By Col. William Connor, USA ret
The Citadel, ’90
Member, Citadel Board of Visitors
On Sunday, as I write this article, my sister is outside the arena in Glendale, Arizona, which is packed with more than 60,000 people inside honoring Charlie Kirk’s life and legacy. From her updates, it became clear that people from throughout the world came to attend this event.
Beyond the end of Kirk’s amazing life and influence, Kirk’s murder has unveiled the truth of a growing assassination culture on the left. The evidence for this goes beyond the thousands of posts from the left celebrating Kirk’s assassination (bringing dozens of firings of liberal professors and other such liberals in positions of responsibility).
A few months before the assassination, the Network Contagion Research Institute and Rutgers University published a poll illuminating liberal justification and acceptance of political assassination. We as a nation can no longer tolerate this if our Republic is to survive.
To begin, and perhaps the most appalling, is that 48 percent of left-leaning respondents claimed justification to murder Elon Musk and 55 percent claimed the same about Donald Trump.
Around 60 percent believed it was acceptable to destroy Tesla dealerships in protest.
Left-leaning support for leftist murderer Luigi Mangione is overwhelming.
More than twice the percentage of left-leaning respondents believed the murder of a political opponent was justified.
This poll showcased several of the left-leaning postings exhorting the murder of multiple conservative political figures, including Kirk.
Shortly before he was assassinated, Charlie Kirk warned of the left’s assassination culture by citing this same poll.
On X, Kirk wrote: “Assassination culture is spreading on the left. 48 percent of liberals say it would be at least somewhat justified to murder Elon Musk. 55 percent said the same about Donald Trump,” Kirk wrote in his post on X, citing the NCRI report.
“The left is being whipped into a violent frenzy. Any setback, whether losing an election or losing a court case, justifies a maximally violent response … (assassination culture is a) natural outgrowth of left-wing protest culture.” Kirk also noted Democrats in California honoring murderer Luigi Mangione by naming a ballot measure for him.
This bloodlust from the new left against conservatives like Kirk is a clear result of the ubiquitous, hyperbolic defamation towards those on the right.
After Donald Trump was shot by an assassin in Butler last year, Democrats acknowledged they had crossed all lines, calling Trump a Nazi, Hitler and a fascist. Joe Biden apologized for saying we should put a “bullseye” on Trump.
That lasted only a couple of days, then stopped. The Democrats then doubled down on the same hyperbole that got Trump shot and worse. Of note, a poll by ABC shows a whopping 87 percent of Democrats believe President Donald Trump is a “fascist.”
This same hyperbolic, misinformed liberal rhetoric was aimed at other conservative figures, like Charlie Kirk.
For example, Kirk was accused of saying gay people should be stoned. The truth was that Charlie said the opposite, telling Christians not to misuse scripture and call for homosexuals to be stoned. This lie was spread unchallenged among leftist extremists on the Internet but also included senior liberal figures and celebrities.
After Kirk was killed and many leftists criticized Kirk unfairly, luminaries like Alastair Campbell and Steven King were forced to apologize for claiming he advocated “stoning gays.” Many other such accusations about women, racial minorities, etc. were false and defamatory but made the rounds among the left.
The left’s irresponsible defamation of Kirk as “fascist” and “hateful” was directly associated with his murder.
Kirk’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, wrote “Hey Fascist, catch” on the bullet casing. Robinson was asked by his transexual lover why he murdered Kirk. Robinson exclaimed, “I had enough of (Kirk’s) hatred. Some hatred cannot be negotiated out.” Robinson left a note claiming, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I’m going to take it.”
Those who knew Robinson in Utah claimed he was “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology.” After the assassination, Robinson bragged to an online chat group about the murder without shame. Robinson was so thoroughly marinated in leftist defamation about Kirk that he felt compelled to kill.
Right after Tyler Robinson was arrested (but before his text messages were published), the left spent days spewing the lie that Robinson was actually “MAGA.”
Even after the text messages were published, comedian Jimmy Kimmel lied, saying “the MAGA gang is desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.” When Kimmel was fired for that outrageous statement (and bad ratings), the left finally spoke out. They spoke not for Kirk, but for Kimmel (making $17 million a year) as their alleged martyr. (As we go to press, it looks like ABC reinstated him.)
After several liberal teachers and professors were fired for cheering the Kirk assassination, the left generally spoke out for those fired, and not Kirk or his family.
The left’s assassination culture and unwillingness to acknowledge it will be the end of the Republic if not stopped.
One group of people cannot coexist with those who appear to want them dead or would gloat over their killing.
Proverbs 14:34 tells us, “Righteousness exalts a nation.” Assassination culture is antithetical to that.
As a nation, we can no longer tolerate it.
Bill Connor is a 1990 Citadel graduate, 30-year Army infantry colonel (ret.) and combat veteran. He is a writer and attorney and lives in the Charleston area.
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