The killing of Charlie Kirk shocks America. Trump's accusations. Church leaders urge dialogue to counter political violence

“Predictable. Shocking. Not surprising.” Cynthia Miller-Idriss, director of the Polarization and Extremism Research Innovation Lab at American University, commented on the murder of Charlie Kirk on 10 September during a debate at Utah Valley University. The young founder of Turning Point USA and an influential ally of President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, was shot dead during an open-air speaking event in front of hundreds of students. The attack was filmed by thousands of mobile phones and shared on social media. This assassination had a greater impact on America than the other nine that took place on the same day, including a school shooting in Colorado.

Over the last couple of years, says Miller-Idriss, “we've seen rising assassination attempts and assassination as a tactic within the political extremism in the United States.” Her words are not tinged with cynicism; they portray mounting political violence, which is encroaching like a long, dark shadow across US society, as evidenced by some 150 politically motivated attacks recorded in the first six months of 2025 alone: nearly twice as many as the same period last year. The targets include Democratic MPs and governors, as well as Republican politicians, with President Trump having faced two assassination attempts. While political violence transcends party lines, it does have a common root in hatred, whether fuelled by hostile rhetoric or lurking in the dark corners of social media. The radicalisation of Tyler Robinson, the suspected killer of the conservative influencer, is a case in point.

 

An evangelical Christian and digital native, Charlie Kirk had developed a network with millions of followers revolving around his somewhat controversial discussions on topics ranging from firearms and abortion to LGBTQ rights, “stolen” elections, women's suffrage, religion, and nationalism. “His message will only be amplified by his death,” said his widow, Erika Kirk, adding: “This tragedy will spread his message even further.” The funeral, to be held at Arizona's Glendale stadium on 21 September, will testify to the extent of the movement's reach.

 

The fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk coincided with the anniversary of 9/11, a pivotal moment in American history, potentially marking a similar watershed moment in the conservative influencer's legacy. In the pages of the National Catholic Register, Gia Chacón, a Catholic activist and friend of Kirk's, recalled that the attack on the Twin Towers and the heart of America had united the country to confront radical ideologies that threatened American values and truth from the outside. “Now, we kill those who dare to speak truth aloud. And the executioners live within our borders and celebrate the physical elimination of the adversary mostly online.”

 

Amidst the current climate of social polarisation, President Trump has chosen to position himself as the moral voice — albeit only for his camp, thereby confirming that his presidential mission is not to unite the country and defuse tensions, but rather to fan the flames of his Republican voter base and silence his critics. He went so far as to order the firing of individuals who approved of Kirk's death or used inflammatory language against him on social media, in public institutions or in private companies. To him, opponents are enemies and traitors who must be punished, possibly at the polls in the midterm elections, in the hope that Kirk's supporters will continue to back the Republican party.

 

At a time when America lacks a unifying leader, other leaders at the local level stand up to hateful rhetoric. Utah Governor Spencer Cox was among the first to prioritise reason over demonisation, choosing not to favour one side over another, but rather to champion “the American experiment based on liberty, equality, and self-government”. At the press conference where he announced Kirk's death, he addressed young Americans, saying: “You are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. But your generation has the opportunity to build a culture that is very different to the one we are suffering through right now by embracing our differences and having those hard conversations” — just as Charlie Kirk did in his campus debates.

 

Is America at a turning point after his death? The coming weeks will show whether those Americans who choose not to give in to hatred, but to embrace hope, the defence of rights and pluralism, will prevail. It happened after the killing of African-American leader Martin Luther King with the civil rights movement, and it happened again after the death of George Floyd with Black Lives Matter. They can do so again today.Maddalena Maltese, from New York