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The Killing of Charlie Kirk: 5 Idiotic Responses on Social Media

A manhunt is still underway for the assassin who gunned down Charlie Kirk, the conservative media giant and founder of the influential student activist group Turning Point USA. Unfortunately, the fact that authorities have yet to confirm the killer’s identity, means, and motivations has not prevented countless pundits from issuing sweeping condemnations of various forces to which they are assigning blame for Kirk’s demise: rival political tribes, so-called violent rhetoric, guns, and even (why not) the state of Israel.

It bears repeating that this shocking murder occurred about 24 hours ago. Kirk’s family and friends are probably still in shock, and the millions of people who agreed with Kirk’s views, admired his accomplishments, listened to his shows, attended his conferences, or otherwise regarded him as a fellow traveler—in truth, he was one of the most important conservative media figures in history—are just beginning to grieve. It is far, far too early to start pointing fingers, particularly when the individual (or individuals) directly at fault has not yet been apprehended.

Thankfully, there has also been an outpouring of renunciations of violence from many people who were at odds with Kirk politically: mainstream media commentators, Democratic political figures, etc. These expressions of moral and human solidarity are refreshing. The New York Times‘ Ezra Klein, for instance, praised him for “practicing politics the right way.” Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, and other prominent Democrats issued statements of unqualified support for Kirk’s family. That’s all good and can help to de-escalate tensions.

But many others are going off the deep end—and some are even making a mockery of the very ideas that Kirk stood for. They ought to know better.

I wanted to highlight a few of the unhinged responses, because it will be useful to explain why they are wrong, harmful, and sadly indicative of various strains of incorrect thinking.

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The House Just Passed a Bill Punishing “Politically Motivated” Boycotts of Israel

In a first step toward a federal law punishing criticism of Israel, the House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a massive defense budget that would bar companies engaged in “politically motivated” boycotts of the country from Pentagon contracts.

The bill would effectively ban contractors boycotting Israel from tapping most federal contract dollars, since more than half of the $755 billion the U.S. government spent on contracts last year flowed through the Defense Department.

The ban, the latest legislative attempt to target the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel’s human rights violations, or BDS, would still have to pass the Senate. The upper chamber was debating its own version of the budget bill on Thursday that does not include an anti-BDS provision.

Critics predict a court challenge if the anti-boycott provision makes it into law.

“This amendment is really designed to shield Israel from any accountability by penalizing those who protest its violations of Palestinian human rights through boycotts, which should be protected by the First Amendment,” said Hassan El-Tayyab, the legislative director for Middle East policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

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Trump administration threatens crackdown on foreigners who ‘make light’ of Charlie Kirk assassination

On X, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau stated that the U.S. will respond to foreign nationals within its borders who express support for or downplay the assassination of Charlie Kirk on social media. 

Specifically, ‘praising, rationalizing, or making light of’ Kirk’s assassination on social media.’

‘In light of yesterday’s horrific assassination of a leading political figure, I want to underscore that foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,’ Landau wrote on X. 

Landau added, ‘I have been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalizing, or making light of the event, and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action. Please feel free to bring such comments by foreigners to my attention so that the @StateDept can protect the American people.’ 

Landau responded to a comment asking how people could flag these individuals. He responded saying he will direct consular officials to monitor the comments to his post. 

Landau didn’t specify which groups fall under the term ‘foreigners,’ nor did he detail what form the response might take—such as visa denials or deportation.

Other activists and outspoken conservative commentators commented on the X post, showing receipts of people calling for their own assassinations, expressing fear.

In light of Kirk’s traumatic death, Vice President JD Vance will visit Salt Lake City, Utah, to offer condolences to the family of Charlie Kirk. The Second Lady will reportedly also join him on this trip. 

This marks a change from his original plan to travel to New York City to commemorate the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to an administration official familiar with his schedule. 

Some public officials and leaders are also cancelling their events, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who was supposed to have an event in North Carolina this weekend. 

The president also honoring Kirk this morning, bestowing the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the owner of Turning-Point USA, speaking at the Pentagon. The day for the award ceremony has not been announced yet. 

At the event, the president, sounding choked-up and solemn, said he is still shocked by the horror of his assassination, all the while highlighting his influence on the conservative political landscape.

