Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said there was one person responsible for the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, encouraging Americans to not fixate on political identity.
“There is one person responsible for what happened here, and that person is now in custody and will be charged soon and will be held accountable,” he said at a press conference announcing the arrest of a suspect in the shooting, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.
“And yet, all of us have an opportunity right now to do something different.”
“The problem with political violence, is it metastasizes, because we can always point the finger at the other side,” he said, “and at some point we have to find an off-ramp, or it’s going to get much, much worse. But see, these are choices that we can make.”
Cox’s comments come as some GOP voices, including lawmakers, have blamed both liberals and the media for Kirk’s death.
“Every single one of you here, you’re at fault,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) said pointing his finger at members of the Capitol press corps Thursday.
When a reporter attempted to interject, Van Orden shot back, “Knock it off. Knock it off.”
“You are responsible for that assassination yesterday,” he continued. “You should be ashamed of yourself, it’s disgusting.”
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) made similar comments about the left.
“Democrats owned what happened today,” Mace told reporters outside the Capitol shortly after the news of the shooting broke. “Just because you speak your mind doesn’t mean you get shot.”
When a reporter asked Mace if, under her logic, Republicans then owned the deadly attacks on Democrats Minnesota state lawmakers over the summer, Mace said the discussion should be about Kirk.
President Trump, who announced the arrest of a suspect Friday morning, also blamed “radicals” when asked how the country could find unity during a Friday morning appearance on “Fox & Friends.”
The program’s co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked Trump how the country can come together, noting there are “radicals” on both the right and the left.
“I’ll tell you something that’s going to get me in trouble, but I couldn’t care less. The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime,” Trump said. “They don’t want to see crime. They’re saying we don’t want these people coming in, we don’t want you burning our shopping centers.”
“The radicals on the left are the problem,” he continued. “And they’re vicious, and they’re horrible, and they’re politically savvy.”
Cox credited Kirk for a political advocacy that encouraged debate and engaging with the other side, encouraging the public to embrace that approach.
“I desperately call on every American, Republican, Democrat, liberal, progressive, conservative, MAGA, all of us to please, please, please follow what Charlie taught me,” Cox said.
