Imagine being Tyler Robinson’s father. You see blurred surveillance photos of a shooter who looks a lot like your son. You remember a recent family dinner where your son said Charlie Kirk was full of hate and spread hate. You ask him, “Son, is this you?”
You can remember the tiny infant being born, the cute little toddler, the very smart student who got a full ride to college. You saw him listening to far left professors and friends in college and slowly lean further and further left. But he was still a good kid.
Tyler Robinson’s answer to his dad’s question was yes. When his dad asked him to turn himself in, he said he would rather kill himself. Imagine yourself in that father’s shoes. I am a proponent of the death penalty in general, but executing Tyler here may dissuade future father’s from turning in their son.
I personally do not see Tyler as evil even though he murdered a man in cold blood. I see a very misguided kid who has been told by half the country, including his professors and politicians he respects like Kamala Harris, AOC, and Bernie Sanders that people on the right are evil fascists that are a threat to democracy and must be stopped.
Over the last decade, I have attached various times held similar opinions. During the first Trump administration, I read and believed the left leaning news that Trump was going to irreparably damage America. Then my mind changed after voting for Biden and watching how Biden and the far left damaged the country and reflected on the actual policies and outcomes of the first Trump administration versus what people said about it. I then voted for Trump in 2024.
I see that the far left and far right are both wrong. They both want you super angry at the other side so that they gain more power. Your anger gets them clicks, donations, and followers. But Trump is not the end of democracy any more than Biden was.
Tyler Robinson’s father has to see his little boys life end because that boy believed the online rage.
Is your Facebook news feed like mine? I lean right, so my feed is a long list of influencers raging against the left. From what I hear from friends on the left and see on Reddit, all they see are influencers raging against the right and celebrating or justifying the death of Charlie Kirk.
The algorithms reward engagement. Nothing gets engagement like anger and hate. If Facebook didn’t reward engagement, another app would replace it that does reward engagement. The same thing goes with television – the news stations that twist you inside to be afraid or angry get the most viewers.
Keep in mind people from both the right and left are trying to manipulate you to gain viewers, clicks, money, and power.
I imagine if it was one of my sons who listened to either the far left or the far right and believed them and decided to do something about it. Tyler Robinson’s father faced one of the worst things a dad can imagine… His good little boy, the bright student, had committed a horrible murder. He had assassinated someone because he had listened to half the country telling him that the other side was evil.
Whether you are on the right or on the left, you should help rein in the extremists on your side. Shrink the government so there is less to fear if the other side does gain power. Return to America’s focus on rights and liberties.