In the wake of an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Saturday, several West Virginia officials have spoken out against political violence, calling for a return to decency and civility.

Trump was grazed in the ear by a bullet on Saturday during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, an attack that killed one bystander and wounded two others. On Monday morning, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice addressed state residents, condemning the attack and showing his support for Trump, someone he called a personal friend and a “great man.”

“We’ve got to stop the violence, do we not?” Justice said. “We’ve got to stop the hate and we’ve got to stop the tolerance of allowing and accepting the violence. ... We’ve got to amp down the rhetoric. We’ve got to get back to where we’re respecting one another, whether you’re Democrat or Republican or independent or whatever. ...

“We came ‘that close’ to me losing a dear friend, someone who I have all the confidence in the world in and have been blessed to have that friendship. ... As a nation, for God’s sakes of living, we can condone in no way the level of violence that is happening across our lands. We’ve got to stop the hate. This has shaken us.”

Justice also said during his address that people should not live in fear, and he restated his plans to go to the Republican National Convention being held in Milwaukee this week, an event that Trump also plans to attend.

Justice wasn’t the only West Virginia official to comment on the assassination attempt. Both Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., released statements on the event, as well.

“Like all Americans, I was shocked and horrified by the assassination attempt on President Trump at his campaign rally in Pennsylvania,” Capito said. “I am so thankful that President Trump survived this attack, and I conveyed that to him personally.

“However, I am heartbroken that one individual was killed and others were critically injured while simply exercising their freedoms and coming together in one of our country’s oldest traditions – a rally. ...

“I will continue to keep their family members and loved ones in my prayers during this incredibly difficult time. Now more than ever, we need to come together as Americans. Violence of any kind has absolutely no place in our country, and I condemn it entirely. Like many Americans, I have questions around this attack and it is important we understand how and why this terrible act of violence occurred.”

In his own release, Manchin said that the nation is at a “critical moment in our history,” noting that Saturday’s violence should be a “wake up call” for America

“I love my country and I cannot stand by and watch these events unfold without trying to use my voice,” Manchin said. “The horrible actions of yesterday are the actions of one man, but they should surprise no one in the toxic political environment we find ourselves in today. ...

“This is a moment where Americans must come together to support the ideals that make our nation great. It is a time to put country before party. On both sides. It is a time to focus on what we are for, not who we are against. It is a time to recognize how close we are to tearing this country apart and to acknowledge how much worse that will be for all Americans.”

Additionally, a bipartisan group of 96 West Virginia House of Representatives members released a statement on the matter Monday, similarly calling for unity and civility in the face of violence.

“Certain events cause time to stop and cause history to take note,” the statement read. “July 13, 2024, became one of those days, with its images of courage and strength now seared into all our minds. When everyday political discourse equates the ladies and gentlemen in public service with monsters, when it becomes commonplace to call a political rival an enemy, the real evil is in the threat that can rise from those words. The heinous act in rural Pennsylvania, not far from our borders, has become a deadly reminder that words matter, and civic discourse should never be life or death.”