The assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University was a brutal wake-up call that shattered any remaining illusions about peaceful political discourse in America. Kirk was shot while speaking to students and supporters, and authorities later arrested a suspect in connection with the killing.
Long before the murder, researchers were already warning about a rising “assassination culture” in the United States — a normalization of lethal rhetoric that too often slides from memes to real-world violence. A nationally weighted survey conducted by the Network Contagion Research Institute and Rutgers’ Social Perception Lab found shocking numbers: roughly 38 percent of all respondents said killing Donald Trump would be at least somewhat justified, while among self-identified left-of-center respondents those figures jumped to the majority range for both Trump and Elon Musk.
This is not abstract theory; the aftermath of Kirk’s death exposed how widespread the problem has become online and in workplaces. Social-media posts celebrating the killing circulated, and employers — from universities to law firms — moved to discipline or fire staff whose comments crossed the line into rejoicing over murder, underscoring the real consequences of a culture that excuses violence.
Conservative Americans have been warning about the corrosive effects of demonizing political opponents for years, and these findings prove that such warnings were not hyperbole. While the left’s loudest voices often justify harassment and intimidation as political theater, real people are now dead and whole careers are being ruined for applauding it — a moral and legal abyss that the media and many elites have been reluctant to confront honestly.
We need immediate, serious action from political and civic leaders to reverse this trend: prosecute threats and acts of violence to the fullest extent, hold platforms accountable for allowing glorification of murder, and restore a culture of consequence for those who incite or celebrate bloodshed. The safety of public discourse depends on it; free speech cannot survive if it is accompanied by a license to kill.
Hardworking Americans must refuse to accept a future where political disagreement is met with violence or where mobs cheer when their enemies are silenced. Now is the time for conservatives, patriots, and decent people of all stripes to demand justice, protect campus speech, and rebuild a civic culture that prizes life, law, and liberty above partisan fury.
