The brutal political assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University by a left-wing antifa punk may be seen in future history as the moment America fully split.
The co-founder of the national youth organization Turning Point USA, Kirk was a national icon for an entire generation of conservative activists. And he was an inspiration for older Americans like me.
His killing is a turning point for the U.S. as well.
Kirk dedicated most of his life to representing conservative, and more recently, Christian beliefs and engaging in debate to spread conservative ideas to young people.
He was well known for respectfully engaging in debates with young liberals and leftists. At the time of his murder, he was seated at a booth for his famous “Prove Me Wrong” segment and was calmly answering questions about gun violence.
As one of America’s most prominent conservative commentators, his influence was felt across the conservative movement, Republican Party, MAGA and the White House.
Donald Trump considered him a close ally and friend. As did Vice President JD Vance.
If the left wanted to start a civil war, only killing President Trump would have been a better catalyst. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., posted on X: “The left and their policies are leading America into a civil war. And they want it.”
Outside the capitol, the GOP congressman also blamed reporters for Kirk’s death; on social media, he said he “would advise my Democrat colleagues to study history and see how the last civil war they started turned out.”
David Brody, a commentator with the Christian Broadcasting Network, posted on X that while the assassination raised the potential for civil war, he prayed that it wouldn’t.
Meanwhile, many on the left — while the suspect was still at large — ignored or challenged the likelihood that the killer was a left-wing fanatic. But the arrest of 22-year-old Utah resident Tyler Robinson ended any doubt.
The murderous punk appears to have been heavily influenced by far-left antifa (“anti-fascist”) ideology online.
As most of us know, antifa is a loose collection of far-left lunatics who accuse all conservatives of being fascists. They have been active across the U.S. over the last decade, at major street protests and riots.
Usually dressed in black, wearing hoods and face coverings, and using homemade weapons, they have become increasingly violent.
As more and more Democrat leaders and politicians call Trump “Hitler” and his supporters fascists, and “threats to democracy,” antifa followers see themselves being even more righteous, increasing their inclination toward violence.
This is why Trump blamed the media and the “radical left” for language used to describe people like Kirk. He said this rhetoric is “responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today.”
And he is right.
Meanwhile, a family member described Robinson as having “become more political in recent years” and told authorities that the young man had recently criticized Kirk, saying Kirk was “full of hate and spreading hate.”
To the left, anything they disagree with is now called “hate.”
To make his motives even clearer, casings found near a rifle recovered close to campus, believed used by the killer, included inscriptions like “Hey fascist! Catch!”
A second casing had the lyrics to a song “Bella Ciao” inscribed on it. The song honors WWII-era Italian communist partisans who fought Nazi Germany. The WWII antifa movement was fully communist and run by Moscow at the time.
Sadly, many on the left showed no sympathy for Kirk, or his family, and many openly celebrated his murder. This outrageous response was previously unimaginable but is something we saw earlier with those leftists who praised the cold-blooded killer of a health care CEO.
The left’s open celebration of this despicable assassination of a beloved right-wing figure is helping raise the risk of civil war.
As University of Massachusetts Lowell scholar and expert on assassinations and political violence Arie Perliger said in The Conversation:
As part of my work, I track the most extremist online social media accounts, and what we see right now is a strong sense that this assassination is being celebrated by parts of the left. And that has created an escalation of language from those in the extreme right social media ecosystem. There is much more willingness to discuss issues of retaliation, an actual civil war.
And that’s my biggest worry. If you look at social media, what we see is that both sides embrace this kind of rhetoric that really concerns me. More than ever, I’ve seen calls for retaliation and a strong sense that the other side is unwilling to show any sympathy to what happened. Emotions are running very high, and I’m very worried about what may happen in the next few weeks.
The idea that this political assassination could spark a civil war is supported by the spike in “civil war” mentions online. According to The New York Times:
The term “civil war” was mentioned on Wednesday more than 129,000 times on the social platform X, according to an analysis by The New York Times. On Thursday, it was mentioned at least 210,000 times. That was up from a daily average of around 18,000 in previous months. Many of the posts that included the phrase were reposted on other platforms, including Truth Social, TikTok and Instagram.
The paper added:
The surging use of the term highlights the divisions among Americans and continues a familiar pattern of inflammatory language. In recent years, civil war has been increasingly mentioned on social media after major political moments in the United States, especially those that involve President Trump…
Elon Musk had one of the most widely shared and liked posts evoking war after Kirk’s death.
“If they won’t leave us in peace, then our choice is fight or die.” His post was viewed more than 1.7 million times and liked over 38,000 times.
This statement could prove to be prophetic.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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When is the gov. going to get their head out of the sand and declare the left a terrorist group
I’ve asked the same question of my congressional members for several years. ANTIFA members are the real fascists threat and they are being funded by the democrat left and George Soros. I have also asked why Soros has not been investigated for his anti-American activities.
Steve Scalise, president Trump, twice, supreme court justice and now the death of a conservative trying to bring America together. All victims of radical left members.