As people respond to the attempted assassination of former President Trump, many are wondering what brought us here.
What can we expect from the future of our country? Readers are speculating about a possible change of heart from Republican leaders when it comes to gun reform. They want to know if we will continue to see elected officials refuse to take responsibility for manifesting a culture in which violence seems not only acceptable but encouraged. Or, when the furor dies down, will we still live in a country where an assassination attempt on a former president is not as shocking as it should be?
Regardless of party affiliation, there is one thing readers agree on: America should not tolerate political violence.
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To the editor: This presidential election cycle has caused many of us to feel stressed and overwhelmed as the political environment has tested our ability to cope. At a time when so many people are struggling with their mental health, political discourse seems to add fuel to the fire. We wake up, read the headlines and reports, and feel overwhelmed, anxious, and vulnerable.
When I heard about the assassination attempt on former President Trump, I felt a range of emotions. I realized that we live in a world where fear has transformed people on both sides of the aisle to despise and dehumanize those who don't think like them.
That’s why I was heartened when I heard that President Biden spoke with Trump. Biden put aside their ideological differences and disparaging insults and recognized the sanctity of their common humanity. In these turbulent times, I want this exchange to be an example of character and humanity at its finest. I am hopeful.
Jeanne Ortiz, Long Beach
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To the editor: Some of us are old enough to remember the assassination of presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy 55 years ago. A few weeks before that assassination, I remember RFK coming to Mass at our parish and parishioners surrounding him asking for autographs, with no security detail to protect him. I also remember the morning after the assassination, when the Irish nuns, our teachers at the parish school, were crying over this great loss. I, of course, remembered the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. just a year earlier, and I remembered six years earlier those nuns who brought us to church to pray for God to spare President Kennedy’s life when we first heard the news that he had been shot.
There are those who have said that God protected President Trump and I am thankful that he was not seriously injured. However, those bullets that narrowly missed Trump killed a loving husband and father and seriously injured two other people. That was not God's doing.
Every time these shootings occur, calls for reasonable gun control are renewed, but in the end nothing changes. If we do nothing, we cannot expect God to protect us from ourselves.
Steve Mills, Glendale
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To the editor: Those of us who are Trump supporters support this man for the fist he raised defiantly in the air just seconds after nearly giving his life for his country. He is a fighter, we want a fighter.
His opponents can spread lies and slander all they want about him, like Stalin, Hitler or Satan. The left has been trying to destroy him for eight years. They have come close, but they have not been able to defeat the fighter.
In November, Trump will sweep Joe Biden into the dustbin of history, and he and we will begin Making America Great Again.
Michael Murphy, St. Peter's
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To the editor: “Shots surprise…”, says the headline Article by Kevin Rector about the attempted assassination of former President Trump. Really? In my lifetime, Martin Luther King Jr., John and Robert Kennedy were assassinated, and Reagan and Ford were also assassinated. Shocking? Think of the mass shootings at Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Uvalde schools, as well as the Pulse nightclub in Florida and in Las Vegas. The only thing that's really shocking is that more guns are being made and sold in this country every day.
The headline could easily have been: “No way, another shooting.”
Larry Harmell, Granada Hills
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To the editor: The attempted assassination of Donald Trump has shocked this nation. We wish him well as he resumes campaigning, grateful that the bullet only grazed his ear and that he will be present at the Republican National Convention this week.
And we extend our condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, who died protecting his family from gunfire.
Violence begets violence, whether by a mob or a single individual. We have images of protesters in Charlottesville and we remember their racist chants. We cannot forget the images of the mob at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in a destructive attack on the building as lawmakers ran for cover and safety.
It is true that politicians should moderate their rhetoric so as not to inflame opposition anger and retaliation, but that is not enough. Gun owners should evaluate their need to own and carry guns. Parents should consider the risk of having guns in their home, available to family members. And all of us who now get nervous in public places and at political rallies should continue to support gun control so that both individuals and crowds refrain from acting violently.
Making America safe from gun violence should be part of campaign platforms and political speeches, with a commitment that preventing gun violence will serve the common good and save lives.
