I just received a text from my sister. Her text simply said "That could've been you."

What happened at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, is now known as the largest killing massacre in United States history. 49 people were murdered, and many others were injured. As I have had time to think about the events and what has occurred, I realized one thing. That could've been me. It could've been any one of my friends, it could've been any one of my family members... anyone.

How do we know where hate begins?

Does it begin when we hear the repugnant agenda from a person like Trump, a man who spews his own version of hateful rhetoric, all the while, running for President of the United States of America. Where does it stop? When a potential leader of the most powerful country in the world proclaims hatred toward Mexicans, gays, Muslims, Democrats, women, etc.? Where do we go from here?

Trump has opened the door for all the hate that lurks in the darkness...every single human cockroach, every Neo-nazi skin head, all those people who hide in the shadows, who wait for situations such as these to happen and who wait for a misguided leader to give them permission to come out of the wood work to spew their hate-filled violence upon all those who they deem as "less than." We are fighting against all those who are homophobic, Islamic-phobic, racist, misogynist, white supremacist, home-grown terrorist.

We cannot deny this.

Trump tweeted the following:

"What has happened in Orlando is just the beginning. Our leadership is weak and ineffective. I called it and asked for the ban. Must be tough."

I have no words for that tweet. Absolutely none. I am disgusted that this man is running to become the leader of our country. He sensationalizes horrific events for his own personal gain.

Omar Mateen, the shooter, was an American citizen. Not only that, he was born in America. He was raised in America. He purchased his guns and ammunition in America, even after being investigated by the FBI. He was filled with hatred, hatred that was born in America. We cannot overlook this. We cannot deny the fact that he was a natural born US citizen, that he acquired his guns in the United States and that he hated gays. However, we can say that he was not personally trained by any members of ISIS. Omar Mateen was simply obsessed with ISIS and their radical views.

We can't succumb to fear. We can't succumb to hate. We, as Americans, should continue to show compassion to others who may or may not be like us, who may or may not share the same religious beliefs as us, who may not possess the same opinions as us.

As an educated society, we have to agree to disagree with those who do not hold our same beliefs, but stand firm in their right to their own thoughts and opinions.
Violence has no part in that and neither does political rhetoric.

We should not fight hate with hate, and we should vote to keep hate out of the White House.