YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y.—They gathered at dusk at the gazebo adjacent to Jack DeVito Veterans' Memorial Field & Track on Sunday evening to pray, to sing, to listen, to hold candles and to stand against political violence.
They gathered to mourn the shooting that took the life of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, but also to recognize the climate that led to the shooting of two Democratic Minnesota state lawmakers in June that killed Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark and severely wounded John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. They came to stand against a culture in which some (on both sides of political divide) have celebrated the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“Evil exists," Pastor Julio Vasquez of Freedom Chapel would tell the crowd of over 100 deep into the ceremony. "But the wonderful news this evening, is that good also exists and we overcome evil with the good that each and every one of us do in our everyday life.”
The vigil — which initially saw the town’s Republican committee invite the Democratic committee to co-sponsor — ultimately proceeded as a GOP-led event when Democrats objected to including elected officials from either party in the speaker lineup. Democratic committee co-chair Peter Cleary had proposed that only faith leaders speak; Republicans believed including elected officials was appropriate. In the end, the two sides agreed to disagree, Vasquez was the lone faith leader to take the microphone. And while elected Democrats were invited, the other making remarks were Republicans: Congressman Mike Lawler, Supervisor Ed Lachterman, Assemblyman Matt Slater, and Yorktown GOP co-chair Kevin Byrnes. Other elected officials and faith leaders were invited to stand behind them in solidarity.
The tone was calm yet resolute as the community held candles and listened to remarks condemning hate and calling for togetherness, softly joining Pauline MacDonald in the singing of the national anthem, "Amazing Grace” and “God Bless America” throughout the evening.
Byrnes said the gathering symbolized a united front “in condemning all acts of political violence.”
“There is no place in this town, this county, this state or this country for any type of political violence,” he said.
After describing the assassination of Hortman in her home, Byrnes invited the crowd to lift their candles for a moment of silence to honor the memory of the Hortmans and the recovery of the Hoffmans.
Byrnes said he has been asked why Kirk’s assassination — which was widely viewed on social media — has become “such a spark plug to combat political violence” and cited several reasons:
“It was such a public assassination of a well-known figure," Byrnes explained. "Anyone who saw the shooting was deeply disturbed by the gruesome and graphic video. It also drew comparisons to the attempted assassination of President Trump, making us realize what a difference one eighth of an inch could possibly make.”
Byrnes said Kirk was killed for expressing his opinions.
“Anyone who has spent a little time watching Charlie's videos would know that he welcomed opposing views and treated those he debated with kindness and civility.”
As he did for Hortman, he asked for a moment of silence and invited attendees to raise their candles in Kirk’s memory.
Lachterman took the microphone and said he was not speaking in his capacity as an elected Town Supervisor. Rather, he said he was speaking as “a father, as a husband, as a son and as a friend.”
“This has been a very hard time for all of us,” Lachterman said. “It has to start within our community, within our town. We need to be able to realize that everyone standing here is a person. Everyone here has family. Charlie Kirk, the Hortmans—they won’t be there for their family anymore.”
He told a story about his daughter, who needed some emotional support after an upsetting time.
“I thank God I was there—I thank God that I’m there to be there with my wife, to be here and doing the things we do together,” he said. “That’s been taken away from them—from Charlie, from the Hortmans, the CEO of United Healthcare and the list goes on.”
Lachterman called on people to pray for the victims and to be civil on social media.
“It’s real easy to be a keyboard warrior, to post things online, to say what you want to say behind the veil of a computer screen, but those words have consequences,” he said. “You may think that it doesn’t mean much, but to someone else, it may affect them in a way that ends up with someone losing their life, as it did with Charlie Kirk.”
Lawler denounced the violence and asserted that both Kirk and Hortman loved their country.
“No one should die because they choose to serve in public office or choose to engage politically and fight for the ideals and values and beliefs that they dear,” Lawler said . “All of us here, whether Republican or Democrat, or Independent—all of us have the right to our views, our opinions, our beliefs, and oftentimes, our opinions and our views are shaped by our own life experiences. It doesn’t make you right, me wrong or me right, and you wrong. It makes us American; it makes us free.
“Let us stop with the adjectives that so freely get thrown around: fascist, racist, xenophobic, homophobic. Enough. Look at each other as Americans, as neighbors, as friends, as family,” Lawler said. “Disagree strongly, fight for the people and the candidates that represent your values, but recognize that when an election is had, all of us must respect the outcome and must respect our neighbors and the decisions that have been made.”
“That is what Charlie Kirk fought for,” he continued. “That is what Melissa Hortman fought for.”
Lawler said he was moved by how Kirk’s widow Erika publicly forgave her husband’s killer during Sunday's televised memorial from Glendale, Arizona.
“I don’t know how any of us would react in that moment, but what it says to me is if you believe in God, if you believe in love, if you believe in serving a cause and a purpose greater than your own self-interest and forgiveness must be at the core of everything we do.”
Slater said the Yorktown community had "heavy hearts."
“The assassination of Charlie Kirk has shaken us all to our core," Slater said. "A husband, a father and a voice—who whether, as the congressman said you agree, whether you agree with him or not—this is a person who loved Jesus, loved this country, and he believed in the promise of America, and he was taken from us by an act of pure evil and hatred.”
He said that while the community was coming together to pray and mourn, there needed to be a greater purpose to the gathering.
“We are here to say together, one voice, that political violence, no matter who it targets or where it comes from, has absolutely no place in America,” Slater said. “In moments like this, when tragedy shakes us, we have a choice to make. We can let anger and division pull us apart, or we can come together, resolve to be better and refuse to let hatred win. Tonight, we're doing that tonight is a reminder that we are called to something higher, to meet violence, not with more violence, but with courage, compassion and a renewed commitment to one another.”
Slater recalled conversations with the late Alice Roker during the COVID-19 pandemic and said he had found comfort in her words during what had felt like a dark time.
“She had a way of reminding us that no matter how tough the moment, we were neighbors first in this town—we have responsibility to one another. That's the kind of leadership, that's the kind of spirit we need now more than ever, my friends,” he said, and added that it leads “us to building a country that we want our kids to grow up in, building a community that we are proud of our kids to grow up in one where we face hardship together, not as enemies, but as a community.”
Vasquez led a prayer, gave the invocation, and delivered the benediction, asking for blessings for Kirk, victims of violence, and the safety of the community.
“This evening, we come together as one in remembrance of the political violence that has taken place, remembering these people, these families, their children, their loved ones,” he said.
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