On Wednesday, Sept. 10, a little after 3 p.m., Charlie Kirk was shot in the neck and killed at an event at Utah Valley University. 

I was in my dorm, doing my readings for a class. When I read the news that he’d been shot, I was absolutely shocked. A political assasination that high profile? It felt like America was waiting with bated breath, following the news minute by minute to see how the events would unfold. 

Then, around 4:40 p.m., the world received the news that Kirk had succumbed to his wounds and died. I put aside my homework and sat, frozen, in my chair, wondering what the implications would be. America had come to the point where a man was shot because his opinions didn’t align with somebody else’s. 

But, I was even more disturbed when, around 4:50 p.m., I heard cheering from the staircase outside my door. “He’s dead!” somebody was shouting. “He’s f***ing dead, let’s f***ing go!” 

Are you all insane? 

I don’t care if you didn’t like Charlie Kirk. I don’t care what your political opinions are, or your religious opinions, or your personal opinions, or any of that. 

When did it become okay to celebrate the murder of a man? When did the announcement of a death call for cheers? When did people become so callous, so unfeeling, that when a person who shares different political opinions from them dies, it’s a happy occasion? 

Has America become so radically polarized that death is just another political tool? A poll done by Gallup in September 2024 found that 80% of adults in America believe that Americans are extremely divided on the most important values, while just 18% believe that the country is united. College campuses seem to exacerbate the problem. 

Campuses are considered to primarily host liberal ideology. Students are leaving their homes for the first time, being introduced to new people and new ideas, and their beliefs are being challenged — as they should be. Education is testing the boundaries of former thoughts and breaking barriers set by the people who raised us and taught us how to think. 

However, it often feels like colleges have become echo chambers. A poll conducted by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School found that a third of students between 18 and 29 feel uncomfortable sharing their political views on campus for fear of negative repercussions. Since a majority of college students hold progressive beliefs, especially on Brandeis’ campus, students tend to keep quiet about non-progressive beliefs that others might not agree with. 

But have our beliefs polarized us to the point that we can’t be bothered to feel an ounce of despair for a parent who now has to bury his son? A child who won’t grow up with a father? Let’s zoom out for a second — let’s say, God forbid, a prominent left-wing activist had been shot and killed on a college campus. What would we be hearing in the dorms? In the classrooms? Would there be tears? Protests? Would anybody dare to turn to another person and say, “good riddance?”

Just about a year ago, a second assassination attempt was made on President Trump’s life. What did I hear on campus? Loud questions about safety, about the presence of Secret Service, about the radicalization of America, about gun violence and gun reforms — and whispers saying, “Why did they miss a second time?” 

This time, it wasn’t a whisper. It was a shout in the staircase. It was whooping. It was me, sitting shocked in my suite at the consequences of such a crazy political killing, listening to the people around me celebrating murder and death, death by firearm, the exact thing that college students have historically raised awareness for and protested against. 

In June, Minnesota Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed by a shooter. In the same attack, Minnesota Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot repeatedly and hospitalized. It was a horrible event that brought attention back to the issue of gun violence, and Democrats around America mourned, protested and called for gun control. 

Now, Americans are laughing at the irony that Charlie Kirk, who was a staunch supporter of gun rights, was shot while he had been speaking about the topic. It’s disgusting. Don’t get me wrong — we shouldn’t be turning Kirk into a martyr, either. I will be the first to say that I almost never agreed with his politics. But I sure didn’t smile when he was killed. Charlie Kirk was just a guy. Sure, his political beliefs were very right-wing, and yes, he’s said some incredibly harmful stuff, but he was a human being, just like us. Get your acts together. Find the piece of humanity inside of you that feels for his family and friends because they’ve lost a person. 

You spoke loudly. Now sit with the echo of your words and ask yourself if they were worth the harm they could cause.