It had all the markings of a presidential assassination.
A large crowd of people. A political activist. A sniper. A shooting location from above. A presidential plane to carry the victim’s body home.
In this case, Charlie Kirk’s body, on Air Force Two, the plane assigned to transport the Vice-President.
With little or no security. And an assassination that never should have happened.
Probably like you, I have listened to some of the newscasts covering the story. I am surprised that the security for political meetings hasn’t become a science by now, since this is far from the first of these kinds of occurrences. The list is getting rather long: President Abraham Lincoln (1865), President James Garfield (1881), President William McKinley (1901), President John F. Kennedy (1963), Martin Luther King (April 1968), and Robert Kennedy (June 1968). The fact that three of the above dates are 1901 and earlier and within 36 years confirms that this assassination business is no recent thing.
And the above are just the successful presidential assassinations; there are also the unsuccessful attempts. Gerald Ford, twice; Ronald Reagan; Donald Trump, twice.
I remember the Kennedy assassination very well. And the script in how the country deals with it is still about the same: talk about it lots, do something about it very little.
And it isn’t only in the United States.
It’s also in Canada, also in British Columbia, also in south-eastern British Columbia. Like in Radium Hot Springs.
My family moved to Wilmer (6 km north-west of Invermere) in 1956. It wasn’t long until I, even at age 10, had heard about a place that was no longer inhabited just a few miles out of town. All that was left on it were the remains of a house that had burned down many years ago.
Here’s the story.
Harold Forster was a retired member of the British Columbia Legislature (MLA) who lived on the west side of the Columbia River, roughly across from Radium, accessible in those days from Wilmer, in the direction of Invermere. He had been elected in 1912, but decided not to run again in 1916, instead deciding to get out of politics and start a ranch in that area.
He and a hired man, John Lundy, were at his house one night in 1940 and had spent a considerable time drinking when a knock came to the door. When Forster answered the door, a young man was there asking if they would give him some booze. Forster refused, and the fellow left, but came back with a gun and shot both men and then burned the house down to destroy the evidence. The murderer, a fellow named Frank Sylvester, was executed the next year, in 1941.
So these assassinations have been going on, and are still going on, ever since Lincoln was killed in 1865. Why are they still happening? They shouldn’t be. Surely, there should have been enough learned in all these tragedies that they could be largely prevented by now. It seems to me that these are the easy ones; much easier than the mass shootings such as at schools or churches.
I can’t help but think of the one assassination attempt that has not been repeated, and I believe that it hasn’t been repeated because of the proactive protection plan that has been put in place.
Those who are more than youngsters may remember the time in 1981 when Pope John Paul II was shot in Rome while in a parade or a similar event, while presumably trying to be more accessible to those who were there to see him. The assailant was able to get off four shots, and while the pope was injured, he survived.
As a result of that attack, all the papal open vehicles were fitted with bulletproof glass to prevent similar attempts in the future. You may recall that some were called ‘popemobiles.’ And, as far as I know, there have been no assassination attempts since.
Why haven’t similar things been done in the US?
Why haven’t similar things been done in the US?
Repeating that sentence was intentional.
Every time one of these happens, we hear comments like ‘our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family’ or ‘this is not who we are.’ Now I’m all for thinking and praying, and yes, this is not who we all are, but it’s obviously who some people are, or we wouldn’t have shootings. But we hide behind those cliches, while there are things that could be done that are not being done.
There shouldn’t be a podium in North America where high-profile people are speaking without bulletproof glass. How much thought should that take? One of the reasons why cars are equipped with windshields is to keep people from getting hit by rocks and other flying objects. And they work. When was the last time you saw a car without a windshield? Exactly!
Cliches are never going to work. People have been killing others since Cain killed Abel, and they will continue to do so, and the targets will often include high-profile people such as politicians and thought leaders, people whom we know should be protected and can be protected somewhat easily.
The first priority now is to protect the people who will have the courage to speak at a podium in the next few months. The last place many people will want to be is a podium, with little wonder. Trying to change all 350 million people in a country is impossible, because you have to convince every single one; every single smart person; every single not-so-smart person; and every single lunatic. It only takes one person to load a gun and use it. Certainly, platitudes sound nice, but they just don’t work. But some protective devices would work.
Every lectern where high-profile people speak and the access to them needs to be protected, along with similar protective strategies at other risk locations, such as roof-tops, the chosen shooter locations for both the first Trump shooting and now the Kirk one. And some of the responsibility for this should be on the speakers and their organizations. Charlie Kirk had a personal security staff. But did they have a checklist with a question as to whether or not there were high buildings, or even trees, where someone could use a gun? I doubt it.
It can’t be that difficult. Especially when a country needs to protect those who may lead the nation in a few short years.
