Editorial: How do we eradicate violence?

There is a lot of talk about hate right now.

In the wake of the shooting of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, it’s everywhere. It is amplified, but it isn’t new. Hate has been a growing topic of conversation for years, often amid targeted violence.

One of those moments was October 2018, when a gunman posted his antisemitic comments on social media and then headed to Squirrel Hill. The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting had a body count of 11, with more injuries and widespread trauma for the Jewish community.

The incident was the most deadly antisemitic attack in U.S. history. But now, seven years later, the community is pushing back with an annual effort to understand and combat the kind of ugly emotion that spills blood.

The Eradicate Hate Global Summit 2025 happened this week. Gov. Josh Shapiro delivered the keynote address Tuesday. Shapiro, a Jew, was targeted by a hammer-wielding arsonist who firebombed his Harrisburg home during Passover in April, authorities said.

“We need to address the hate that’s spreading online and give our children the tools to address it,” Shapiro said.

On Wednesday, a roundtable on bullying focused on how young people can address hate. It brings new perspective to the idea of bullying, which is often more personal. A child can become the target of bullying simply by being identified as different.

Since the Columbine school shooting in 1999, bullying has been linked to violence, despite conflicting information about whether the shooters were targets themselves.

Bullying is a form of violence. It also can speak to us about these brutal events that overtake campuses, houses of worship, theaters, dance clubs, grocery stores and more.

If we look at them through the lens of the kids talking about bullying, maybe it is wrong to talk about these events in the context of hate.

Isn’t terrorism just a supersized form of bullying? Perhaps it’s time to acknowledge that these explosions of bullets or other attacks are not simply hate.

They are about power and fear. Are they fueled by hate? Absolutely. But the motivation is about keeping power and fearing loss.

This tells us the way to stop violence isn’t just when a shooter walks through the door with a loaded gun. It is noticing when these people — whether kids in school or adults in our communities — begin to follow the breadcrumbs toward dangerous behavior.

These paths need to be observed. There needs to be intervention. People need a helping hand before they raise a violent one.

If we can intercede in schools, in churches, with mental health care, with jobs programs, by making people feel safe, we can stop everything from domestic crimes to mass casualty events.

“To me, that means it’s on all of us to get off the sidelines, get in the game and do our part,” Shapiro said.

Whether it’s hate or power or fear, the only way to counteract these steps toward violence is to stop them before they start.