I never in a million years thought I’d be writing a column on the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and yet at the same time, I really can’t say that it came as that much of a surprise.
Was it shocking? Absolutely. But surprising? Not really, not if one has paid attention to how the young conservative icon, whose reach was worldwide, was relentlessly demonized by his critics as every awful thing in the book: Nazi, homophobe, transphobe, bigot, racist, white supremacist, misogynist, the root of all evil, a threat to democracy.
Though a motive for Kirk’s murder, which happened in front of an outdoor crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University, has not yet been established, early reports are that his alleged killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was a far-left ideologue who may have targeted Kirk in part based on his views on transgender issues.
As if that wasn’t disturbing enough, we’ve seen reports from all over the country of leftists in varying professions, including higher ed professors as well as officials in the public school system, openly mocking and laughing at Kirk on their social media pages, suggesting that he deserved it. Some darker ones include suggestions that Kirk’s wife and two young children should be the next targets.
I’m deeply ashamed to see that some hateful messages have come from right here in North Carolina, including from Union County Democratic Party state executive committee member Parron Baxter, who wrote on his Facebook page that “fascists, authoritarians, and wannabe dictators MUST see that the people will dance on their graves whenever they die, no matter how it happens.”
“We must mock them, and yes, dance on their graves,” Baxter also wrote.
There was also now-former Carolina Panthers communications coordinator Charlie Rock, who on Instagram posted an image of Kirk with a note above the image that read “Why are yall sad? Your man said it was worth it …”
Also included was a snippet of the Wu-Tang Clan song “Protect Ya Neck.”
Kirk was shot in the neck.
It goes without saying that murdering people over political disagreements is never acceptable, nor is celebrating it when it happens.
And yet we saw a similar sentiment on the two separate occasions when an assassin tried to take then-GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s life, with one of them very nearly succeeding.
I remember seeing some pretty sick TikToks from that timeframe of people who expressed disappointment that the assassins weren’t successful.
Sadly, this depraved mindset is apparently shared by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the former Democratic vice presidential nominee, who two weeks ago, after learning a social media rumor about Trump being dead was false, said this during a Labor Day picnic event in Minnesota:
“Look, I get it, you get up in the morning and you doom scroll through things, and, although I will say this, the last few days you woke up thinking there might be news,” he quipped with a grin, which generated some laughing among the crowd.
“Just saying, just saying, there will be news sometime, just so you know, there will be news.”
On what planet is it OK to wish death on your political opponent or to cheer when they’ve been gunned down in cold blood?
It’s the one that contains a political party whose supporters believe words are violence. The same people who believe safe spaces should be available on college campuses for groups of people who are triggered by mere political disagreement.
I don’t know where we go as a country from here. But I do know that the current political trajectory is not sustainable. It’s just not.
North Carolina native Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym Sister Toldjah and is a media analyst and regular contributor to RedState and Legal Insurrection.
