many of us have walked. He was rushed for lifesaving care at a community hospital where many of our own children, including mine, were born.
The impact of this horror is significant to all of us, regardless of political leaning, family dynamic, age, or religious belief. It is something we can all denounce together. For a brief moment, the eyes of the world were on us. Many have become numb to the evils of the world, but this time it found its way here, in our everyday space.
We’re all raising or have raised children to stand up for what they believe in, to be courageous even when they stand alone. Yet now, we see those very virtues lead to murder. In moments like this, it can feel easier and more comfortable to stay silent, to shelter from the chaos of the world, but we cannot. We must find it in ourselves to stand firm, to never be ashamed of our beliefs. That is the American way.
Today we mourn. Tomorrow we must find strength together. We must defend free speech and public discourse for those we agree with and even more so, those we don’t. We must target true evil and not villainize people who think differently. We must make a conscious effort every day to show that Utah and Utah County are places of love, not hate. We must be peacemakers.
