Murder is the most heinous of crimes, a sin against the commandments of God and a violation of the laws of man. The despicable and cowardly murder of Charlie Kirk in Utah was particularly tragic. Kirk, 31, left a wife and two children.
Without knowing the shooter’s identity or motivation, President Trump blamed the murder on “the radical left” and vowed that his administration “will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials and everyone else who brings order to our country.”
What is he talking about?
Assassination is a special kind of murder. It is widely defined as “murder for political reasons,” attempting to throttle the course of history, remove a leader and intimidate his followers.
With the suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, thankfully in custody, his motivation and mental state remain to be seen. Is he some mentally disturbed individual who acted alone? Or did he have the support of “organizations” that “contribute to,” “fund” and “support” political violence, as the president claimed? Trump of course made no mention of the militia members, QAnon supporters, Proud Boys or the violent individuals he pardoned for criminal conduct on Jan. 6, 2021.
In the 1960s, we suffered a cycle of political violence. On the heels of the assassinations of Medgar Evers, both Kennedys and Martin Luther King Jr., the Black activist H. Rap Brown famously said that “violence is as American as cherry pie.”
Political violence against public officials has again, lamentably, become the order of the day. In recent memory, we have the murders of Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband, the two assassination attempts against Trump, and the arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor’s house, forcing Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and his family to flee.
Right-wing provocateurs wasted no time in ratcheting up the rhetoric over Kirk’s killing. Steve Bannon said on his “War Room,” show, “Charlie Kirk is a casualty of war. We are at war in this country. We are.”
Conservative actor James Woods warned on X, “Dear leftists: we can have a conversation or a civil war. One more shot from your side, and you will not get this choice again.”
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) tweeted that he will use “Congressional authority and every influence with big tech platforms to mandate immediate ban for life of every post or commenter that belittled the assassination of Charlie Kirk.” He further stated, “I’m also going after their business licenses and permitting, their businesses will be blacklisted aggressively, they should be kicked from every school, and their drivers licenses should be revoked. I’m basically going to cancel with extreme prejudice these evil, sick animals who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination.”
Good luck with that one. I leave to you, the reader, whether these views represent some fringe element or mainstream conservative thought.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), whose wife former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) was herself the victim of an assassination attempt, pleaded with both sides to “get the temperature turned down.” Of Kirk, Giffords said, “I didn’t agree with almost anything he said, but he had a right to speak. “
But the left-wring journalist Chris Hedges argued that “the idea that he championed free speech and liberty is absurd. He was an enemy of both,” because he wanted to repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he blamed Black Lives Matter for “destroying the fabric of our society,” and he insisted the 2020 election had been stolen from Trump. Kirk, Hedges added, sought to purge professors and teachers with what he called “radical leftist” agendas and once advocated for televised public executions, which he insisted should be mandatory viewing for children.
As of this writing, we have no clear motive for the murder. Because of Kirk’s extreme views, it is tempting to speculate the violence was political, rather than the nihilistic act of a troubled young man.
If Kirk’s murder unleashes a rash of violent attacks on public figures or an outbreak of copycat crimes, we are in for serious trouble. The already-tenuous fabric of our more perfect union is at stake.
Columnist Peggy Noonan called the Kirk assassination a “hinge point” in American politics. She writes, “So pray now for America. We are in big trouble.” I agree. Murder is the most heinous of crimes.
James D. Zirin, author and legal analyst, is a former federal prosecutor in New York’s Southern District. He is also the host of the public television talk show and podcast Conversations with Jim Zirin.