The President has ordered all American flags to be lowered to half-staff until Sunday evening at 6pm EST in honor of Kirk.

The conservative commentator, 31, was hit by a single bullet while speaking to a crowd at the public university in Orem at lunchtime on Wednesday after speaking for about 20 minutes.

The father-of-two, known for his fierce MAGA views and combative debates with college kids across the country, collapsed immediately after being hit in the neck by a single shot from about 200 yards.

Kirk was answering a question about mass shootings seconds before he was struck. He was rushed to hospital in a critical condition, but was declared dead two-and-half hours later.

The killer is still on the loose with a major manhunt by the FBI and Utah police underway.

Speaker Mike Johnson held a moment of silence for Kirk on the chamber floor as questions circulated about whether the father of two was alive. 

Daily Mail reached out to the State Department on this story. 

A State Department Spokesperson tells Daily Mail, ‘This Administration does not believe that the United States should grant visas to persons whose presences in our country does not align with U.S. national security interests.’ 

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New Homo naledi evidence supports intentional burial practices

Anthropologist Lee Berger and his team at the University of the Witwatersrand, working within the Rising Star cave system in South Africa, have published their most extensive evidence yet of deliberate burial by Homo naledi, a small brained hominin that walked the Earth with several current modern human cousins over 240,000 years ago.

It began with a Facebook call for short, skinny and fit anthropologists who “must not be claustrophobic.” There is a backstory to the beginning of course, but it is here in this Facebook advert for the smallest in stature and bravest of heart to drop everything and fly to South Africa where the team was assembled.

Their task: delve 30 meters down and explore an over 100 meter-long topography of a treacherous and at times impossibly narrow cave system.

The original announcement of the find in 2015 was met with amazement, some skepticism and a hint of controversy. Amazing because it was impossible to imagine the discovery of a new species of hominin, not by a single bone or fragmented skull, but by a trove of over 1,500 well-preserved fossilized bones from a minimum of 15 individuals, many articulated in place, buried in a cave that had been undisturbed for possibly more than 300,000 years.

With so many fossils awaiting excavation, the team dubbed the most concentrated area within the Dinaledi Chamber the “Puzzle Box.”

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 Vile TMZ Staff Caught Cheering Moments Before Announcing Charlie Kirk’s Death, Outlet Wildly Claims It Was Over a ‘Car Chase,’ Excuse Obviously Falls Flat

TMZ faced massive backlash after staff of the outlet could be heard erupting in cheers seconds before host Harvey Levin announced Charlie Kirk’s death on Wednesday.

The footage, captured during a live broadcast covering Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University, revealed audible cheers, laughter, and applause from the newsroom as producers relayed President Donald Trump’s confirmation of Kirk’s passing.

Kirk, 31, a beloved husband, father of two very young children, and founder of Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck from 200 yards away while speaking on campus, in what Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has called a “political assassination.”

In a desperate bid to deflect the outrage, TMZ issued a statement claiming the cheers were unrelated to Kirk’s death.

According to the outlet, the noise came from employees in another part of the building who were watching a live police car chase unfolding in Temple City, California, not the tragic announcement. Hosts Harvey Levin and Charles Latibeaudiere addressed the controversy on air, calling the laughter “tone-deaf” in hindsight and apologizing for the poor optics during a time of national mourning.

“As we were reporting the assassination of Charlie Kirk, there were some people in the back room away from our news desk who were watching a car chase, and they were laughing and clapping…they were not laughing that way about Charlie Kirk’s assassination,” Levin claimed.

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Young Woman Who Witnessed Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Says Liberals in the Crowd Were CHEERING After He Was Shot

A young woman who witnessed the assassination of Charlie Kirk has posted a video describing how leftists in the crowd were cheering after he was fatally shot.

Kirk, 31, a beloved husband and father to two very young children, was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University.

“I just witnessed Charlie Kirk get assassinated,” the tearful young woman begins. “It was the most awful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

She continues, “They shot him in the neck and blood went everywhere.”

“The worst part of it all was that the liberals who were there were cheering,” she said, still very visibly shaken.

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Alleged Leaked ATF Doc Claims Weapon Near Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Site Had Cartridges Engraved with Transgender and Antifa Phrases and Symbols

An allegedly leaked document from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) claims that the weapon found near the site of Charlie Kirk’s assassination was equipped with cartridges engraved with symbols and phrases tied to transgender and Antifa ideology.

