The fact that educated and otherwise normal people can celebrate murder is proof that we have a cancer in our society. The fact that they celebrate proudly and openly proves that the cancer is getting worse.
Yesterday supporters of accused murderer Luigi Mangione gathered outside a New York courthouse to wait for a judge’s decision as to whether he will also face terrorism charges.
Surveillance footage showed Mangione approach behind insurance executive Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan last December. He raised a handgun and shot him in the back of the head. It went beyond murder; it was an execution.
The crowd erupted in raucous jubilation when the judge announced he was tossing the terrorism charges against the 27-year old Mangione. They danced, hugged one another, and chanted "free Luigi!" — for a cold-blooded murderer.
How did we get to this dark place where we can callously celebrate the murder of an innocent man?
We saw the same celebrations after last week's assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk — and from some of the most unexpected sources.
Teachers, the very people to whom we entrust our children seven hours a day, were among those who celebrated his death.
A Canadian teacher reportedly showed his students a graphic video of Kirk's murder — the bullet striking his neck, his blood spurting out as he slumped from his chair — and told them that Kirk deserved to be killed. His class was made up of 10 and 11-year-olds.
And similar stories were reported from classrooms all over the United States. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was disgusted, and reported that Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsa was already addressing the issue.
"Celebrating the assassination of a 31-year-old father of two young kids is disturbing; that teachers would be among those who do so is completely unacceptable," he said. "Glad @StasiKamoutsas is bringing accountability. It is sad that we’ve seen a number of teachers across America celebrate Charlie Kirk’s murder."
Meanwhile, Texas has already revoked more than 100 teacher certifications of the public school educators who cheered Kirk’s murder.
How about someone we routinely depend upon for our safety — someone like a commercial airline pilot?
Conservative British political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos called such a pilot out by name after running across some disturbing posts he'd made on X.
"Steve Holmes, a pilot for @AmericanAir, says he is sorry Charlie Kirk got shot 'in your fat f**king face,' mocking his death as 'the cost of our liberty,'" Yiannopoulos wrote. "Is this normal, American? Passengers will be concerned that yet another pilot of yours is so shameless, hateful and reckless."
He attached screenshots of the pilot's rants.
Or how about a physician — someone else into whose hands we place our lives?
When New Jersey surgeon Dr. Matthew Jung heard the news of Kirk's murder, he openly cheered at an Englewood Health nurses' station. Nine nurses were within earshot, and a patient was lying next to him on a gurney.
When one of the nurses objected, Jung reportedly said, "He had it coming. He deserved it."
Teachers, airline pilots, surgeons — these are people we generally look up to, people who are educated, accomplished. How did we get here?
Conservatives generally agree that it began with Barack Obama — he sowed the seeds of division in America that led to President Trump’s first term.
Obama's "whole eight-year presidency was an embarrassment when it comes to everything from the economy to national security," said Newsmax TV’s Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump advisor.
Then add to that 10 years of calling Trump and his supporters Nazis, fascists, white supremacists, racists, misogynists, xenophobes, Islamophobes, etc. Those claims were soon picked up by CNN and MSNBC, then repeated nightly by the broadcast networks.
If people are repeatedly called Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini long enough, eventually someone with a weak mind and a hero complex will take matters into his own hands to rid the country of the "threat."
As a result we’ve seen at least two failed attempts on Trump's life, and the successful assassination of Charlie Kirk, whose only sin was to invite people that have different views into a conversation. "Let’s talk about it," he’d say.
And rather than express shock and horror as they should, so-called reasonable people cheered. They celebrated.
For more than two centuries America has been a land of opportunity — a beacon of hope and liberty, where anyone, no matter what their station, could rise to the heights of their own imagination.
We need to touch grass — get off the internet, walk outside, take in the fresh air and sunshine, play with a dog, embrace a loved one. We need to regain our humanity and cut out the cancer that has invaded America’s soul before it's too late.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and is a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He's also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.