On Wednesday, there were two more school shootings in the United States. One adult was killed, and two children were seriously injured. If you didn’t hear it that way, I’m not surprised. One event was treated as a political assassination of unparalleled national import, while the other was treated as just another day that ends in Y.
In the rural mountain town of Evergreen, CO, 16-year-old Desmond Holly, a white male described as a radical right-wing extremist/white supremacist, roamed the three levels of Evergreen High School, armed with a revolver. He expended his bullets and reloaded several times, but thankfully failed to kill anyone, hitting and critically injuring two students before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life. The MAGAshere, including President Trump, was as quiet as a church mouse on this most recent act of radical right-wing violence.
Some 400 miles across the Rockies in Orem, UT, conservative podcaster and Turning Points USA founder Charlie Kirk was holding an outdoor Q&A on the campus of Utah Valley University when 22-year-old Tyler Robinson took aim from a rooftop 200 yards away and killed Kirk with a single shot from a bolt-action rifle. Before Robinson’s father convinced him to turn himself in, there was no evidence whatsoever as to the shooter’s political leanings. You would not have known that from the reaction of the MAGAshere to this shooting, as they collectively declared war on the “radical left.”
President Trump went live hours after the shooting, blaming the “radical left,” saying that those who “have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we are seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now. My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity, and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country.”
The next day, the President told reporters that “we just have to beat the hell out of radical left lunatics.” Yes, in the wake of two school shootings, one in which we knew the shooter was a right-wing extremist, one in which we did not even know who the shooter was, our President called for violence against his political opponents. When asked about bringing the country together, Trump actually said, “I couldn’t care less.”
By Friday, we had learned that Robinson had confessed to his father that he had shot Kirk. His father confronted him after seeing images released by law enforcement. After Robinson reportedly told him that he would rather die than turn himself in, his father told a friend who worked for the U.S. Marshall Service, who then alerted authorities that Robinson had confessed to his parents, and he was arrested. There was still no evidence as to political ideology, however. In fact, Robinson, whose parents are conservatives, was registered without party affiliation and did not vote in the 2024 election.
Who was Charlie Kirk? Kirk grew up in the Chicago suburbs, the son of an architect and a mental health counselor. He dropped out of community college after just one semester and soon began pursuing full-time political activism. He founded Turning Points, a conservative student organization, which grew at an impressive pace thanks to the backing it quickly drew from a billionaire supporter.
Kirk’s schtick was two-fold. His radio show/podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show, put a youthful spin on typical far-right-wing fare, including pro-gun, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, anti-LGBT, misogynistic, and racially bigoted rhetoric. Meanwhile, his frequent college visits recycled the schtick of disgraced right-wing pundit Stephen Crowder’s Change My Mind, in which Crowder would sit at a table with a microphone and a premise he wished to debate. Kirk switched it to Prove Me Wrong and, being slightly less smug and annoying than Crowder or Ben Shapiro, seemed to have more success. This made him a valuable part of the MAGA coalition.
As Kirk’s Turning Point umbrella became more politically organized, he added the Professor Watchlist website, which compiled a list of professors the organization deemed insufficiently patriotic, too liberal, engaged in teaching critical race theory, being trans-friendly, etc. For years, hundreds of professors were utterly terrorized by threats of death, gang rape, and other horrors for appearing on the site, despite little to no credibility to its sourcing.
Pre-MAGA Kirk was fringe with a bit of a Christian Nationalist bend. He was popular in Alt-Right circles, but largely unknown in the media at large. He was then mainstreamed by the Trump campaign, which saw his organization as useful in turning out potential young MAGA voters. After defending J6ers and Trump’s attempted insurrection, Kirk became a focal point in the 2024 campaign in which TPUSA events rivaled CPAC and other A-list right-wing gatherings.
As Kirk became more ingratiated with President Trump and his family, many on the alt-right fringe turned against him for embracing what they saw as the new establishment. One was Nick Fuentes. Fuentes is a popular far-right influencer and holocaust denier who is also known for bigoted, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-LGBT, and deeply misogynistic rhetoric. He, too, was embraced by Trump, who even dined with him. However, he later broke with the President, mostly over Trump’s unwavering allegiance to Israel.
