Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King released the following statement on the murder of Charlie Kirk:
There is a deep heaviness in our hearts for our nation today. The death of Charlie Kirk is not only a tragedy for one man or one movement-it is a wound to the soul of our nation. Whenever violence visits any of God’s children, it diminishes us all.
Whether we agree or disagree with the words a man speaks, we must never lose sight of his humanity, nor forget the sacred dignity that lives within each and every person.
We are living in an hour of great moral crisis. Our public square is ablaze-not only with words of disagreement, but with the fires of hatred, suspicion, and revenge. The fabric of our beloved community is being torn apart by bitterness and the refusal to see our political opponents as our brothers and sisters.
Let me be clear: violence, no matter its justification or its target, is not the answer. It is not the way. It has never been the way. Violence may silence a voice, but it can never change a heart. It may break a body, but it cannot heal a nation. We must not allow righteous anger to harden into hatred, nor trade the dream of America for the nightmare of division.
Today, we are being called to a higher way—a way that sees beyond left and right, beyond red and blue, beyond slogans and shouting. We are being called back to the table of brotherhood, to the hard but holy work of reconciliation.
Let us not wait for another tragedy to mourn, nor for more blood to be spilled before we say: enough. The time is now to lay down the weapons of rage and pick up the tools of peace. The time is now to listen again, to speak with humility, and to remember that no ideology is greater than our shared humanity.
We pray for healing–for our nation, our families, and for all who suffer under the shadow of violence. And we pray that we may rise from this moment not more divided, but more determined–to build together that more perfect union where justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
Let us walk on, with hope in our hearts and peace in our hands.