We are being told it is a coincidence, and that there don’t appear to be any political motivations behind the murders. Perhaps that is true. I have no reason one way or another to believe otherwise.

But it sure is odd that not one, but two Republican councilmen in New Jersey were murdered in a week, and both had been elected since 2020.

The first murder was of Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour of Sayreville; the second of Milford Borough Councilman Russell Heller. The second murder may have been work-related, as his killer shared the same employer. However, nobody is saying “boo” about what happened and it isn’t even clear that the killer and the councilman knew each other.

On a whim, I searched the Googles and found a distinct dearth of stories about the killings, neither of which has an apparent motive. The police indicated that each was a targeted killing, but the reasons behind the murders are unknown.

It has been two weeks since the first murder and a week since the second. Both briefly made national news, and then the story was memory-holed. A brief update was covered locally when the 911 call for the first was released. But the initial flurry of stories died out almost immediately.

Everybody has chalked it up to coincidence and…that’s it.

Maybe. But it sure seems weird that we haven’t been given much of an explanation about what happened in either case, and the coincidence is rather striking.

One thing is certain: if these were two Democrats we would be enduring endless lectures about insurrections, political violence, violent rhetoric, and gun control.

But it was two Republicans, so the interest in the story died away as quickly as a mayfly.

So far my cynicism meter is pegged–how could it not be, given the constant lectures we endure any time a Democrat gets a hangnail or somebody mistakes a garage pull for a noose–but my conspiracy theory tin foil hat has yet to warm up from CIA directed microwaves. Weird coincidences do happen, after all, and in a country of 330 million people, they happen often enough.

Yet I still can’t shake the feeling that the story is way too weird to ignore. And it is very odd that they have no idea what the motives for the killings are, but they are certain that the unknown motives had nothing to do with politics. Not a thing.

If they don’t know why the killings happened, how can they be sure that it had nothing to do with politics? It honestly can’t be both.

“The investigation has revealed that the shooting of Mr. Heller was not politically connected with his elected office or political affiliation,” said Frank Roman, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office.

Roman also said Heller’s shooting is not connected to the recent killing of another council member in New Jersey.

Just last week, councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour of Sayreville was also shot and killed, Middlesex County officials said.

It’s a “dreadful coincidence” that two public servants were recently gunned down, the mayor of Milford Borough said.

“The common bond is that both of these council members love their town and were dedicated to doing good,” Mayor Henry Schepens said. “It’s not for the money, because there is no money. But you want your town to be the best it can be, and you donate your time.”

Perhaps they know more than they are saying. That is common enough. Yet why is nobody in the media pressing them for answers? Again, one could be certain the pressure would be on if these were Democrats. One could be pretty certain the White House would have put out a statement or two by now, blaming MAGA extremists.

Even if there were a political motive, it would be on the perpetrators and not the overheated rhetoric of other politicians. Nobody has been inciting violence. So I wouldn’t blame Joe Biden or Maxine Waters, however nasty they can be.

I do blame the media for not following up, though. We deserve to know.

Because the coincidence is just too striking to ignore.