Charlie Kirk – Current True Crime
By: Nitzaliah Festinger
As many of us already know, Charlie Kirk was assassinated this week, on September 10th, while hosting an event on Utah Valley University’s campus. During this event, he had an open discussion with college students where he shared his controversial opinions, mainly concerning gun violence
Charlie Kirk, commonly known as a “right-winged activist”, had been planning on speaking about politics all over the country. He was known for being an ally of Donald Trump and advocating for many right-wing political opinions. His next destination was Colorado. Ironically, he happened to be discussing American gun violence when he was shot dead by a man who remains unidentified.
The FBI released images of a potential suspect in the assassination. They also made a statement that any information that could potentially lead them to the murderer would be rewarded with $100,000.
While there is an ongoing manhunt for Charlie Kirk’s assassin, the internet is flooded with controversy on the matter. Primarily, people are questioning whether or not to sympathize with Charlie Kirk and his family. President Trump expresses how he mourns the loss of Charlie Kirk and voices his anger against Kirk’s “opposers”. Other than Trump, no one has released a statement concerning Charlie Kirk’s death, and conversations relating to it remain on the internet.
While Charlie Kirk aimed to appear as a positive public figure or “activist”, he was also known as a threat to many, since he often spoke about how he didn’t support the LGBTQIA+ community and immigrants. Charlie Kirk was well known for being openly transphobic and anti-immigration. He claimed that transgender people are responsible for most of the gun violence in America, and said that immigrants are “over-populating” the U.S.
Charlie Kirk’s statements affected these communities very badly, since they caused more discrimination, and his “facts” seemed to provide the communities’ opposers with more ammunition for hate. Charlie Kirk’s words created a bad narrative for people involved in these communities. The Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic caucus made a statement claiming that “His words fueled harassment, threats, and fear for queer and transgender people.”
Many people online have voiced their beliefs that “it is wrong to celebrate the death of any human being” and highlight that Charlie Kirk had a wife and kids, who need him. Many say that the death of anyone’s parent or spouse is tragic and deserves sympathy. On the other hand, the opposing populations who advocate for opposite causes as Charlie Kirk, state that “there is no need to mourn the death of an evil person”. They also hold the belief that the damage Charlie Kirk has done to our society is too extreme for him to be considered a fellow human being.
All in all, it will be interesting to see what the future has in store regarding the online debate and the manhunt for Charlie Kirk’s assassin. This event is still very recent, and there’s no way of telling what kind of impact Charlie Kirk will have on our country in the years to come.
Sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/charlie-kirk-shot-dead-assassination-shooter-manhunt-live-updates-rcna230536
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/charlie-kirk-shot-utah-turning-point-usa/
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/09/11/charlie-kirk-killing-hasan-piker-interview-00557837
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/saltlakecity/news/reward-of-up-to-100000-for-information-leading-to-the-identification-arrest-of-individuals-in-murder-of-charlie-kirk
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09/11/us/charlie-kirk-shooting-news
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/enough-already-what-charlie-kirk-said-on-indians-immigrating-to-us-9255537
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/charlie-kirk-political-views-guns-lgbt-trump-b2824580.html