Milo Jones
Charlie Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, embraced a red-pilled, debate-club style of grifting — pushing hateful, bigoted messages while condescending to those outside his target audience. That audience being white men. On Sept. 10, Kirk was shot and later pronounced dead while holding a debate at Utah Valley University.
There is still information emerging about the suspected shooter, but that is not where my focus lies. Instead, it lands on Kirk and the impact that he has made on our society.
Charlie Kirk was someone who went directly against my values and targeted communities and people around with hate speech many disguised as “political opinions.” In actuality, his rhetoric was harmful and rooted in bigotry.
“You cannot force anyone to have empathy for a person who never showed empathy for them.” This is a rendition of a quote that sums up perfectly how I feel about Kirk’s passing.
Multiple things can be true at once. All forms of violence, especially gun violence, is not the answer and should be condemned. He was a father, had a family, and should not have been killed.
But empathy should not be given to him because of his continued ignorance and disrespect towards every marginalized community in this country.
Empathy has not been extended to thousands of children and families killed in Gaza. Empathy has not been given to families who have been affected by ICE abductions. No empathy has been given to the people and children who have been a part of the same gun violence that killed Kirk. To Breonna Taylor or Trayvon Martin, the list goes on.
It is striking that a shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado, which left three children in critical condition, has been overshadowed by coverage of Kirk’s death. Children suffering the same violence are being minimized, while Kirk is made out to be a martyr.
Kirk once said, “I think it’s worth it to have a cost; unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year. So that we can have our Second Amendment to protect our other God given rights.”
Kirk’s death was not karmic, and he didn’t deserve to die. It is simply too ironic to ignore the fact that he died from the same amendment that he was fighting so hard to protect. An amendment that, with proper regulations, could have kept him and so many other victims of gun violence – safe.
Kirk was someone many young Americans looked to for their political beliefs. He spewed homophobic, racist, sexist, Islamophobic, and Christian nationalist views while also spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories.
Kirk’s main goal was to indoctrinate as much of Gen-Z as he possibly could, and he used social media algorithms and marketing tactics to further his reach. I don’t think he actually believed in half of the things he spoke about and was simply a pawn in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to gain more young voters on the Republican side.
He fearmongered people into believing trans and queer youth are dangers to society and that gender affirming care, a medical opportunity that has helped many, trans or not, should be banned nationwide. Even claiming people who are part of the LGBTQ+ community should be stoned to death when quoting Leviticus 18 in an episode of his podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show.
He spoke very poorly about people of color and helped further Trump’s agenda towards deportation. Calling many Black women “DEI hires” and furthering stereotypes that Black men are drug dealers and criminals. Calling immigrants “border hoppers” and “line cutters” when the immigration process takes up to 7 years to complete.
As a queer person of color who surrounds himself with a diverse community, I am and will always be disgusted by the things Charlie Kirk has done and said.
I have had one too many encounters with an argumentative conservative and have had to stand my ground while getting physical threats and disrespectful remarks thrown at me since the age of 13. From my own family members, people I’ve met in passing, at work ,and even online.
Having to be so young yet fight so hard to defend everything I believe in and justify who I am to someone who will never respect me has made me into the person I am today. I refuse to be bogged down by a conservative and will always stand up for myself and others around me.
It fascinates me that people like Kirk are aiming for an America that is unified, loving, and peaceful. Yet Kirk and his followers are the exact problem.
Following the ideals that people who are different from you, whether it be the color of their skin or the way they identify, are inherently dangerous, and the exact reason there is so much hate in this world.
Pastor Howard-John Wesley said during a sermon, “How you die does not redeem how you lived.”
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TOP PHOTO: President Trump consoles Charlie Kirk’s wife, Erika, at the memorial service. (Photo courtesy of The White House)
Milo Jones is a staff writer for The Express.
