WASHINGTON (AP) — Utah Governor Spencer Cox made an impassioned plea on Friday for Americans and young people to use the horror of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s public assassination as an inflection point to turn the country away from political violence and division.
“This is our moment: Do we escalate or do we find an off-ramp?” Cox said at a news conference in Utah as he announced authorities had a suspect in Kirk’s killing in custody. “It’s a choice.”
Throughout his political career, Cox, a two-term Republican governor, has urged for bipartisan cooperation and garnered national attention for his empathetic remarks. His speech on Friday was an emotional high point, as he called for appealing to common ground and humanity to build a better society.
His voice appeared to crack as he noted the dangers of responding to violence with more violence. “And that’s the problem with political violence, it metastasizes because we can always point the finger at the other side. We have to find an off-ramp or it’s going to get much worse,” Cox stated.
He directed part of his message to the younger generation, saying, “You are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. But your generation has the opportunity to create a culture that is different from what we endure today.”
Cox, who revealed he had only 90 minutes of sleep amid a manhunt for the shooter, condemned the pervasive negative impact of social media on public discourse and mental health. He lamented how Kirk’s slaying was gruesomely displayed online, saying, “This is not good for us. Social media is a cancer on our society right now.”
