We Must Salute and Honor 16-Year-Old Hero Tate Myre

CLAY: We got a lot of listeners in Michigan. This is Oxford, Michigan — my wife’s home county of Oakland County — and I want to make sure that we always on this show give credit to the people who are heroes and are standing up and defending ours. There was a kid in Oxford, Michigan, Buck, named Tate Myre. He was a standout high school football player and wrestler.

He charged the kid, this 15-year-old, who was shooting at the school, and was killed himself in the process defending other students inside of his school. I don’t believe in typically sharing mass shooters’ names because especially in the school settings, it seems that the data reflects that encourages kids to do that because they want the attention.

They want the infamy. But I do believe that all of us should, when we have the opportunity, stand up and salute those of us, particularly young kids, 16-year-old Tate Myre. Credit to his family, credit to him for combating this shooter, saving lives, and putting his own life at risk.

Buck, I know you feel the same way. I feel oftentimes we focus too much on people who have done wrong and not enough on the true heroes among us. So thank you to Tate Myre from Oxford, Michigan, for what he did in an incredibly difficult situation at his school yesterday.

BUCK: I just see here there is breaking news, Clay, on that case that the suspect — who is 15 years old; I don’t think we know his name. They’re keeping his name secret because he’s a minor. He’s been charged with one count of terrorism and four counts is of first-degree murder just now. That has been breaking news the last couple of moments in the Michigan school shooting. I totally agree with you, by the way, on the heroism, and those are names that we should know —

CLAY: Amen.

BUCK: — the people that actually in that moment of sheer terror and malevolence, decided to hold the line, decided that they would stand up and do what they could to try to save lives — and in many instances, even if the person there tragically gives their life in that process, it’s hard to even gauge how many other lives may have been saved even by slowing a shooter down, even by changing their calculation or their thinking. So bravery in those moments should always be something that we remember and that we honor.

CLAY: And for those of you who are active on social media, I started doing this years ago. Because of the data, I try not to share school shooter names. I don’t think we should really do it on this show — that’d be my position, my argument — because the data has reflected that many of those school shooters are motivated by their desire for infamy. So it’s 15-year-old kid, but I do want to share the bravery of people who are standing up to them.