'Democracy lies in the balance'

The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations is calling for the "immediate lowering of the political temperature causing division within the United States" following the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump.

"Surely we can disagree without attempting to destroy our adversaries or the use of violence toward them. The future of democracy lies in the balance," wrote Tony Stewart, task force secretary.

In a Monday press release, the task force condemns "the unconscionable act of violence" directed at Trump at the rally in Pennsylvania and the death of one individual and injury to two other individuals at the rally. 

"There should be no place in America for such political violence or other forms of violence," the release said.

GOP delegates formally nominated Trump for president at Monday’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Stewart wrote that the shooting brought back reminders of previous attempts on the lives of presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy and civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The task force, for 44 years, has worked and spoken out against violence, and been allies to victims of verbal and physical abuse, malicious harassment, and hate crimes.

"We have always followed the wisdom of Dr. King in his advocacy of non-violence in our work to make our world a better place by advancing civil and human rights, dignity, respect, and compassion for all," Stewart wrote.

The task force called on people "to commit to the "advancement of civility in both our speech and actions."

"We each will be remembered for what we say and what we do at the end of the trail," the release said. "At the end of life, we will not be able to change what we said or what we did."