Trolley Square

Holly Mullen has written a beautiful piece about the Trolley Square tragedy. I’ve tried repeatedly to put down a few thoughts. But they make no sense. The event makes no sense.

Before I even entered the Capitol building on Tuesday, another legislator asked me, “You know what that shooting shows?” I didn’t. And neither did he. Neither did the other dozen people who shared various opinions on what the shooting shows.

We’re humans. We try to make sense of things and learn lessons from them. No doubt, we can and should learn lessons from this. But before we start appropriating this tragedy for our pet political concerns, let’s show that we respect the right of all victims of this tragedy to be left alone, so that they can grieve without too much interference. To the broader community, the tragedy is unreal. To the families, it is all too real.