A Commentary on Killing Charlie Kirk

The Left won’t like the comparisons. Then again, they never liked Charlie Kirk. But the assassination of a national change-maker such as Kirk, founder of the conservative youth movement, “Turning Point USA,” merits such comparison. He was shot and killed by a single bullet today, at one of his trademark outdoor campus Q&A events, this one at Utah Valley University, in Orem.

Comparisons? To a John F. Kennedy, for one, who looked to end our involvement with the war in Vietnam — and to shatter the CIA into a thousand pieces. And comparisons to a Martin Luther King Jr., who emerged as the force to end the government’s shackling political grip — and economic control — on black Americans. Change-makers and luminaries, both assassinated, who come to mind in reflection of the killing of Charlie Kirk.

Kirk was a lot of things. To the Left he was a demon, if not the devil himself. Or a sneering, grifting Hitler who happened to be savvy on social media. Or, at least, a white nationalist misogynist  — despite his ability to garner support from across racial and gender boundaries. And for that he was a threat. He was a voice of conservatism that resonated with college-age voters at a time when wokeism and progressivism reigned trendy and cool. But he persisted undeterred, to the chagrin of the Left for his gall to play in their sandbox.

He held out ideas on hot button issues — and welcomed opposing views to try and best him. He leaned in to touchy topics, the hushed word taboos that no one spoke of but everyone seemed to have an opinion on. He practiced the essence of free speech — that is to let good ideas overtake bad ones. With words. Dialogue. Conversation. Then with a single, fatal shot, we are reminded it has become the Left’s familiar retort to silence voices altogether that they disagree with, by whatever means they deem necessary.

Charlie Kirk’s death bears similarity — that palpable change he created — and the movement building behind it — that made him too precarious to ideologically handle. It’s all too similar to the momentum JFK and MLK each generated, that left them, as well, as figures too unwieldy to wrangle.  Luminaries and change-makers who brought ideas to the public forum — silenced for becoming voices too loud… to dismiss or shout down.

Jason James Barry is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and author. In July, his police life memoir, “The Midnight Coffee Club” published in a second-edition. For links to other works, look for his essays at prattlon.com/jasonjamesbarry