To me, every innocent life taken by violence is a tragedy, and every family left behind deserves dignity, truth, and justice, not to have their grief turned into ammunition for arguments online.
What frustrates me is watching people pick and choose whose humanity they recognise based on race, religion, nationality, or whatever side of a debate someone falls on.
Too many people are more interested in winning arguments than in showing basic compassion. They’ll speak loudly about one victim while dismissing another, as if empathy should come with conditions attached.
I refuse to think that way. I don’t believe justice is selective, and I don’t believe grief should be politicised to divide ordinary people against each other. One murder does not erase another. One family’s pain does not cancel out someone else’s suffering.
For me, solidarity means recognising the humanity in all oppressed and marginalised people, even when it’s inconvenient or unpopular.
It means refusing to dehumanise others just because the internet, the media, or political tribalism tells us to. I’m tired of seeing people use tragedy to score points instead of standing together against hatred, racism, violence, and division.
The dead deserve dignity. Their loved ones deserve justice. And people need to stop treating human suffering like it’s something to exploit for attention, ideology, or validation.
May Alex Coughlan & Yves Sakila rest in eternal peace, and may their families see justice.
⏩Pádraig Drummond is an anti-racism activist.
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