OREM, Utah — Amidst the relief that the suspect believed to have killed Charlie Kirk had been arrested, Gov. Spencer Cox shared an often emotional and impassioned plea to tone down the violent rhetoric heard around the country in recent weeks and months.
In comments heard by a national audience, Cox spoke of rising above the current hate that has spread and pursuing the search for what he called moral clarity.
"I think it's important that we, with eyes wide open, understand what's happening in our country today," the governor said.
With his voice breaking, Cox shared how over the previous 48 hours, he was as angry and as sad as he had ever been, but thought of the young people in the country that he believes were Kirk's most beloved followers.
Speaking directly to young Americans, Cox said they are inheriting a country where "politics feel like rage," but that there was a different path that could be taken.
"We can return violence with violence. We can return hate with hate, and that's the problem with political violence is it metastasizes, because we can always point the finger at the other side," Cox said. "And at some point, we have to find an off-ramp, or it's going to get much, much worse."
Watch Cox's complete remarks in video below:
Imploring people to turn off their phones and spend time with family and friends, the governor explained how it was possible for the country's youth to create a better future.
"Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now," he said. "Not by pretending differences don't matter, but by embracing our differences and having those hard conversations."
Cox claimed that history itself will determine whether the current hate that has consumed the nation surrounding the Utah Valley University shooting will be a turning point for the country.
"We get to make decisions. We have our agency," Cox shared. "And I desperately call on every American: Republican, Democrat, liberal, progressive, conservative, MAGA, all of us, to please, please, please follow what Charlie taught me," which he claimed was keeping up human connections and being able to have reasonable agreements.
Leaders on Utah's Capitol Hill call for a de-escalation of political vitriol and violence:
The governor referenced the turmoil of the 1960s, an era marked by assassinations and political unrest, before concluding his remarks with a question to which he was waiting for an answer after a traumatic week in Utah.
"Is this the end of a dark chapter in our history or the beginning of a darker chapter in our history?"
