Nashville Artists React to Charlie Kirk Shooting & Colorado School Shooting

Kane Brown took to social media last night, opening up about his feelings following both the killing of Kirk and a school shooting that took place that same day in Colorado.

In a series of posts on his Instagram page and Stories, Brown first posted a photo of a news report about the school shooting that took place at a high school in Colorado, accompanied by a broken heart emoji. Brown then posted a photo of Kirk and his family, also accompanied by a broken heart emoji.

Brown also posted a longer video, offering up a plea, saying, “I’m gettin’ mad, man, ’cause I don’t know what to say. I’m very uneducated on this stuff. At the end of the day, all I want is everybody to love each other. That’s really all I want. Left side, right side, Black, white, different languages speaking, different country living, just love each other. If you see somebody down, please pick them up. I’ve been crying [for] two hours. This is the first video, now I’m just gettin’ mad, because somethin’s telling me that I have to post this video. I don’t talk about this s–t. I don’t do politics. That’s not for me. I just want y’all to love each other. It’s really not that hard. I get it, some people can say some pretty messed up stuff, especially with the internet these days… just love each other. Help each other out.”

Subsequently, Brown was attacked by commenters on both political sides for his comments. The singer-songwriter posted a video on his Instagram Stories soon after, saying, “Guys, I apologize if I offended anybody. This is really not me picking sides. This is just a ‘f–ked-up world’ post, to be honest. We all need to do better. There was a school shooting, there’s been thousands of school shootings. I want to pray to those families as well. I want to pray to Charlie’s family. I want to pray to anybody out there who’s had a family member’s life taken by someone who wanted to hurt them, or them being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t understand why it has to happen. I don’t understand why war has to happen. That’s all this post is, that we just live in a f–ked-up world.”

On that Instagram Stories series, he also noted, “I need y’all to see these are from both sides. We are the problem.” He also shared messages from some of the commenters on both sides, including one who asked, “Why didn’t you post about the Democratic representatives being murdered?!!!!,” presumably referring to the killings of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman as well as her husband Mark Hortman in June. Brown posted in another Instagram Stories message, “I don’t see why y’all look at each other in such a hateful way.” He also responded to another commenter who accused him of “offending your ancestors” as a biracial man. Brown responded by saying he’s been called racial slurs his whole life. “I don’t want those people dead,” Brown said. He also added a broken heart emoji and noted, “My last post for a while be safe guys and love one another.”

In an Instagram video posted on Sept. 11, Breland said, “I’ve been reflecting on everything that happened yesterday, as well as well as everything that has happened over the last few months and years that have led us to this place in history where the political climate is such that people could be murdered in public and the first thing that we do is point fingers at each other which is crazy, where a school shooting could happen and it’s barely a footer on the news, and I’m reminded that today is 9/11, and as a young person living in West Orange, New Jersey, there were kids in my class whose parents were killed in that tragedy. History also shows that that was coming a year after a very contentious election where a lot of people felt like the future of the country hung in the balance of who was in office and what party was in charge.

“But at the end of the day, when everyone woke up on 9/12, Black, white, left, right — we put aside our differences and became Americans,” he continued. “Over the last few years, and especially over these last few months, it seems like that sense of unity is nowhere to be found. I think the path that we are on is a dangerous one, and if we aren’t careful, we could easily be headed toward a civil war. In fact, I’ve literally seen people on the internet who are like, ‘We need to avenge Charlie Kirk’s death and we need to go out,’ and I’m like dude, that’s not the solution here. Nor is the solution celebrating someone getting murdered for exercising their right to free speech.

“This is not a perfect country by any means and I will be one of the first people to point out things that I don’t like in it. But if we can’t find the humanity in one another in times like these, if we can’t recognize that things have gotten out of hand, and try to find a way to bridge this political divide, things are just going to get worse and worse and worse, and I don’t want to live in a country like that, and I don’t think you do, either. I’m hoping that we can use this time in history to do something powerful.”

Contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Tauren Wells, who will host the upcoming GMA Dove Awards in October, wrote on Instagram, “I am stunned. There are so many ways I feel compelled to comment on the tragic events unfolding…as a Believer, a Husband, Father, Pastor…as an American. I’m personally still processing it all. But I’ll start here. The violence that has transpired over the last several weeks, days, and hours in our neighborhoods, schools, communities, churches, and campuses, just that I happen to be aware of, is absolutely horrendous and gut wrenching. The reality that you can be stabbed and killed while sitting doing nothing, or our children targeted while they learn and play, or shot and killed for standing for what you believe in in 2025 in America, is painful. Sobering.

“Senseless acts of violence, motivated by demonic forces of hatred, should provoke something deep in the heart of all people to wake up to the godless ignorance that is rampant in the hearts and minds of people. Especially, the Church, should be provoked into taking our spiritual position of intercession to activate our prayers and all of heaven’s forces to wage war against our invisible enemies! Our heart and prayers go out to Charlie Kirk’s entire family, wife and children and I pray that the powers of darkness at work would be exposed and expelled by the power of Jesus Christ.