On 9/10/2025 Charlie Kirk was hosting an event on a Utah Valley University campus where he was shot & killed. He is the latest victim in a long history of political violence. His murder and the response to it threaten to further divide America increasing the threat of violence & tyranny.
What we know
The Area
There were people initially apprehended in the area that were later cleared. The first was an older man, who is described as a ‘political agitator’ and seemed to be acting erratically[1] . Later a man was pictured with what is now reported to be a BB gun (this appeared to be a traffic stop).
The area itself is a security nightmare with many buildings opposite the speaking stage. The general consensus at this point is that the shooter was posted on top of one of these buildings (I believe confirmed as of publishing this). As per recent reports (including NY times), the shooter was not even 200 yards away, the building is ~430 feet from the ‘stage’, a mere 143 yards.
The weapon & the shot
An apparent leak of ATF feed (pictured below) claims a discarded .30-06 bolt action rifle was found nearby in the woods and that the weapon and/or ammunition had ‘transgender & anti-fascist ideology’ inscribed upon it. Photos that supposedly show the rifle reveal a mounted scope was used [2]. This is not a shot that requires ‘an expert sniper’ as many claim, if you browse the internet you will find plenty of people capable of this and far more impressive shots. There are also some angles that make it appear possible that this was a chest shot into cheap steel armor that traveled up into the neck. While I am not a ballistics expert, I didn’t see an exit wound and I would expect more damage from a direct hit from a .30-06 to the neck. I don’t have experience with steel armor but the ‘spalling’ issue is often talked about (the military uses ceramic plates). The danger of spalling is when fragments ‘move beyond’ the plate and cause secondary injuries [3], it is also possible (depending on the armor) for the bullet to change trajectory upon impact. I put a screenshot of ChatGPT’s answer to my ricochet question below .
The Escape
Perhaps the most notable aspect of this assassination was the shooter’s ability to get a weapon on site (I assume beforehand), return, take a shot, escape - with the rifle -, and flee undetected. Surveillance video shows him jumping from the roof and running off [4]. The thing I find odd is fleeing with the rifle, how do you do that without someone noticing? Where does someone go? The authorities have released images of the current suspect, I haven’t heard any news of mass transport sightings, so he drove/is driving somewhere?
I believe one critical aspect of his escape was the above mentioned ‘political agitator’, police may have thought ‘they got him’ and didn’t cordon off the area as rapidly or as widely as they should have. This was fortuitous for the shooter and an embarrassment for those on the scene right up to the director of the FBI.
(Recent news) The Shooter
As I was wrapping this up, news broke of the accused shooter being Tyler Robinson a 22 year old from Utah [6] who was reportedly convinced to turn himself in by his father.
Controversy & reactions
"If you're really in favor of free speech, then you're in favor of freedom of speech for precisely the views you despise. Otherwise, you're not in favor of free speech". — Noam Chomsky
It is important to remember, regardless of how you feel about the below topics or others, a father of 2 young kids was murdered for what he said. Some of the things he said may have been ‘wrong’, some of the propaganda he pushed was clearly wrong & directly aided evil, but it was still speech. In America, freedom of speech means the freedom to say vile things.
1A
“…a government organized around jailing, impoverishing, or silencing people based on ‘racism’ is what our enemies wanted.” — Charlie Kirk
Kirk has long been a proponent of free speech & may even be described as a ‘free speech absolutist’, to me that is the ONLY way to be an advocate of free speech. We have to tolerate the idiots & worse. Despite Kirk’s commitment to israel (discussed below) he was adamant that wielding government force against speech was not the path to take[5]. Regardless of how you feel about Kirk’s other positions, this one is commendable, especially as much of the right cheered Trump’s crack down on free speech.
2A
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." — Benjamin Franklin
Kirk was a proponent of the second Amendment and was fielding questions on it when he was murdered. Kirk once stated, “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment”, and now people are trying to use this as a ‘gotcha’. Kirk’s statement is simple acknowledgement of reality, people are violent, if we have guns, there will be people that use them illegally. Without going too deep on the Second Amendment, the point is that Charlie’s 2A stance is probably less “radical” than a lot of gun owners in America
Gaza
Charlie Kirk’s stance on and support of Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians is indefensible in my opinion. He isn’t just anyone who casually consumes cable news, he was a relatively young, intelligent man with access to information. Given his role as a ‘leader’ to many, I set my bar higher than the random internet troll. I expect ‘leaders’ to speak the truth, not just regurgitate propaganda. Still, Kirk’s stance on the Gaza genocide was ‘speech’, it was wrong & he was wrong for pushing israeli propaganda but it was speech. Despite his role, he truly did seem to have a cable news level understanding of the situation & until recently faithfully repeated talking points without question.
This, in my opinion is his most reprehensible of positions, yet it does not justify his murder. It justifies him being shown facts that refute his arguments in the very big & public forums he helped host. To Kirk’s credit, he gave Dave Smith the exact opportunity to do that and Dave delivered.
