As former President Trump prepared to address the Republican National Convention with his new pick for vice president, J.D. Vance, the Island community continued to react to the stunning news over the weekend of an attempted assassination.
The former president, who was injured in his right ear, which was pierced by a bullet at a rally in Pennsylvania, survived the attempted assassination. According to national media, moments after the first shots rang out Saturday, the gunman — 20-year-old Pennsylvania resident Thomas Matthew Crooks — was killed by U.S. Secret Service.
From Milwaukee to Menemsha, Americans have been reflecting on events that have shaken the country. In church pews, in backyards, and on beaches, Islanders have been pondering words from Presidents Biden, Obama, and Clinton that violence should have no place in American politics.
President Obama, who is believed to be here visiting the Island at his home in Edgartown, said, “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy,” on social media on Saturday evening. “We should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics.”
Islanders have also been pondering a plea by Biden, from a rare speech from the Oval Office of the White House, to lower the temperature of politics.
Religious leaders on the Island have been calling for peace, and to settle political differences. Democrats are condemning the violence, and offering condolences to the family of a Trump rally attendee who was killed, and two who were seriously injured.
A West Tisbury family that identifies as Republican was watching the rally on TV when Trump was shot.
“We were sitting there in shock. We could not believe this could happen,” said the wife, who identified herself as a Vineyard native. The woman wished to remain anonymous, noting vitriol, and out of fear of being ostracized for being a Republican: “This country is just going crazy with the division. It’s really bad.”
The Republican woman has witnessed that division here on the Island. At Cronig’s, she said, she witnessed tension in the checkout lines; she said that she saw an elderly woman spit on for voting Republican; and she said that she herself put up a political sign that was stolen within minutes. As a Vineyard native, she said, the political tension in recent years has been worse than any other time, including the 1960s. She said that up until recently, she hasn’t gotten pushback for voting Republican; in fact, it used to be fun to tease other Islanders about whom they vote for. But that’s changed.
“On the Vineyard, if you wear a red hat, you are ostracized,” she said.
The West Tisbury woman feels that vitriol and hatred on a national scale led one irrational young man to follow through with the assassination attempt.
“That was my first thought: They want to take him out,” the West Tisbury woman said when she watched the assassination attempt on Saturday. “Well, they’ve done it.”
Asked if she was hopeful that the tension would simmer down following the attempt on the former president’s life, she was not convinced. “I would hope so, but I don’t feel that that is going to happen,” she said. “It’s so ingrained to hate Trump, and hate anyone who wants him to be president.”
Other political and religious leaders on the Vineyard are calling for peace after the attack.
Jonathan Chatinover, the chair of the Democratic Council of Martha’s Vineyard, condemned the shooting.
“We deplore violence of any kind,” Chatinover said in a statement. “We wish everybody who was injured a full recovery, and we send condolences to the family and friends of the person who died. We hope this terrible incident raises awareness of the urgent need for gun control measures, especially an assault weapon ban.”
During Sunday services, religious leaders addressed their congregations.
“God of love, wisdom, and hope, bless us with your holy light of peace in this country,” Father Chip Seadale of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church said.
“Make us ever mindful that violence is not the way to peace, but that our very practice of peace is the only way,” Seadale said. “And help us, every one, to contribute to the continued well-being of this great experiment of America, this beautiful and yet still imperfect union, by setting our focus on you alone, that we may continue to bear proudly that torch of liberty which has been lit in this land, and work to blot out ignorance, prejudice, and poverty.”
Rabbi Caryn Broitman of the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center shared concerns on Sunday. “The political violence our nation witnessed yesterday is a tragedy for us all,” she said.
“The attempted assassination of former President Trump, along with the murder and wounding of citizens attending the rally, is part of an increase in political violence that threatens the foundation of our democracy. Citizens and public servants working for the common good have been increasingly targeted over the past few years. From poll workers to local officials, from teachers to journalists, from congressional representatives to judges and police, this violence shakes our very foundation as a society,” she continued.
“I pray for the people and their families who were victims of violence at the rally in Pennsylvania yesterday. We grieve the tragic loss of life, and pray for those in need of healing. I also pray for the healing of our nation. May we take this episode of violence and pain as an urgent call to change course. May we come together around the core values of our faith and of our shared national history to build a country where each person is treated according to the infinite worth they possess. May this horrific act of violence not lead to a spiral of more violence. May it rather bring us to reject violence for love and compassion. As the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Love builds up and unites; hate tears down and destroys … Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that.'”
The Rev. Dr. Mark Winters, pastor of the Federated Church of Martha’s Vineyard, spoke out against political violence. “My concern is firstly all who dedicate their lives to public service, either in elected office or public safety. I am grateful for them, and we need good people in such positions now, more than ever,” Winters said.
“Democracy is often messy, but it should never be violent,” he added. “We must solve our differences through dialogue, and by building understanding of one another. I lived and studied in Northern Ireland for a brief time, and I have often remembered my friends there as I see the divisions deepening in the U.S. We cannot go down that road. We must always honor each other’s humanity, especially when we disagree. Violence only ever makes things worse.”
The Rev. Charlotte Wright, pastor of the Chilmark Community Church, included former President Trump and other victims from the rally in her opening prayers: “Gracious and loving God, we ask that your presence be known to all in these turbulent and troubled times. Help us to remember that love and acceptance should be our guiding words. You, who taught us to love one another, please walk with us on our path with a gentle hand upon our shoulder. Stay close to us and love us always. In your name we pray. Amen.”
