Charlie Kirk helped create an American culture that would laugh at his death.

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There’s no denying that before he was a right-wing firebrand, Charlie Kirk was a husband and a father, and a man it’s clear that many people loved. And an awful thing happened on Wednesday: That man was gunned down in public, on camera. The image of him slumped in his chair will live in our political memory for a generation.

People on both sides of the spectrum agree his violent death is part of an unacceptable trend of political violence in America. Earlier this year, Democratic lawmakers were assassinated ; last year, the now-sitting president survived two snipers’ attempts on his life.

But the circumstances of Kirk’s killing—an end no one deserves—can’t