Charlie Kirk was murdered yesterday while delivering a talk at a university in Utah.
I actually heard the news of his being shot from somebody who has a direct connection with his organization. I then checked the net and had the misfortune of seeing a video clip that was already online. I've seen a lot of things shot so I knew he was dead right then. When there began to be reports he survived I flat out said he had not. The confirmation of his death came from the same source, which was before it was reported.
If it seems like I'm somewhat well connected, well I am. If it seems like I know a lot about Kirk, I don't at all.
Before yesterday, the only thing I knew about Kirk is that he was a youngish right wing personality with a net presence. As I don't watch net opinion pieces as a rule, although there are exceptions, I'd never watched him speak. Somebody I know was associated with having him speak at the University of Wyoming, and as that person has definite fascist associations, I pretty much ignored Kirk in the assumption he did as well. Since his death I've read a few of his statements, some of which are horrible, and some of which are not.
The shooter is still at large.
The shooting itself was remarkably similar in tactics to that used by Thomas Crooks to shoot Donald Trump. Lots of details of the Kirk murder are missing, and I don't want to be gruesome, but just based on the evidence available my guess right now is the shooter used an AR platform rifle with fmj ammunition, and the shot placed considerably higher or lower than where he was aiming.
Yes, that's grim.
As we don't know who the shooter was, we don't know his motivation, but its almost certain an act of political terrorism.
Bizarrely, witnesses claim that Kirk had just started to debate somebody in the crowed about whether transgenderism is associated with mass killings (it isn't). If that's correct, and I wouldn't fully accept that it is, it's sort of ironic. Perhaps more ironic is that Kirk, who didn't mind saying very controversial things, had made a statement that killings were the price we pay for the 2nd Amendment, and the price is worth it.
I support the 2nd Amendment, but that's a very shallow view of this issue.
His death sparked a wave of public commentary, with much of it, from the right and the left, lamenting his passing and condemning his killing, and political killings overall. That is at it should be. The demented illegitimate claimant to the Oval Office, who had benefited from Kirk's support, blamed the political left.
Somebody from the left may well have killed Kirk. But the fact of the matter is that the US, where violence has been declining for decades, entered into an era of political violence in January, 2021, when Trump's supporters violently stormed the Capital. Even before that Trump's rhetoric was violent. During the four year inter regime he kept it up, as did his supporters. Since coming into office his rhetoric has been unhinged and he's inserted troops into Washington D.C. and Los Angeles which itself is an act of violence, and sent masked ICE agents in a manner which bespeaks of violence. He's made the country lawless in a political sort of way.
National Conservatives, which Kirk seems to have been, are going to have to live with their embrace of Trump, and sooner or later that's going to mean that they're viewed as bloody. It wouldn't be correct to say that Trump killed Kirk, but he did create an atmosphere which created its likelihood, if in fact not making it more likely than not.
A hallmark of failing states sliding into fascism and communism is the murder of the outspoken. Those same states than make political martyrs out of their own who are killed. Trump, who has never been popular, and whose popularity is slipping, and who is facing increasing demands for the release of the files maintained on his former friend, Jeffrey Epstein, can nearly be counted on to try to use this to boost his own fortunes and divert attention from being a pal of a rapist of teenagers.
We are at that point.
Kirk was 31 years old and leaves behind a wife and two young children.
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Rather than post an additional post, I'm just going to make some comments here.
Already, I see this morning, quite a few on the political right are blaming "Democrats" for Kirk's killing. That's absurd. Of note, the person who took a shot at Trump was a Republican.
We may well be into an era like the late 60s and early 70s when domestic terrorism was a thing, and that did come from the left, but not the Democrats. Likewise, the racist terrorism of the 50s and early 60s wasn't a political party centric thing either.
A second observation. The political canonization of Kirk has already solidified, with glowing comments about how he was a family man, etc. which he was. He apparently said some horrible things as well. I wouldn't regard him as a saint.
Indeed, one person who had met him claimed that in person he was much different, fwiw, and his stage persona just that.
Flags are being ordered at half mast and they shouldn't be.
I know that this last comment is really upsetting to people, but I feel the same way about all the constant half mass orders that are issued anymore. A true national hero, yes. School shootings, local legislators, murders of political figures, no. There's just something that doesn't really fit about it.
And another comment. Some "experts" are claiming this has the marks of a professional hit. No, it doesn't.
It has the marks of somebody who had thought out how they intended to attempt the murder, using a weapon that is popular, and not really being able to judge the distance.
The Utah Department of Public Safety announced this morning that they've been able to identify when the shooter arrived on campus, his path through the campus, and his escape route. Right now, they're no doubt looking to see how had Ring doorbell cameras in the neighborhood he fled into.
There's a good chance that the camera images they obviously have will lead to his, and it will be a he, arrest.
According to the news this morning the rifle was a bolt action rifle. I still doubt that. If it was, the shot went considerably higher than the point of aim (yes I know that this is gruesome).
A vigil for Kirk in Boise turned violent with a BLM member drove through the crowd jeering them.
How stupid can people be? That enables the very people BLM protests against.
So it was indeed a bolt action. It's being described as a "high powered" bolt action, but every rifle used in a crime is described as "high powered".
According to the Wall Street Journal the rifle was an "older model" "hunting rifle" in .30. That still leaves a lot of room open as to what it was, but that should have had quite a report when fired.
It'd also be type of rifle that would be extremely easy for a person to acquire without being traced officially, making it easy to abandon. On the other hand, it would also be one that, once identified, a former owner might recognize immediately.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the rifle contained unfired ammunition as well as the fired case within it, and that the cartridges had "pro-transgender and anti-fascist" messages written on them.
The FBI has now released camera images of the shooter.
The rifle appears to be a sporterized 98.
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