Pennsylvania governor says US must ‘turn the tide’ against political violence, reject vengeance

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania said Tuesday that the nation must “turn the tide” against political violence and the belief that government can’t solve problems while also rejecting vengeance.

Shapiro, a Democrat, delivered the remarks as the keynote speech at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh, days after the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk.

Shapiro said political leaders must condemn all forms of political violence and reject the “rhetoric of vengeance.”

“It is all wrong, and it makes us all less safe. During moments like these, I believe we have a responsibility to be clear and unequivocal in calling out all forms of political violence, making clear it is all wrong,” Shapiro said. “That shouldn’t be hard to do.”

Violence must not be used as a pretext for more violence or to prosecute constitutionally protected speech, he said, saying that political violence not only injures or kills, but affects everyone because it terrorizes, silences and “tears at the fabric of American society.”

Shapiro has criticized President Donald Trump as using the “rhetoric of rage” in the wake of Kirk’s killing, and on Tuesday, he again referenced Trump, saying some people “in the dark corners of the internet, all the way to the Oval Office, want to cherry-pick which instances of political violence they want to condemn.”

In April, Shapiro and his family fled the governor’s official residence in the middle of the night after an alleged arsonist broke in and set it on fire in an attempt to kill Shapiro.

The governor, who is considered a potential White House contender in 2028’s presidential election, had been asleep with his wife, children and extended family after celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover there.

In his remarks, Shapiro said too many people don’t believe government and the nation’s institutions can solve problems. Instead, they find refuge on the internet where their frustration is taken advantage of and used to foment hate, he said.

“It leads to a belief among some that the only way they can address their problems is through violence,” Shapiro said. “They find online those who glorify violence and urge it on.”

That, he said, “is dangerous for our democracy, and we need to turn the tide.”

The Eradicate Hate conference, in its fifth year, was started after a gunman attacked and killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018 in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history.