Fuentes launched the so-called "Groyper War," primarily targeting Kirk along with other young alt-right influencers. Groyper refers to Fuentes-level extremism on the right and their symbol, a modified version of the Pepe the Frog meme commonly associated with white nationalists. As Kirk’s profile grew, he found it more challenging to navigate the right-wing ecosphere. He had always been a vocal proponent of releasing the Epstein files until he turned on a dime following a call from the White House, after which he decided he was done talking about the world’s most notorious pedophile and child sex trafficker and would simply “trust Trump.”
Just before his death, Trump whisperer Laura Loomer viciously attacked Kirk online merely for “platforming” right-wing podcaster Dave Smith, a vocal voice against the genocide in Gaza, in a debate hosted by Turning Points and moderated by Kirk. “I don’t ever want to hear Charlie Kirk claim he is pro-Trump ever again,” Loomer tweeted days before his death. “After this weekend, I’d say he has revealed himself as a political opportunist and I have had a front row seat to witness the mental gymnastics these last 10 years. Lately, Charlie has decided to behave like a charlatan, claiming to be pro-Trump one day while he stabs Trump in the back the next. TPUSA was only able to thrive thanks to the generosity of President Trump.”
Within hours of Kirk’s death, rumors emerged online that casings found at the crime scene had pro-trans rhetoric etched into them, and the MAGAshere went crazy. This turned out to be false. One was etched with “Catch this fascist,” another with “If you’re reading this, you’re gay,” and another with “Bella Ciao.” Some seized on the first and last, claiming they were proof Robinson was part of the left-wing Antifa movement, short for antifascist. However, it was quickly pointed out that Groypers, who consider themselves nationalists, also refer to Kirk and his ilk as fascists, and that while Bella Ciao was a song sang by the antifascists during the Spanish Civil War, it was also featured on the official Groyper War playlist.
Another casing was etched, "notices bulges OwO what’s this?" was said to be pro-trans; however, it seems to be a popular internet meme that originated in the furry community (if you don’t know what that is, Google it at your own risk) that can be seen almost everywhere among the terminally online, including Groyper slang. Another said, “If you read this, you are gay lmao,” a popular online slang among kids his age that doesn’t have an ideological origin. Some etchings also suggest a connection to video game culture. In other words, the casing etchings don’t tell us the kid’s politics and certainly don’t tell us he’s a radical leftist. The rifle he chose to use was the German Mauser 98, a .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle adopted by the Nazis during the Third Reich. Whether that’s indicative of ties to the alt-right or merely a coincidence remains to be seen.
What we know about Robinson at this point is that, like Kirk, he grew up in a nice house with both parents who made a good living. Like Kirk, he seemed to love guns, as since deleted pictures from his mother’s social media suggest that the family regularly attended gun-themed events. Halloween posts showed one with Robinson in a costume that made it look like he was atop President Trump’s shoulders, while another she described as “some meme” showed him in a black Adidas track suit and black hat, an outfit commonly worn by Pepe the Frog in alt-right memes.
So, at this point, I’m not certain what political ideologies Tyler Robinson held or if, at 22, he even had coherent politics. Hence, the countless calls for violence against the left are irresponsible, hateful, and extreme. They are also not surprising. Despite the endless propaganda from the right wing that all political violence originates from the left, all evidence suggests otherwise. I heard no one call for violence or tell the right that they had “started a war” when a right-wing extremist opened fire at that high school, the very same day. Yet even before Kirk’s shooting, President Trump has relentlessly demonized anyone who is not MAGA as an enemy within, a scourge that must be exterminated, making these latest calls for violence all the more dangerous.
Loomer, who has carte blanche at the White House and has gotten people fired from the Trump administration by outing them as insufficiently MAGA, tweeted: "I'm sick of seeing conservatives say we need more debate and more conversations with the Left. No, we don't. These people are evil at their core. The average Democrat is filled with hate and glee over political violence. You can't compromise with Communists. You just have to crush their movement and lock them up. Anyone who says otherwise has suicidal empathy."
