In the aftermath of the brutal assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, ESPN host Stephen A. Smith reportedly departed from his usual sports analysis to deliver a pointed message on life, loss, and the need for Americans to rediscover their shared humanity.
“We saw this man speaking … and we saw him struck by a bullet in his neck,” Smith said, describing the chilling events at Utah Valley University, where Kirk, just 31 years old, was shot dead in front of his wife and two young children. For Smith, the killing transcended politics. “It’s about a life lost — a husband, a father, a fellow American — executed for simply expressing his beliefs.”
Smith emphasized the larger danger of a culture consumed by hate and political division. “There’s a lot more love and a lot more brotherhood and sisterhood and humanity that goes on in this world that does it than doesn’t,” he told listeners. “Yet the few who are evil amongst us are the ones that screech and make the most noise. And it’s affecting us in a way where it’s getting to a point where you’re going to get scared to walk out in the streets. You’re going to get scared to show love and affection and even to say hello to your fellow man and woman, your neighbor.”
Although quick to insist that Mad Dog Sports Radio is not a political platform, Smith dismissed partisan framing altogether. “I don’t care what his political beliefs were. I don’t care what he felt. I care about the fact that a man was gunned down in front of two of his children who are 5 years of age or less. That he’s dead at the age of 31. That his wife is a widow. That his children are fatherless because his ideas and his beliefs differed from somebody else.”
Smith reserved some of his harshest words for those who mocked or celebrated the killing online. “Shame. Shame on you,” he declared, calling such reactions evidence of a country losing its moral bearings.
“At some point in time, we got to remember that and remember to remind one another that there’s far more love in this world than hate and not allow evil and hate to dominate us and to strip us of what truly makes us the greatest nation in the world,” he said. “It’s that mosaic that we live under, a willingness to embrace any and all and find a way to agree without being disagreeable.”
The broadcaster, who often speaks proudly of his own background and career, reflected on his daily encounters as proof that America remains capable of unity. “I see people looking at me and smiling and saying, ‘What’s up, Stephen?’ and they don’t look anything like me. And I don’t care — because they’re showing me love, and I’m showing it right back.”
Smith closed with a blunt reminder of what is at stake. “He’s gone at 31 just because he expressed thoughts that differed from somebody else apparently. And some might blame it because, ‘oh my God, he’s friends with the president’ and they may not be a Donald Trump supporter. I’m saying bump all that. He’s a human being living in the United States of America. This is America. We’re not supposed to condone stuff like this. We’re not supposed to say it’s okay. I don’t give a damn who you are. Black, white, or anything in between. You’re a human being. That’s your fellow man and fellow woman out there.”
[READ MORE: House Freedom Caucus Pushes for Select Committee to Probe ‘Radical Left’s Assault’ After Kirk Assassination]
