The division in this country has never been more apparent. Democrats have used the murder of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk as an excuse to denounce political and gun violence, while Republicans have been eulogizing him as a patriot and are demanding swift justice.
Kirk was shot from 200 yards away while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University yesterday. He was 31 years old and left behind a wife and two children.
Kirk was the founder of Turning Point USA and a prominent advocate for conservative youth engagement. Utah Governor Spencer Cox said he had spoken with Trump and vowed to bring the perpetrator to justice. He frequently engages with young people, often interrupting them and sharing controversial ideas.
You are allowed to disagree with Charlie Kirk’s ideas. However, murder for free speech is never a moral solution and will only lead to more tyranny. Permanently silencing him does not prove him wrong; instead, it solidifies his “rightness” in the minds of those who agreed with his ideas.
“In the battleground of ideas, the solution to somebody’s bad ideas isn’t to shoot the person,” former Marine Corps intelligence officer and United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter said. “The last thing you do is silence Charlie Kirk by shooting Charlie Kirk.”
When Dissent Becomes a Crime: The War on Political Speech Begins
By and large, the right and apolitical people (voluntaryists) have condemned the murder. However, some on the left have only shifted the blame. Those on the political left have quickly jumped to their solution, which is the condemnation of guns and the removal of the Second Amendment.
According to a report by RT, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi linked the tragedy to broader concerns about gun violence, calling the shooting “reprehensible” and urging Americans to “hold the entire UVU (Utah Valley University) community in our hearts as they endure the trauma of this gun violence.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also condemned the attack, calling it part of the “scourge of gun violence and political violence” that “must end.”
The BBC also blasted gun violence in the wake of Kirk’s death. “Kirk’s killing is both another episode of shocking gun violence in America – and the latest in an ever-lengthening line of recent political violence,” wrote Anthony Zurcher of the BBC. While Zurcher did decry the political violence, it was also clear that the blame was on “easy access” to guns. “Increasingly divisive rhetoric, fuelled by social media echo chambers and easy access to firearms, leads to raw nerves and a heightened potential for bloodshed,” he wrote.
Others have taken a more level-headed response, placing blame more on the shooter while condemning “political violence,” not gun rights.
Former President Joe Biden wrote on X that “there is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now.” Former Vice President Kamala Harris said she was “deeply disturbed” by the shooting and insisted that “political violence has no place in America.”
Other Democratic leaders echoed the message. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said “political violence is NEVER acceptable,” while California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote that “we must reject political violence in EVERY form.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer likewise stated that “political violence has no place in America.”
Some more prominent voices on the political right pointed to the increasing violence on the left, pointing to what they described as a broader climate of hostility created by the left. “The Left is the party of murder,” billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk wrote bluntly in response to claims that Democrats have spent years warning of right-wing violence while ignoring attacks against conservatives.
It is a sad and disturbing day when we can’t all come together and join forces as human beings and declare, “killing each other is wrong.” The divide is becoming too obvious not to notice.
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