In Remembrance of 9/11 and Charlie Kirk

One year has passed since Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Twenty-five years have passed since the fateful morning of September 11, 2001.

This week, our country pauses to remember the lives lost on two of the darkest days America has endured in the past quarter-century. Nearly 3,000 innocent people were murdered in the terrorist attacks of September 11. One year ago, on September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was assassinated.

Both events are forever etched into the fabric of our nation.

It is important that we remember not only what happened on those days, but also what those attacks represented. While September 11 and Charlie’s assassination were vastly different in their scale and circumstances, both were acts of violence aimed at something fundamental to the American experience.

The terrorists who attacked our country on September 11 sought to strike fear into the American people and attack the freedoms, institutions, and way of life that have distinguished our nation since its founding. Charlie was targeted because he refused to remain silent about his beliefs. He traveled across the country engaging Americans—especially young Americans—in conversations about faith, freedom, family, and the future of our republic.

America was not attacked on September 11 because we were just another country. And Charlie Kirk was not assassinated because he was just another voice.

They were targeted because ideas matter. Freedom matters. Faith matters. And the principles upon which America was founded matter.

Yet in both instances, those who sought to use violence to intimidate Americans failed to achieve their ultimate objective.

Our grief turned into unity.

Our pain turned into resolve.

Our suffering revealed our resilience.

In the days after September 11, Americans displayed their flags, filled churches, supported our first responders, and stood together as one nation. Political disagreements did not disappear, but for a time they were overshadowed by something greater: a shared recognition that we were Americans first.

In the aftermath of Charlie’s assassination, Americans once again faced a choice. We could allow political violence to intimidate us into silence, or we could resolve to defend the freedoms that allow every American to speak, worship, assemble, debate, and participate in the life of our republic.

Those freedoms cannot be taken for granted.

An entire generation of Americans has now grown up without any personal memory of September 11. For millions of young Americans, the attacks exist only in history books, documentaries, photographs, and the stories told by their parents and grandparents. Eventually, the same will be true of Charlie’s assassination.

That is why remembrance is more than looking backward.

We have a responsibility to teach the next generation not only what happened, but why it mattered.

They should know about the passengers aboard Flight 93 who fought back against the terrorists and sacrificed their lives rather than allow another target to be struck. They should know about the firefighters, police officers, paramedics, service members, and ordinary citizens who ran toward danger while others were fleeing it.

They should also understand that political violence can never be permitted to replace persuasion in a free society. We answer arguments with arguments. We confront bad ideas with truth. We defend our convictions through speech, debate, elections, and the constitutional system handed down to us—not through intimidation or violence.

Most importantly, we must teach the next generation why America is worth defending.

Our Founders recognized that liberty does not originate with the state. The Declaration of Independence acknowledges that our unalienable rights are endowed by our Creator, while government derives its legitimate authority from the consent of the governed. That understanding of liberty lies at the heart of the American experiment.

Those principles have survived wars, terrorism, political violence, economic hardship, and profound national division because generations of Americans have chosen to preserve them.

Now that responsibility belongs to us.

Twenty-five years after September 11 and one year after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, remembering is not enough. We must carry forward the lessons of those days.

We must reject political violence without qualification. We must defend the freedom to speak even when the speech is unpopular. We must refuse to allow fear to silence our convictions. And we must teach our children and grandchildren that the freedoms they inherited were purchased at a tremendous cost and require courage to preserve.

The passage of time inevitably dims memories. It does not diminish our responsibility.

We remember those we lost.

We honor those who demonstrated extraordinary courage.

And we resolve to preserve the freedoms and principles that enemies of America have repeatedly sought—and failed—to destroy.

May God comfort the families who still carry the pain of these losses, strengthen our nation in the face of hatred and violence, and continue to bless the United States of America.

We will never forget.