• Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., issued a powerful call for peace after Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
• Her message emphasized America’s history of violence and the urgent need for compassionate, nonviolent leadership.
• She warned that Kirk’s children will one day see the video of his death, a tragic reminder of political hatred.

ATLANTA, Ga. (TDR) — The nation is still reeling from the shocking assassination of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old conservative commentator and ally of President Donald Trump, when Bernice King stepped forward with a solemn message. Posting on Instagram, the youngest daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. reflected not only on Kirk’s killing but on the deeper wounds of violence plaguing the United States.

“It saddens me that Charlie Kirk’s children will likely one day view the video of their father being shot,” she wrote. “No child anywhere should lose a parent in such a hateful, callous way.” King went on to say that America’s evolution requires more than quoting her father’s legacy; it requires confronting what she called a “conundrum of multi-faceted violence, tragic apathy, and degrading policies.”

A Divided Nation on Display

Kirk was shot on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University, an attack that has been widely described as a political assassination. The incident has not only underscored the risks of incendiary rhetoric but also exposed the polarized responses of Americans. Supporters mourned Kirk as a martyr for conservative values, while critics recalled his divisive comments on issues ranging from gun rights to women’s equality.

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In her reflection, King urged the nation to focus less on ideological divisions and more on sustainable transformation. “We need mature leadership, compassionate action, and nonviolent strategies for thorough, sustainable change,” she said. Her call to action spanned every level of society, from “inner work” and “community work” to “legislative work” and “home work.”

Rejecting the Myth of “No Violence”

King directly challenged the familiar refrain that there is “no place for violence” in America. “Clearly, there is a place,” she wrote, before listing the many forms of systemic violence that define the nation’s past and present: policy violence, genocidal violence, gun violence, economic violence, and environmental violence. Her words echoed the teachings of her father, who consistently linked peace to justice, not simply the absence of conflict.

A Family’s Unified Message

Bernice was not alone in addressing the tragedy. Her brother, Martin Luther King III, issued his own statement on X, stressing that “violence, no matter the target or justification, is never the answer.” He acknowledged his disagreements with Kirk’s rhetoric, including criticisms of their father’s legacy, but underscored that political violence “is a wound to the soul of our nation.”

His words reinforced Bernice’s sentiment that tragedies like Kirk’s murder cannot heal divisions but instead deepen them unless the country recommits to the path of nonviolence.

A Call Beyond Borders

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King’s reflection also connected Kirk’s assassination to broader patterns of suffering, invoking tragedies in Sudan, Gaza, Congo, Tigray, Yemen, and Ukraine. She also referenced communities in Memphis confronting environmental injustice, tying together both global and local examples of systemic violence.

Concluding her message, King invoked her father’s famous words: “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”

Does Bernice King’s response signal a renewed urgency for America to embrace her father’s legacy of peace through justice?

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