Activists across the spectrum call for a return to civility after assassination of Charlie Kirk

Political activist Charlie Kirk often invited political debates and was known to talk with people from all political viewpoints.

Former UN Ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young said he never met him but would have liked to have had a chance to sit down with him, even though they might not have agreed on issues.

Nonviolence is at the center of everything that Young preaches and believes.

He told Channel 2’s Karyn Greer that he is concerned people don’t value life or know how to have healthy conversations about their beliefs.

“I thought it was a real tragedy, and he’s a fellow I wish I had had a chance to meet, not that we would have agreed on anything,” the 93-year-old civil rights icon said.

Young said debate and discussions are crucial to democracy and that people need to respect life and each other, no matter their views.

“When I heard that he had two children, I thought about them, and I didn’t think of a politician. I thought of a humanitarian, and he actually cares about life and this country very deeply,” Young said.

Young was a close friend and confidante to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement.

As a strategist, planning key protests and voter registration drives, Young said people need to know it’s OK to agree and to disagree.

“This is a terrible thing to happen in a family, regardless of whether we are right or left. And the secret of making a democracy work is being able to get along with each other. And we can disagree without being disagreeable,” Young said.

He still preaches nonviolence and lives his life encouraging positivity in others.

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“I think that I find it more comfortable always being with the people who are trying to bring about peace and reconciliation,” Young said.

Leaders of organizations that fight to preserve basic human rights told Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes that they hold many of the same values as Ambassador Young.

“It was terrifying, never should have happened,” Southern Christian Leadership President Charles Steele said about Kirk’s death.

The SCLC uses nonviolent strategies to fight for equality. Steele said he’s been tested in every way, called all types of names, and has even been assaulted, but still says he would never choose to fight back with violence.

“It’s gonna destroy our country if we don’t change this,” Steele told Fernandes. “But we need folks to realize that the vehicle for success that created the world of hope throughout the world was Dr. King. The philosophy of peace and non-violence.”

Andrea Young is the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. She has experienced decades of political violence and sees only one difference when comparing the past to Charlie Kirk’s shooting.

“What is worse is the easy accessibility of weapons of war,” Andrea Young said. “This is a tragedy for all of us, that we need to have civil discourse, that we need to talk about ideas and be willing to engage in a free exchange of ideas, again, without demonizing people.”

Both leaders said they hope our elected officials use this tragedy to unite us and not further divide us.