ESSAY: Charlie Kirk and Melissa Hortman: A tale of two memorials

Why were these two killings treated so differently?

Ever since Charlie Kirk was assassinated, a certain refrain has been heard from Democrats and others. Yes, this was tragic, dangerous, and wrong. But where was all of this outpouring when Melissa Hortman, the former Minnesota House Speaker, was murdered, along with her husband and dog? “Why,” a Reddit user asked, “is there such a difference in how these two incidents are being treated and what does that suggest about how political violence is perceived depending on who the victim is?”

A simple answer is that these incidents are being treated differently because, in many senses, they are different. One was a movement leader with a household name with whom many Americans had a parasocial bond; the other was a legislator mostly known in her own state. One killing was filmed in public for all to see; the other took place in private and was later reported on.

But these differences don’t tell the whole story. The other day, I went back and watched the moving memorial for the Hortmans, as well as a public vigil at the State Capitol, having already watched the Kirk memorial. And it occurred to me that a key difference may be this: the political right in this country chose to make meaning of Kirk’s death, consciously and effortfully, and the political left, as it so often does, assumed the meaning would make itself.

Let me explain.