The killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk Wednesday at a college in Utah is the latest in a series of politically motivated violent acts just in recent months.
And they have spanned the political spectrum:
–The killing of a Democratic state lawmaker and her spouse in Minnesota and the shooting of another and his spouse;
– The Democratic Pennsylvania governor's residence firebombed while he and his family slept;
– Two Israeli embassy staffers shot and killed after an event at a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C.;
– Tesla charging stations set on fire;
– Shootings at a campaign office for Democrat Kamala Harris in Arizona;
– And, of course, two assassination attempts of President Donald Trump during the 2024 campaign.
Those are only some of the incidents in just the past 14 months.
This is undoubtedly a time of tremendous political volatility. The shooter's motivation is not yet known, but Kirk, who co-founded Turning Point USA (TPUSA), an organization focused on younger voters and spreading conservative ideas, was a prominent figure in Trump world.
His death is again spurring conversation around political violence in America – and what can be done about it. It's a complicated question without simple solutions.
Anyone with a heightened profile in this political climate – politicians, judges or otherwise – are facing increasing threats.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., noted earlier this month that Capitol Police have seen the number of incidents they consider threatening and concerning behavior up significantly – about 14,000 recorded so far this year, up from 9,000 in all of 2024.
Johnson said on CNN Wednesday night following Kirk's death that many members of Congress are "nervous" and want more security.
"They're exposed, all the time, everywhere," said Johnson, who considered Kirk a friend.
Kirk's prominent role
Kirk was close to Trump and his family, particularly his son, Donald Trump Jr. Kirk had been an aide to Trump Jr. during the 2016 presidential campaign before branching out and creating a brand in his own name to complement TPUSA, which he started in 2012 at the age of 18.
He was ubiquitous on social media. On Instagram and TikTok, for example, he and his podcast had more than 8 million followers on each platform. TPUSA had a popular annual conference attended by lots of young conservatives, who viewed him as something of a folk hero.
And he was responsible for turning a lot of younger voters, especially young men, into Trump voters.
Wednesday at Utah Valley University was supposed to be the start of what Kirk was calling, "The American Comeback Tour." It was slated to take him to nearly a dozen colleges, from Utah to Virginia, Minnesota to Louisiana.
This is what Kirk did often – he went to colleges across the country, holding court, casting doubt on liberalism and challenging anyone within shouting distance of a microphone to take to it and argue with him.
His conservative friends and followers describe Kirk as a Christian, a father and the nicest person they knew – someone who engaged in the "free marketplace of ideas," as Johnson put it on CNN.
Kirk was provocative and often clips of his talks and arguments on campus or what he said on his podcast went viral, often stoking controversy.
For example, here is just a selection of some of those things Kirk said:
– "White, college indoctrinated women will ruin America if we let them."
– "I'm sorry, if I see a Black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified."
– "We should bring back the celebration of the M.R.S. degree."
– "Maybe one of the reasons that Taylor Swift has been so annoyingly liberal over the last couple of years is that she's not yet married, and she doesn't have children. … Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You're not in charge."
– "It is so materially insane to think that 1 in 5 American women will be raped in their life … meaning that they're lying about being raped, that they're lying about being sexually assaulted. Like a fraternity guy and a sorority girl at age 19 hooking up, both five drinks in at 2 a.m. and all of a sudden, like, she removes consent. Yeah, like, that's a murky, middle gray area."
– Of former TV personality Joy Reid, former first lady Michelle Obama, late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson: "They're coming out, and they're saying, 'I'm only here because of affirmative action.' Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person's slot to be taken somewhat seriously."
Some conservatives argue those statements are either, in their view, not controversial or that taking them out of context distorted his meaning. But the comments show why he was a lightning rod to liberals.
Some on social media reacted gleefully to Kirk's death, and some on the right described this as "war."
Political leaders who disagreed with Kirk, though, are emphasizing that violence is never justified or acceptable.
"We don't yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy," former President Barack Obama said on social media. "Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie's family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children."
Former President Joe Biden similarly said, "There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now. Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk's family and loved ones."
Public opinion, threats and mixed messages
In this period of provocation and confrontation, a lot of Americans see threats to their ways of life.
Conservatives chafed under what they saw as a liberal lurch in the country during Obama's presidency. They saw the culture, the media — news, TV, movies – as too liberal, weak and enabling. And they feel too many talk down the good qualities of the country.
For those left of center, it's very different. They see threats to the marginalized – women, immigrants, minorities – because of leaders who they see as having given license to meanness, intolerance and conspiracy. And they see democracy itself under threat with Trump's strongman tendencies.
There's a lot of hopelessness that many people feel for different reasons about this political time, and that can lead to violence – even if it's a small few who might go that far.
Polling has shown that people have mixed feelings about polarization, civility and compromise.
A Georgetown University poll from 2023, for example, found overwhelming numbers of people said they want civility and compromise and believe respect for each other is the first step in having a government that works. More than 8 in 10 said so on each of those. More than 9 in 10 said respect was essential.
But the same respondents were also very dug in on their beliefs and not wanting to compromise them. More than 8 in 10 said they're tired of leaders compromising their values and ideals; more than 7 in 10 said those personal values are under attack.
When it comes to violence, 73% in an NPR/PBS News/Marist poll from July described political violence as a "major problem."
On acceptance of it, a University of Chicago survey from September of last year found 6% supported the use of force to restore Trump to the presidency. Another 8% supported it to prevent Trump from getting back to the White House.
Those are very small numbers — and there are margins of error to consider there, too – but the figures represent millions of people. And when there is that kind of political environment, plus a mistrust of the system and institutions, increased feelings of isolation and loneliness, all it takes is a few radicalized people in either direction to cause a violent event like the assassination Kirk.
Many leaders, like Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, are calling for calm and asking people to examine themselves.
"Our nation is broken," Cox said Wednesday. "We've had political assassinations recently in Minnesota. We had an attempted assassination on the governor of Pennsylvania, and we had an attempted assassination on a presidential candidate and former President of the United States and now current President of the United States. We just need every single person in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be, to ask ourselves, 'Is this– is this it? Is this what 250 years has wrought on us?' I pray that that's not the case. I pray that those who hated what Charlie Kirk stood for will put down their social media, and their pens, and pray for his family. And that all of us, all of us will try to find a way to stop hating our fellow Americans."
Experts say there needs to be a unified message from political leaders and influencers on social media to set examples of civility — and to stop demonizing and dehumanizing others who disagree, but often the opposite takes place.
President Trump was close to Kirk and said he was like a son to him. Trump, though, who himself has been prone to base name-calling and political retribution, struck a different tone than Cox in his address to the country Wednesday night.
"It's long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible," Trump said.
But in the next sentence, he took a turn.
"For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals," he said. "This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now."
Trump himself was called "Hitler" by those upset with his presidency during a night out for dinner in Washington on Tuesday. He added in Wednesday's video message: "Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives. Tonight, I ask all Americans to commit themselves to the American values for which Charlie Kirk lived and died."
There was no mention of the other examples where Democrats were the subject of violence or a call for those who agree with him to also take the temperature down. That's important because the country is not only in a time of political polarization, but people are also getting their information often only from partisan outlets.
And they'll hear and see only what their leaders and trusted sources tell them, worrying experts that not much will change any time soon.
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