When I heard the news, I thought Trump had found a way to get publicity, as many people did, especially after seeing the images where the former president, a candidate for the White House, was overacting as usual to play the victim. Everything seemed unreal, like a bad TV series with poor actors and a second-rate director. It took me a long time to realize what had happened, and soon we learned that the shooter was a Republican named Thomas Matthew Crooks. According to the FBI, we know more about the subject thanks to our colleagues at the Washington Post.

All this seems even stranger since former President Trump is the one who has institutionalized violence in politics, with, among other things, the infamous January 6th and his speeches in which he continually stirs up hatred—sometimes towards immigrants, sometimes towards certain journalists, etc. We knew that by using this kind of method, a certain number of people would hate him, and ultimately this violence has unfortunately turned against him, which makes the situation even more grotesque. Nonetheless, nothing can justify this kind of violence in politics. However, this might be the right time to pass laws on firearm restriction and control, and thus honorably use this event, because let’s remember, firearms are the number one problem in the USA, causing a very high number of deaths each year. Personally, I support conditional gun ownership concerning defensive weapons, but certain categories of automatic and heavy weapons should be reserved for the military or competent official services. It must be admitted that if long-range weapons were not available for sale, these kinds of problems would disappear.

This election campaign is truly violent. Since Trump became the darling of the Republicans, he has used all forms of extremists in the party, starting with religious extremists to influence outcomes, those who censor books, vote against abortion, and the list of their misdeeds in this beautiful democracy goes on. This “attack” should not make us forget these realities. Let us admit that President Biden’s speech was up to the situation just after the event, as he always knows how to find the words to calm the situation. There is a simple, non-violent way of eliminating a candidate you don’t like. It’s called the ballot paper…

The Editorial Team