No one deserves to be shot to death. Murder is horrific. Charlie Kirk’s life was valuable.

Kirk’s words were harmful and cruel. He recently said, “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”

Kirk is also infamous for saying that he does not trust Black people in certain job positions, that abortion was worse than the Holocaust, that women lie frequently about being raped and that if his daughter was raped as a child he would force her to carry and deliver. He has gone viral many times for spreading hate speech, and being sexist, homophobic and racist.

It is okay to feel empathy for how a man died, but I do not plan on mourning him. Kirk did not believe in having empathy, he said it himself, claiming it is a “new age term.”

Additionally, all of the Republicans I have seen on social media, the hundreds of Trump supporters, did not post any grievances or prayers for the children that died in the Minnesota school shooting. In fact, they never posted anything for any school shootings that have happened recently. Also, they did not post about Democratic Speaker, Melissa Hortman, and her husband and dog being killed by a gunman in a politically motivated attack in their home in June.

Kirk’s life was not more valuable than other people’s and no one life should be honored more than another.

Additionally, the right side was claiming that the shooter was a transgender Democrat before the shooter’s identity was revealed as a white cisgender man, who came from a MAGA background and whose father was a police officer. It does not matter who actually did the crime, what matters is when people assume one type of person is the type to kill people instead of knowing any kind of person is capable of murder.

Kirk got special treatment for his funeral, including his casket being carried onto Air Force Two by Vice President, J.D. Vance. Some military personnel, politicians and other government workers who have died were not given that special treatment.

Kirk was a regular man with a voice. That is what every civilian is. Except, in a world full of both good and bad, Kirk used his voice to spread divisive and harmful rhetoric.

Maybe now, Republicans will see what gun laws and regulations can actually prevent. The school shootings must have not been enough to open their eyes. Hopefully this will.