Lenore Navarro Dowling, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Now that it’s been revealed that Trump’s assassin used an AR-15 assault rifle, will MAGA supporters in the Senate, House, and the country at large finally accept that banning such horrible weapons is sorely needed? Will legislation be enacted soon to prevent these rifles from falling into the hands of people who shouldn’t own them? Based on decades of congressional inaction and servility to America’s intractable gun lobby, I’m not holding my breath.
Tom Stapleton, Glendale
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To the editor: Of course, we should all condemn political violence (re: “Trump shooting points to growing threats of political violence”).
But let’s put this in perspective. We should condemn Trump for the way he has stoked violence in this country since he began his campaign for president in 2016. He has fomented conflict and violence at his rallies, public speeches, interviews, and worship events for years.
He incited an assault on our nation’s Capitol in an attempt to subvert our electoral process and deny the will of the electorate. And he is primarily responsible for undermining the rule of law in our country, attacking its processes as illegitimate and vowing to “weaponize” the Justice Department and exact “retribution” if he takes back the White House.
So we must not allow an assassination attempt to obscure the reality of Trump's ongoing campaign to divide the nation and openly fuel violence.
Let us once again take a stand against violence as a response to our political conflict. But let us not forget that Trump has shown that he will do anything to destroy our democracy and gain the unlimited power of a despot who rules America with corruption, vengeance and an iron fist.
T.R. Jahns, Hemet
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To the editor: The attempted assassination of former President Trump on Saturday makes it even more essential that President Biden immediately withdraw from the race for this year's election.
Some on the right have pointed to the Biden campaign’s argument that “Donald Trump is an existential threat to our democracy” as a motivating factor for the attack.
President Biden would have to abandon this basic message, because it will always be associated with him, no matter what. Democrats need a new candidate and a new message. No one has ever convinced anyone by criticizing the guy the person they are trying to convince idolizes.
In my view, that person should be a Democratic governor — anyone but Gavin Newsom — who can bring administrative experience and a fresh message to the race.
Trump may be invincible right now, no matter what happens, but without a new candidate, if nothing else changes, he is invincible for sure, and he will take many, many lower-ranking Democrats with him.
David Van Iderstine, Los Angeles
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To the editor: I did not vote for Donald Trump and I will not. That said, the following assassinations and attempted assassinations of public figures have occurred during my lifetime:
Harry Truman: 1/11/50
John F. Kennedy: 11/22/63
Malcolm X: 21/02/65
Martin Luther King Jr.: 4/4/68
Robert F. Kennedy: June 5, 1968
George Wallace: 5/15/72
Gerald Ford: 5/9/75 and 22/9/75
Larry Flynt: March 6, 1978
John Lennon: 8/12/80
Ronald Reagan: 30/3/81
Donald Trump: 13/7/24
It doesn't matter whether people agree or disagree with these leaders. Violence is not the way to address a problem.
Robert Schoenburg, Western Hills
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To the editor: “There is no place in America for this kind of violence,” was President Biden’s response to the attempted assassination of former President Trump.
Sounds like what you'd expect from our political leaders during an act of extreme political unrest, right? Well, not in today's Republican Party.
In what could have been a rare and fleeting moment of political unity, MAGA Republicans instead chose to spew dangerous rhetoric that will only continue to polarize the nation.
Within minutes of the news breaking, Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) tweeted:Joe Biden sent the orders.“Then, just a few minutes after that, he reposted“Butler County, Pennsylvania, Republican District Attorney should immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting murder.”
The official X account of the House Republican Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), tweeted:
“Joe Biden: 'It's time to put Trump on the spot.' That just happened.”
And of course, I couldn't forget Marjorie Taylor Greene, who posted on X“The Democrats wanted this to happen. They have wanted Trump gone for years and are willing to do anything to make that happen.”
Trump’s MAGA-supporting minions were quick to blame his political rivals for an assassination attempt. For what? To profit from a powder keg of political upheaval that threatens the very foundations of our democratic ideals. Today’s Republican Party cares more about defeating Joe Biden and the “radical left” than it does about our democracy, our constitution, and the great people of this country.
The far-right's response to Sunday's events should frighten every American.
I am eternally grateful that President Trump is okay, but the immediate consequences of this ordeal, largely perpetuated by his protégés, are why we need to mobilize against them in November. Ultimately, Donald Trump remains a threat to democracy, but we must fight him with votes, not bullets.
Jack Burchess, Gillette, Wyoming.
