The assassination attempt July 13 on former President Donald Trump should send a loud message to lower the volume of political “vitriol’’ in the nation, Thomas Hodgson, the former Bristol County Sheriff who serves as the state chair of the Trump 2024 re-election campaign, said.

In an interview from Milwaukee, where he is attending the Republican National Convention, Hodgson noted that “this vitriol that has gone on for so long in this country has to end.’’ He said he worries that “when the vitriol gets to the high pitch that it’s at, you’re going to see things like that.’’

“First and foremost, we have to get away from the red and blue,’’ he said, referring to the blue Democratic and red Republican labels, and return the focus to “the red, white and blue.’’

The tendency to “demonize one another’’ can provoke people who might tend to be less “mentally stable’’ to take drastic actions, he said. “We need to be able to express different points of view in a way that is civil.’’

As a long-time law enforcement official, Hodgson who was watching the rally when Trump was shot, recognized what had happened immediately. “Everyone was shocked,’’ he said. “I was upset and concerned for his life.’’ He also felt “anger that we could get to something like this.’’

With his background, Hodgson said he was also “shocked that a roof with a direct line [to the podium where Trump was standing] would not have had at a minimum surveillance.’’

While an investigation will uncover the details, with such “an egregious breach,’’ Hodgson observed, “clearly there was a breakdown.’’

When asked if Trump was part of the heated political climate he referred to, Hodgson noted that “everyone should work together to tone down the rhetoric.’’

Trump “recognizes there’s a problem,’’ Hodgson said. And when he sees a problem, Hodgson commented that Trump’s reaction is to “drill into it.’’