Whenever something tragic occurs, there is always someone who says that they were going to attend the event in question, but “something” told them not to go. Mrs. Brown and I were going to attend the TPUSA event at Utah Valley University, but did not do so. This was not due to a “sixth sense” or an urging from the Holy Spirit; we just got busy, and frankly, it slipped off the radar.
The memorial in front of Timpanogos Regional Hospital is still up. For the moment, the air is more or less free of helicopters until, I suppose, the suspect’s next court appearance. And TPUSA continued its mission in Utah yesterday. We did not attend that event, either. We skipped it not because of fear or an ominous feeling, but because the venue was at Utah State University in Logan, which is about 110 miles from where we live. (For those of you east of the Mississippi, we tend to make the states a little bigger out West.)
The USU event was held indoors, and not because of the weather. Security issues led to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum becoming the venue, complete with checkpoints and metal detectors. Even so, the day was not without its threat of violence. According to multiple local outlets, including KUTV, at 2:45 p.m., students were told to evacuate the Old Main Building due to a suspicious package.
"We both grabbed onto each other and started backing up. We didn’t think something would actually go off," said freshman Elisabeth Jones.
“To be honest, my heart dropped,” added fellow freshman Ally Weiland. “I thought this was going to be one of those false alarms — but yeah, there was a boom.”
Just before 3:30, one of the responders shouted, “Fire in the hole!” Then there was the detonation. So far, authorities have not said what the package was, although a K9 unit did give it a “bit of an indication.” But, as any HazMat responder, firefighter, or LEO will tell you, it is better to take every situation seriously. You may respond to 1,000 false alarms or non-issues. But what about number 1,001?
Nevertheless, the event was a success, drawing 6,500 people. Mike Lee sent a video, since he was stuck in D.C. because of the Shutdown Shuffle. Former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz, who is currently—well, I don’t know what he’s doing these days; is he still on Fox?—was there at any rate. Utah Governor Spencer Cox was on hand, as was Arizona Representative Andy Biggs. TPUSA’s Alex Clark hosted the event, and the organization’s CEO, Tyler Bowyer, was in attendance.
KSL noted that Bowyer brought up Cox’s “Disagree Better” effort. In his reply, Cox said it was not a left/right issue but one of good versus evil, stated his opposition to the idea that speech is violence, and reiterated what so many others have already said: it is wrong to call people fascists and Nazis. And then there was this:
"That mindset is only coming from one side," he said. "The idea that speech is violence and violence is speech, that is not coming from the right."
Cox later said that violence is not unique to one side of the political aisle, drawing boos and shouts from the crowd. But the governor remained firm, saying, "Anger never persuades."
He also commented:
Peacemaking is not soft; it's the hardest thing you can do. … And that's what Charlie understood. He treated them with respect. He treated them with love, and he treated them with dignity. That is not soft. There are people in our party who don't want us to do what Charlie did. They just want to call each other names and not engage at all, and we can't fall prey to that.
Cox was so close, right up until that part about how violence is not unique to one side of the aisle. Are there people who lean right who are vitriolic, impulsive, and radical? Of course. But let’s rewind the game tape from the last four years. Sure, there were some bad actors on January 6, the left’s only High Holy day. But beyond that, by and large, those on the left have been the chief manufacturers and exporters of chaos. And let us not even take the time to rehash who is calling whom fascists, Nazis, etc. The simple fact is that whether it was George Floyd or ICE arrests, I saw riots, looting, fires, and assaults. When Charlie was murdered, I saw flowers, signs, flags, and balloons.
Violence has become institutional on the left. When the left, from its leadership to media figures to its rank-and-file, is ready to stop calling names and fomenting violence, when it is ready to have honest discussions, and follow Charlie’s example, they will get more than a fair hearing from the majority of the right.
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