COLUMBUS, Ohio — He was hesitant to talk. He didn’t want to make it about him.
His words, though, in many ways, are a reflection of so many peoples’ thoughts.
“Tonight, I’m overcome with grief and anger,” Bexley Mayor Ben Kessler's Facebook post starts out. “How many times have we offered up impotent thoughts and prayers as our children are murdered in classrooms across America.”
Kessler, after hearing about the events in Uvalde, Texas, put his thoughts on Facebook Tuesday evening.
“I sat in my office [and] frankly I just sobbed as I was writing that,” he said. “Because it is such a tragic, tragic state of affairs in our country right now.”
He calls it frustrating watching scenes like Uvalde play out while, on a local level, he says his hands are tied to make changes saying that has to come from the state level.
“How long will we be relegated to the sidelines helpless to do anything to protect our children and the very fabric of our society,” Kessler said in his post.
He says his post has nothing to do with politics, but everything to do with children.
“It’s not a political issue,” he said. “At all. Not only do I fear for my kids' safety…I fear for their mental health.”
His post calls out a lack of action and the constant motion in, what he calls, the wrong direction from nationwide common-sense gun laws.
“It just feels so obvious that we need to start to regulate guns in a sensible, sane way,” he said.
An emotional plea to start this serious conversation hoping his words will never again have to be said.
“May this be the last post of its kind that needs to be written,” he posted. “Hold your children close.”