This happened at my campus… We are all in shock. I haven't had time to read the stuff about this event here as I have been volunteering to help at UVU during this time, so forgive me if the following has already been said. I do not think this post should be controversial yet I fear it will be even though I am presenting nothing but facts while maintaining empathy for this tragedy.
What happened is a tragedy, and my heart goes out to Charlie Kirk and his family. He did not deserve what happened to him. No one deserves such a fate.
What I am about to share is about Kirk's life, NOT about his death. I'm firmly in the camp that this should not have happened, no matter what.
This post is about how I want to respond to a narrative I’m seeing everywhere right now, especially across social media and news outlets, suggesting that Charlie was killed because he was outspoken about his conservative values.
As someone who’s lived in this community and been aware of Charlie Kirk’s platform for a long time, I feel pretty confident saying the overwhelming dislike of CK from many communities is not about him “being conservative.”
Charlie Kirk didn’t build his brand on calm policy discussion or thoughtful disagreement.
Kirk built a public career around provoking outrage, not offering respectful political dialogue. His entire brand centered on targeting vulnerable groups, often by going to college campuses like mine and saying things that were cruel, dismissive, or deliberately inflammatory, not as policy discussion, but as spectacle.
At campus events and Turning Point USA conferences, Charlie Kirk has:
- Mocked trans students, calling gender identity “a delusion” and refusing to use students' pronouns when asked, even while looking them in the eye. He once told a trans student during a live event, “I won’t participate in your fantasy.”
- Told a Muslim student during a debate that “Islam is the most violent religion in the world” and refused to acknowledge her points on peaceful Islamic practice. He also tweeted: “Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America.”
- Laughed at a student in tears who asked about LGBTQ suicide rates, responding by saying, “That’s not my problem — I don’t make people kill themselves.”
- Referred to peaceful protesters as “violent, ungrateful brats” and said that undocumented students should be “deported on the spot”
These aren’t misquotes or exaggerations — many of these clips are on YouTube and circulated widely in student communities. He wanted to provoke this kind of attention. A month or so ago, I was part of a group of concerned students who were respectfully advocating to get his event cancelled before it could happen, due to the kind of hateful rhetoric he would spread.
Let me be clear again: No one deserves to die violently let alone violently and publicly, and I pray for peace and healing for his loved ones. Simultaneously, I believe that how someone dies should not erase accountability for how they lived.
There’s a lot of danger in sanitizing a public figure’s legacy just because their death was tragic. We can mourn a life lost while still being honest about the harm that person caused while they were here.
Charlie Kirk wasn’t hated for just being conservative. He was disliked and even feared because of how he spoke to and about people. Because of how he chose cruelty over compassion. That is not a left or right issue. That’s basic humanity.
A few sources:
Charlie Kirk Continues Transphobic Tirade at CU Boulder
Charlie Kirk in his own words: ‘prowling Blacks’ and ‘the great replacement strategy’
Islam: Incompatible with the West, Incompatible with Civilization - The Charlie Kirk Show
www.fbi.gov
