Charlie Kirk was truly one of a kind. A kind, loving, and courageous soul who lived what he preached. His view that our political, social, and spiritual differences should be debated freely and respectfully was something he put into practice every day — a living embodiment of the vision our founders had for our country.

The person who shot Charlie Kirk sought to silence him, using violence to take away his freedom of speech by ending his life and to terrorize those who think like Charlie into silence. This evil act is the very definition of terrorism: an unlawful use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political or "religious" aims.

Today, on the anniversary of 9/11, we recognize that whether it's Islamists like al-Qaeda, or the fanatics who try to stop Charlie Kirk and others from speaking the truth by banning them from campuses and ultimately by assassination, the one thing they have in common is that they are so afraid that their arguments, views, and policies will not stand when challenged in free and open debate, that they resort to violence — not only to silence the people they want to shut up but to terrorize everyone else into silence.

Charlie Kirk stood up to such fanatics who hate freedom and want to silence any who dare to challenge the so-called "liberal" establishment. This assassin killed him to prevent his voice from being heard, prevent him from inspiring others, as he did every day, and to terrorize and intimidate the American people into silence.

I was sickened, but not surprised, when I saw the propaganda media like MSNBC react by encouraging and justifying this evil. Within minutes of the shooting, they said, Charlie "brought it upon himself.” They said the very same thing about President Donald Trump after both assassination attempts on his life. And the Islamists who attacked us on 9/11 also make the same argument—i.e. that 'the American people deserved the attack.' What they're really telling us is: shut up, be quiet, or face the consequences.

We cannot allow their darkness and evil to perpetuate. Charlie truly loved our country and dedicated his life to protecting our God-given rights. We must honor his life's work, and the promise of America, by continuing to lift our own voices and defend our God-given freedoms enshrined in our Constitution.

I'm devastated that Erika lost her husband today, their children lost their father, and so many of us lost a dear friend. Our nation lost one of our greatest champions of freedom. I pray Charlie is now able to rest in the warm embrace of God's love. He will be dearly missed.