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In the moments following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump Saturday, there was horror and confusion. Trump emerged defiant from the pile of Secret Service members who rushed to protect him, but as the nation breathed a sigh of relief we learned the attack had, indeed, been deadly.
Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief who was attending the Butler, Pa., rally with his family, had dived in front of his wife and daughter to protect them from the bullets. He died for them.
Meanwhile, Trump was able to let the nation know he was injured but "fine" after the attempt, but the incident has left us all shaken.
What line has been crossed?
Just where do we go from here?
Can, as Trump and President Joe Biden both called for, this be a moment to bring unity back to our nation?
Surely we can join Biden in his sincere gratitude that Trump was not hurt more seriously (or worse), and in his plea for a stop to what seems to be the growing reality of political violence.
"Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is more important than that right now," he said.
There must be an immediate and thorough investigation into the attempt and the suspect, a young man who lived less than an hour from Wheeling in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Perhaps of highest priority must be how in the world the shooter managed to be so close to Trump without detection.
And we must all be dedicated to the idea that elected officials, candidates for public office -- all of us -- have the right to our individual political opinions and to support the candidate of our choice without the fear of violence or even death.
What we don't have a right to is cause the violence we saw Saturday in Butler on those with whom we disagree.
Glenn Elliott, U.S. Senate candidate from Wheeling, offered his thoughts on what took place Saturday and our current political divide.
"I would be lying if I said that safety is not an issue I think about on the campaign trail. And the events of yesterday certainly underscore the risks," Elliott said. "… For better or worse, there is a certain assumption of risk associated with political campaigns today. I am willing to accept those risks in the hope of being part of the solution. We are better than things would suggest right now.
"As for our increasing polarization and amplified rhetoric, I do hope that what happened in Butler will serve as a reminder of the need for all of us to take a step back and recognize that we are Americans first and partisans second. Nobody is more happy about our current division than our enemies abroad. It is perfectly fine to have strong disagreements on issues of significance. But the minute we start seeing our fellow Americans as the enemy, we have weakened our country in a way far deeper than any foreign invasion or attack could ever hope to achieve."
Where do we go from here?
We have a choice, and we must choose to overcome the division and vitriol that preceded Saturday's tragedy.
Violence and fear should not define us.
We can disagree and still be united in our commitment to a peaceful political process.
The alternative is unthinkable.