It is tragic that a husband and a father lost his life to another senseless act of gun violence. I have empathy for his parents, his wife, and his children, even though Kirk himself didn’t believe in empathy. "I can't stand the word empathy, actually,” he once said on the Charlie Kirk Show. “I think empathy is a made-up, new age term that — it does a lot of damage."
Kirk also said that we should broadcast public executions, and I hope that the very public way in which his murder played out on social media will serve as an example as to why that should not be the case. In 2023, he said, “I think it's worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the 2nd Amendment. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.” Again, I hope his death will cause his supporters to rethink whether we should accept that a lack of sensible gun regulations is worth fathers, mothers, spouses, and children being ripped from this world.
It is admittedly ironic that a man who showed no empathy for school shootings was killed in, well, a school shooting. It is also ironic that a man who seemed obsessed with black on black shootings and the dangers of American cities was killed in a white on white shooting in the whitest place on Earth. Still, his death should not be celebrated in any way. It should be a cautionary tale to those who traffic in and profit from the sort of divisive political rhetoric that too often leads to such violence. More than anything, however, I regret that President Trump did not take the opportunity to use Kirk’s death to call for national unity instead of calling for more violence. Imagine a world in which our President could have said the following:
“My fellow Americans, today, a man that I was close with, a man who helped me get elected President, was gunned down in a senseless act of violence while children were once again shot in their schools by a political extremist. I want to take this opportunity to ask that we all commit to refraining from viewing those whose principles and beliefs differ from our own as enemies, including myself. I realize that I have contributed to the divisiveness we are experiencing in our nation as much as, and perhaps even more than, anyone. I regret the divisive language I’ve at times chosen and commit to refraining from doing so in the future, and ask that each of you do the same. We have not only witnessed the assasination of Charlie Kirk, but in June a political extremist assassinated Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband, in a targeted attack at their home. In April, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was targeted by a political extremist who attempted to burn him and his family alive in the governor’s mansion. In August, DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was murdered by a political extremist attempting to attack the CDC. Enough is enough, and it starts from the top. Please join me in committing to ending violent political rhetoric online and everywhere else. As Americans, we face tremendous challenges on a global scale. We cannot afford to face those challenges as a nation split in two by political divisiveness. We must come together as a country and focus on the things we agree on, while peacefully debating matters on which we disagree and accepting that we are a nation in which one of our great strengths is the right of all of us to hold whatever political convictions we choose.”
Yes, imagine our President giving that primetime address, rather than saying, We have to beat the hell out of our political enemies, and I couldn’t care less about bringing the country together.
Dennis "Mitch" Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times and the host of our weekly podcast. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County government since 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University and later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Click here for his bio. Mitch is also the author of three novels and a short story collection available here. He can be reached at editor@thebradentontimes.com.
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lib224
Trump told us and showed what he would do. Republicans supported him. We are now living in his hell.
Sunday, September 14, 2025 Report this
RRICH69176
Kirk embraced his right to free speech...now if some folks engage in free speech which is contrary to those in power--you could lose your job or face suspension....."the free state" hey GOP what is that about......silence on the right!
Sunday, September 14, 2025 Report this
Libby23
Well done, Mitch. Another "presidential" address has been offered by Bernie Sanders. I have not been a Bernie for President supporter but he has given an eloguent address on the subject. We need to flood the Internet with these kinds of peace-loving messages to tip the scales. The hateful rhetoric will beget more violence.
Sunday, September 14, 2025 Report this
nellmcphillips
Why does any of this have to be political? A human life was taken whether that life was right, left, black., white, trans or straight- all life has value. Murder should never be spoken of as weaponizarion of anything. It should be grieved. If a person cannot grieve at death no matter whose death it is then we have lost our sense of decency. When murder occurs our thoughts should be about grieving family, about widows and orphans who should be shown love, support, and kindness. As I child I watched my mother grieve at the loss of John and Bobbie Kennedy not for the loss of these politicians but the loss of life and the impact of that loss to families. Her kindness and love showed me to value life and grieve the loss of it no matter who it was. Let’s live a life of love and kindness and value people for who they are and grieve appropriately, and not politicize murder.
Sunday, September 14, 2025 Report this
jimandlope
“I could care less…” says it all about the man our President isn’t.
