To the editor,

After reading the Oct. 1 issue, I was moved to write for several reasons.

The first was the article on the Ellsworth teacher who made national news about her comments on Charlie Kirk’s assassination. I’m going to share a snippet of what Krista Lesiecki stated so that I can make her appear to be a much eviler person than she really is. I quote, “But then if you liked what he stood for (Charlie Kirk), you can’t be upset that he died. He fulfilled his destiny.” The point I’m making is many people spin it to support their own views, agendas and beliefs.

I challenge you to read the entire article “Resolution reached, teacher no longer on staff in Ellsworth.” She admitted she was wrong, got caught up in the media frenzy (network and social) and her words were not kind. She also wrote that teachers shouldn’t be silenced – I fully agree with her statement on the First Amendment rights, as I was blocked on Facebook and my account removed because I was, and still am, an avid Trump supporter. So little old me, Randy Hansen of Prescott, had my First Amendment rights taken away by Mark Zuckerberg! Only difference between Lesiecki and myself is that I didn’t receive $12,500 in a GoFundMe account, and we will never know how much compensation she received from the Ellsworth School District.

Back to Smith’s letter: it is your responsibility to read his opinions, but I will respond to his comment on Charlie Kirk. Quote, “The subject of these comments, the right-wing influencer, Charlie Kirk, has said on record that inevitably gun deaths in a society with unrestricted access are worth it!” This one-line statement is being used to embrace the writer’s point of views, but is sadly lacking any of Kirk’s statements, prior, or after this one-line statement that he shared in his letter. I posted the entire written and TikTok versions on my Facebook page, however they (Facebook) censored me again! With some research you can find Charlie Kirk’s comments on TikTok, @littlezombie has the entire video on display, and Jailyn Munson posted it on Facebook Sept. 11, 2025.

I can’t write his entire statement but snippets that can clarify the one-line statement. The Second Amendment is there, God forbid, so that you can defend yourself against a tyrannical government. Armed citizenship comes with a price. 50,000 people die on the road every year, but we’ve decided the benefit of driving is worth the cost of 50,000 lives. We need to be clear that you’re not going to get gun deaths to zero. It will not happen. You could significantly reduce them by having more fathers in homes, and by having more armed guards in front of schools. My opinion is, “You don’t have your First Amendment rights without the Second Amendment rights to defend it.”

Charlie Kirk, again “You’ll never live in a society when you have armed citizens, and you won’t have a single gun death. That is nonsense, drivel. But I am, I, I – I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth it to have a cost of unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year, so that we can have the Second Amendment rights to protect our God-given rights.”

RIP Charlie Kirk.

Randy Hansen

Prescott