Following his death, there were many posts regarding his recent ‘doubts’ with the blank check support of israel. He complained to Megyn Kelly about how his character is called into question for anything not completely aligned with israel. He openly talked about Epstein’s ties to Mossad; He was vocally opposed to war with Iran. He mentioned ‘questions’ about October 7th and thought it may have been an ‘inside job’ to Netanyahu’s benefit. He even mentioned media lies in favor of israel & ethnic cleansing. Perhaps he truly was trying to be ‘America First’, given time maybe he would have come around. We will never know now.
Violence & Death
“I recognize the absolute evil of what the zionist forces are doing but I must ‘take no pleasure’ in their death. It’s not for them, it’s for me. It’s a small conscious step I take to guard my own humanity.” — Me, Guarding your Humanity
I don’t expect everyone to mourn Charlie’s death, that would be an absurd demand. I think it is normal to expect people to have empathy and sympathy for his family (and the family of anyone who loses a loved one). Perhaps even indifference is acceptable, but to cheer for the death of another human is not good for your soul. Even if you thought he was as ‘evil’ as they come, you shouldn’t cheer for his death. Remember this too when his murderer faces justice.
I warned in ‘To Save the Soul of America’ that we must collectively fix our moral compass, we cannot reconcile ‘apathy’ with overseas slaughter and the expectation of human decency here at home. We must reject violence abroad so that it horrifies us into action at home. If we see innocents being bombed, shot & starved, we must at MINIMUM ensure we have no part of it. If a woman is attacked on a train, people should rush to her aid, not shuffle to the next car. If a father is killed, support and empathy for the family should be the minimum.
The violence, and apathy towards it, are both a symptom of and a contributor to a growing mental health crisis in this country. We must recognize that suppressing the revulsion to violence because its ‘abroad’ does have an impact on us here at home. We must shift away from convoluted and dishonest policies of ‘good for America’, which have a high cost in blood and little if any benefit to America, to policies that are Good and value human life.
Leviathan
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that [is] it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” — Rahm Emanuel, Obama Chief of Staff
I encourage you to separate the idea of ‘government involvement’ with these violent acts & government seizing an ‘opportunity’. There will plenty of ‘odd’ things to examine and already a myriad of conspiracy theories. Whether or not the government or a government was involved I will leave to others, but make no mistake, every government will squeeze what it can out of this death. Never forget how our government used the collective good will of the people after 9/11 to usher in the Patriot act.
Despite our recent history and countless reasons to distrust our government, I have seen ongoing calls for ‘blank checks’ to government. People effectively, and sometimes knowingly cheer for tyranny in an effort to allay their fears or satisfy their thirst for revenge. The state will not ‘give you back your rights’, the state will not stay within the ‘narrow scope’ of ‘infringement authority’ you give it, do not let your emotions doom us & future generations.
In service (intentionally or not) of government tyranny, many ‘influencers’ online are declaring ‘we are at war’, implying a civil war between the ‘left’ and the ‘right’. Do not buy into these agitators, many are foreign and I doubt the local ones will be ‘in the trenches’ with you. They are seeking engagement, they will use your emotions to get payouts and head off to calmer seas. If people ‘answer the call’ and this escalates, the government will have all the excuse it needs.
There were many calls (and still are) for the government to ban trans people (doesn’t seem like this shooter was trans, just maybe terminally online) from owning firearms under the guise of ‘mental health’. I want to remind you that there was a period of time where the government used that same excuse (mental health) to strip Veterans of their rights[7]. Additionally, the government already views veterans as a ‘domestic terror’ threat [8]. Do not give the government the ability to arbitrarily infringe upon a person’s rights. No one should lose ANY rights without due process, mental health issues are not and should not be a blanket excuse to strip people of rights.
Summary
A man was murdered in the US because someone didn’t like his ideas. His murder left a family without a husband and father. Bad ideas are easily defeated with the truth, not with violence.
The indifference, or worse, celebration of death is a plague on our society. Whether it is the death of innocents in Gaza, or the death of a political pundit in the United States, violent needless death should be revolting to us all. If you find yourself justifying either, think about what that says about you, think about what you have allowed yourself to become and be better.
“Never repay evil with evil but let everyone see that you are interested only in the highest ideals. Do all you can to live at peace with everyone. Never try to get revenge; leave that my friends, to God’s anger As scripture says: vengeance is mine — I will pay them back, The Lord promises…” — Romans 12:17-20
Related Articles
Resources
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15086691/Charlie-Kirk-dead-George-Zinn-arrested-shooting-UVU-Utah.html
https://archive.ph/3ngdo
https://www.highcomarmor.com/the-truth-about-spall-protection/#:~:text=WHY%20STEEL%20PLATES%20CREATE%20SPALLING,needs%20of%20the%20end%2Duser.
NBC youtube
https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1912566643856937203
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspect-charlie-kirk-shooting-tyler-robinson-rcna230504
https://veterans.house.gov/uploadedfiles/the_veterans_2nd_amendment_protection_act_-_copy.pdf
https://archive.ph/GdAM0