Sunday, September 14, 2025 Report this
alanbtt
I’m lead to think it would kill you to say anything nice about anyone. Social media has monetized idiocy, for both the attention seekers and those who parrot or deride them. Over the years I’ve followed you it’s been a dissolution from thinker to erudite whiner
Skewering internet idiocy is shooting fish in a barrel. Making a career out of it is something else, particularly so given the ability to malign digital media.
Perhaps it’s my age, but I tune out a lot, follow actions and their challenges. Hindsight reveals good intentions gone awry and that immediacy’s first cousin is regret.
Come back to your senses Mitch, an intelligent mind is too precious to squander on the oily waters of what’s “said” in the digital wasteland.
Sunday, September 14, 2025 Report this
rjckeuka4
Mitch, Thanks for providing a balanced, comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of the week that was. Unfortunately, the "oily waters of the digital wasteland" referenced by alanbtt need discussion and clarification, and if he needs to 'tune out," so be it. You are correct, the greatest majority of finger pointing comes from the Prez and his supporters while the greatest majority of political violence comes from the same direction. That narrative needs to continually be pointed out. It all could be tempered by leadership from the top. That's not forthcoming...and so the rest of us must fill that void. Keep up the good work!
Sunday, September 14, 2025 Report this
spiceyar
Thank you Mitch, great article. I'm not proud to be an American
right now.
Sunday, September 14, 2025 Report this
san.gander
You have a lovely imagination; give credit where credit is due - the words you imagine are words that have only come from mostly "left-leaning", or progressive-minded, politicians that truly care about democracy... small "d". Not one of today's Republican politicians puts the welfare of all people ahead of wealth - greed or profit!
Sunday, September 14, 2025 Report this
Graciela0107
This is in reply to san.gander. I suggest you switch news outlets to obtain your information. You apparently are getting the “opinion news” you want to hear. The AP, Reuters and other outlets give a different report: the biggest mouth on the block is that of the current person who sits in the WH. Since the unfortunate shooting of Charlie Kirk, Democratic lawmakers and reasonable Republicans like the governor of Utah have been calling for restraint and condemned the shooting. The Democratic minority leader in the House, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries declared that “political violence of any kind is unacceptable and completely incompatible with American values”. Whereas the man in the WH stated: Americans must confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequences of demonizing those with whom we disagree”. He proceeded to name the attempts to his own life, the unfortunate shooting of Mr Scalise, the shooting in NY of the health executive. He did NOT mention the death of the Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hartman and her husband about a month ago, the attempt on Governor Shapiro’s home or the attack on Paul Pelosi. Then he stated that “all the violence is due to the rhetoric of the violent “radical left” political violence that has hurt too many innocent people”.
I am horrified that yet another shooting has taken place in the name of politics. Let’s start speaking to each other and try to understand where our society has gone wrong or this experiment in democracy will be finished before the 250th anniversary.
Sunday, September 14, 2025 Report this
sandy
I may not have agreed with everything Charlie Kirk said, but I am against assassinating someone because you don't like what he said.
Didn't they weaponize George Floyd? We had the so-called "summer of love". I remember on news outlet where the reporter said mostly peaceful protests where you could see burning buildings in the background. Burning buildings, looting, attacking police. Maxine Waters preached getting in the faces of Trump's cabinet and supporters whenever you see them, Biden said he should take Trump out behind the barn and beat him up. Others have said just punch conservatives and Trump.
I am not saying that I agree with everything Republican but after 49 years of being a registered Democrat, I can't agree with them either. This needs to stop. Both sides need to get together and have the discourse Charlie wanted and resolve some of the issues that separate liberal and conservative. This country won't survive if we keep fighting each other.
You can disagree with me if you want, but I see fault on both sides. Again, this needs to stop. The finger pointing needs to stop. Assassination of opponents is not the answer.
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 Report this
Dianna
Apparently developers/Pedicini/SIMWINs don't think Mitch should have an opinion since they sent another text blast out to the public. Just say no and delete/block these developer scammers.
Wednesday, September 17, 2025 Report this
GoodTimes1
Thank you Mitch, for the investigative journalism. I was unfamiliar with this man as I do not follow extreme right wing politics. Keep up the good work.
Thursday, September 18, 2025 Report this