Readers have asked me to write about Charlie Kirk’s murder.
Somewhere deep within the narrative surrounding this assassination, there is a truth.
I do not really have to explain to most people who Kirk was, a husband, father of two children, American conservative political activist, and co-founder of Turning Point USA.
He was murdered in Utah while addressing an outdoor audience at Utah Valley University.
Kirk spoke to students from both political parties on college campuses across America. He often spoke from a Christian perspective, but rational individuals on both sides of the aisle, Christian or non-Christian agreed he was reasonable and respectful no matter who he was speaking with during his audience participation conversations.
Friday, officials identified 22-year-old Tyler Robinson as the suspect in the murder.
Just for the record, Robinson was a registered voter with no political affiliation.
More to point, to me, something feels off about this suspect. I saw a photo of the suspect’s ears, nose and mouth and it is not the same as the person taken in the surveillance footage identified as the shooter.
However, my police chief friend who I trust with my life said it is the same man just a different angle and lighting.
Either way, a man is dead – and there is a group of people happy about it.
If you ask them why, they will more than likely give you an emotional answer reminiscent of a person who is completely out of control of themselves and allowing their emotions to take over.
There is one thing that has caught my attention since Kirk’s senseless murder, and that is the many blue people who have spoken out and pointedly said they will no longer be part of a political affiliation that condones this action.
In fact, I have seen lifelong Democrat’s men, women, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, homosexual, heterosexual, bi-sexual, and even one pink-haired man with long turquoise fingernails (people from all walks of life basically) saying they will now be moving to the other side of the aisle.
So, in Kirk’s death he has gained the red team a big score while bringing Americans together in a way in which the masks are off and you can truly see who the person is standing next to you.
More to the point, each person is having to look in the mirror at their own reflection and see their true character.
Of course, there are also the passive-aggressive people who just “want to start the conversation” to see if their hungry egos will be fed by those who agree with murder.
No one is going to change their mind about what they will “die on that hill” for including those who are spewing hate and blame. It is those same people who tout “free speech” but really only want to allow it when it agrees with their narrative.
That is the definition of a “coward.” I do not care if it is a person, or a group, when you decide to silence any human by murder or when you applaud it because it is not your narrative then you are a coward. A coward who has no interest in adult behavior in which disagreement is a way to achieve compromise.
After Kirk’s murder, views among Americans were divided from “He deserved to be murdered because of his stance on guns” to “Kirk will be remembered as the modern day MLK.”
Some Republicans have spoken out stating Democrats want to ban guns until that side of the aisle uses a gun for their own violence.
Remember, guns do not kill people – people kill people.
And I know there are people right now reading my column who are so low vibration that if I were shot and killed, they would say I deserved it for writing what I did in the sentence above.
It has been said over the past week, if it’s okay to kill someone for having an opinion, then it’s okay to terminate a person from their job as well. To date a number of people have been fired for condoning murder and the number is growing (www.npr.org/2025/09/13/nx-s1-5538476/charlie-kirk-jobs-target-social-media-critics-resign).
I do believe in free speech, which is exactly my point. I DO believe in free speech without the chance of being assassinated for it.
So where does this leave America? It is not so much who did it and I personally do not believe it had anything to do with party affiliation.
This has everything to do with the behavior of people after the murder took place.
Yes, there have been other murders this year. And, boy, have some of the bigger egos gotten on board that sheep’s wagon. My question to each one of them is, did you mourn every one of those murders as much as you are rejoicing in this one?
Let us consider this thought, with all the past incidents we know regarding our government (go down the 9/11 rabbit hole) we really do not know what happened yet. We have learned over the past four years that truth is stranger than fiction. It’s up to each one of us to figure out our own truth.
Here is a truth spoken by Utah’s Gov. Spencer Cox said after the incident, “This is our moment: Do we escalate or do we find an off-ramp? It is a choice.”
Rita Cook is a freelance writer for The Ellis County Press. She can be reached at rcook13@earthlink.net.