No. I didn't "know" any of those people at all, and I did not see them murdered on video. With the exception of the Hortman's, which was some sort of deranged political killing, not at all clear it was some rightwing thing at all, all of those people were senselessly murdered. There were no political messages scrawled on the shell casings, and they seemed to be murdered is some demonic celebration of death rather than life. I felt sadness and regret for the senseless murder, but the emotional connection was not there. When my friend's 5y/o drown I blubbered like a child I was so sad. When my brother died of a heart attack at a fishing tournament, and my CPR and the efforts of the EMS failed I cried for days, barely got through my eulogy through balling and breathing spasms like a kid, and still feel sadness thinking about it years later.
I am guessing from your picks on what to feel sad about you have some political point to make. Why don't you just make it? Yes, Charlie Kirk was having a huge impact on our national politics, and changing lives for the good if you ask me, and even though he wasn't my "friend" he easily could have been, and would have slid seamlessly into my life. Does that elicit a stronger emotional reaction? Yes, it does. Doesn't seem that complicated.
I didn't "know" Charlie Kirk. I wasn't in his orbit, and didn't really even "follow" him in the modern vernacular, but when I did hear him speak I have to say that we were on the same page, and both understand the difference between propaganda lies and the Truth (capital T). I know he was devoted to his family, and the people coming forward and telling stories about how he lived his life, which none of us knew, are extremely touching. I have to say, that he IS someone we would go boating with and have out to the cabin, and invite on fishing and hunting trips, because he seems exactly like the kind of guy my family associates with regularly. He was certainly more outspoken than anyone I do know personally, but I have to say that his views align perfectly with my own and the vast majority of my friends, and he was killed for openly voicing those views, so yea, hits close to home and elicits a stronger emotional reaction that it would from a complete stranger or someone who believes the opposite of what I believe is the truth in this reality.
So while I might be horrified and sad that anyone in America is murdered for their political views and their exposition of truth and reality, I do feel a stronger connection to the people who see it like I do, and especially anyone who is able to speak the truth so effectively. It is not at all surprising that a happy warrior like him draws the hatred of those who live in lies and venerate them. As was said early and even first, he was killed not just for what he believed, but because he was so effective. The more I learn about him the sadder it is, because he wasn't just an advocate for the truth, he was an exceptional human being who was dedicated to winning the ideological war through dialog and peace, something the other side isn't at all interested in.