As the manhunt for the shooter enters its second day, the leaked ATF document suggests a possible ideological motive behind the killing.

The FBI confirmed during a press conference on Thursday morning that the weapon was found in a wooded area near the campus.

Conservative political commentator Steven Crowder obtained the document and posted it to X on Thursday morning before the press conference.

The document, which Crowder claims to have obtained from a credible source, describes the cartridges as bearing etched symbols including the transgender flag colors and phrases such as “Trans Rights Are Human Rights,” hinting at a premeditated act driven by radical beliefs.

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MSNBC Fires Matthew Dowd For Suggesting Charlie Kirk Had It Coming; Liz Warren, Jen Psaki Double Down

MSNBC has fired political analyst Matthew Dowd, after he suggested that conservative activist and TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on Wednesday, had it coming – Variety reports.

During coverage of Kirk’s shooting, anchor Katy Tur asked Dowd about “the environment in which a shooting like this happens” – a disgusting framing in itself, to which Dowd replied: “He’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. And I think that is the environment we are in. You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place. And that’s the unfortunate environment we are in.”

Dowd’s comments set off a firestorm online – resulting in a public apology from MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler, who called the statement “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.”

“We apologize for his statements, as has he,” Kutler said from MSNBC’s X account. “There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise.”

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FBI, Utah Officials Have “GOOD FOOTAGE OF KIRK SHOOTER” – Tracked Him from Hour Before Shooting to When He Jumped Off Building and Ran Through Neighborhood — THEY FOUND THE WEAPON IN THE WOODS!

FBI and Utah Department of Public Safety officials hold a news conference in Orem following the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.

Kirk was assassinated while addressing students yesterday at the university.

Authorities provide updates on the suspect search and investigation.

According to the local investigator who spoke to reporters, officials tracked the killer from an hour before the shooting to when he jumped off the campus building and fled into a local neighborhood.

Utah official Beau Mason: Through all that work last night, we were able to make a few breakthroughs. We were able to track the movements of the shooter.

Starting at 11: 52 AM, the subject arrived on campus, shortly away from campus. We have tracked his movements onto the campus, through the stairwells, up to the roof, across the roof to a shooting location.

After the shooting, we were able to track his movements as he moved to the other side of the building, jumped off of the building and fled off of the campus and into a neighborhood. Our investigators have worked through those neighborhoods, contacting anybody they can with doorbell cameras, witnesses, and have thoroughly worked through those communities, trying to identify any leads.

We do have good video footage of this individual. We are not going to release that at this time. We are working through some technologies and some ways to identify this individual. If we are unsuccessful, we will reach out to you as the media and we will push that publicly to help us identify them.

But we are confident in our abilities right now, and we would like to move forward in a manner that keeps everyone safe and moves this process appropriately.

The FBI official Robert Bohls, then spoke and said they have GOOD FOOTAGE of the killer. They also found his rifle in the woods!

Bill Melugin added the killer appears to be college-aged.

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Gov. JB Pritzker Blames Trump After Charlie Kirk Assassinated: ‘President’s Rhetoric Often Foments’ Violence

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Wednesday, Illinois’ left-wing Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker decried “political violence” while accusing President Donald Trump of “fomenting” it — despite Pritzker’s own recent history of incendiary comments.

The extremist governor was appearing at the FABTECH exposition at Chicago’s McCormick Place expo center when he was asked by a member of the press about the shooting and murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which had occurred only moments before Pritzker stepped to the microphones.

After being asked his thoughts on the shooting in Utah, Pritzker had a quick word of sympathy for Kirk’s family, but then went straight to blaming conservatives and Donald Trump.

“Charlie Kirk has become a target for somebody. I don’t know whether it’s political violence, because I don’t know who did it,” Pritzker disingenuously said.

“But I will say that political violence, unfortunately, has been ratcheting up in this country,” he continued. “We saw the shootings, the killings in Minnesota. Uh, we’ve seen other political violence occur in other states. And I would just say, uh, it’s gotta stop.”

“And I think there are people who are fomenting it in this country. I think the president’s rhetoric often foments it,” he said.

He went on to claim that “January 6” was “political violence” despite the fact that the only people killed were two Trump supporters.

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