Climate of Violence

On Monday, Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old man, with a rifle, entered an office tower in midtown Manhattan, opened fire, and killed an off-duty New York City police officer and three other people before taking his own life. The building where this mass shooting took place is home to the headquarters of both the NFL and Blackstone – one of the world’s largest investment firms – as well as other tenants. It was a harrowing experience for everyone involved, and a senseless tragedy for those who were killed and their families. A three-page letter found on the shooter revealed that he was targeting the NFL headquarters, and that he blamed the NFL and football in general for the mental illness he had been suffering through due to what he believed was CTE caused by his short-lived football career.

In our modern America media world, this all makes sense. Why would this guy not do what he did? He believed that the NFL is evil, and he believed that the NFL is to blame for all of his problems. Isn’t that the exact same beliefs Luigi Mangione held toward insurance companies when he murdered United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, in cold blood in mid-town Manhattan last December? Mangione believed insurance companies are evil, and the insurance companies were to blame for many of his problems. Many people throughout our country continue to view Mangione as some kind of hero. The New Yorker magazine wrote an article entitled, Luigi Mangine and the Making of the Modern Anti-Hero. NBC’s “Law and Order”, created a character based on Mangione and portrayed him as a folk hero. In San Francisco, they ran a sold-out play called, Luigi – The Musical, which tried to contextualize murderers like Mangione within the broader scope of our social issues. Many view Mangione’s actions as justified because the man he killed, Brian Thompson, was evil.

There’s a good chance Shane Tamura watched the same news outlets that justified Mangione’s cold blooded murder. That what we do in our country. If our “own truth” is that someone is evil, then we are justified in attacking them. Our media tells us over and over again that the NFL is evil, especially the headquarters of the NFL in midtown Manhattan. The NFL exploits young black men, we are told. The NFL draft is the modern-day slave trade. The NFL does not care if players are injured or suffer irreversible traumatic brain injuries. The NFL puts billion-dollar profits over player safety. Those are the narratives that we are fed everyday by the media. Those narratives create many clicks, but they also caused one person to snap.

These narratives are created all the time to push agendas. Everyone did not condemn the assassination attempt on President Trump last July. Why? They believe Trump is evil and Trump is to blame for many of the problems in this country. The left-wing media claimed that Trump got what he deserved. MSNBC anchor Lester Holt claimed that Trump brought the assassination attempt on himself. On the very day on the attempt on Trump’s life, Holt said, “today's apparent assassination attempt comes amid increasingly fierce rhetoric on the campaign trail. Mr. Trump, his running mate JD Vance continue to make baseless claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.” So, it was Trump’s rhetoric that brought on the assassination attempt. So, if words can lead to violence, then maybe the left relentless false claims that Trump is “a fascist”, “a Nazi”, “a threat to democracy”, and “an existential threat to America”, could have also inspired the violent attempt on Trump’s life.

Sadly, this is happening more and more. In June, Minnesota state representative, Melissa Hortman, and her husband were shot and killed in a brutal attack at their home. Hortman, the Speaker of the Minnesota House, was murdered within days of being the only Democrat to cross the aisle and vote with Republicans to repeal taxpayer-funded healthcare coverage for illegal aliens. She said, “I did what leaders do, I stepped up and I got the job done for the people of Minnesota.” Was anyone shocked by her assassination? Six months earlier, the left-wing media justified and rationalized the murder of Brian Thompson who was painted as the evil CEO of an insurance company that denies healthcare coverage of policy holders. Melissa Hortman had just cast the deciding vote to deny healthcare coverage for illegal aliens. If Brian Thompson was evil, then Melissa Hortman was also evil. According to the left, they got what was coming to them.

The left does this all the time with politically motivated violence. If the people they agree with commit violence in the name of a cause that they believe in, they find a way to justify it or diminish it. Throughout 2020, they invented the term “mostly peaceful protest” to describe left-wing riots where entire city blocks were burned to the ground, stores were looted, cars were set on fire, police were attacked, and people were killed. The violence and destruction were not categorically condemned by the left because it served a political purpose; it pushed their agenda. And now the same people who refused to condemn violence, are clutching their pearls when a crazed man shoots up an office building because he blames the people inside for his problems or a politician is assassinated because she voted the wrong way. Political violence is never justified, and when you feel the urge to justify it because it was done in the name of a cause that you agree with, you will be creating a climate of violence that will end up turning on you.

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Mr. Garrett is a graduate of Princeton University, and a former NFL player, coach, and executive. He has been a contributor to the website Real Clear Politics. He has recently published his first novel, No Wind.