Assassins never seem to learn that killing people only immortalizes their legacy

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/ SATHYAM 19

IT may take time for hindsight to come into focus, but it eventually sharpens moments that change the course of history and national identity. Among these are infamous assassinations — Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi. Looking ahead to the blurry future, will Charlie Kirk’s make the list?

He Warned Us

“When people stop talking, really bad stuff starts… it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence.”

—Charlie Kirk

The irony of Charlie Kirk’s death by political violence is not lost on his followers. “He always made the point that you need to be able to have differences of opinion out in the public square, to avoid descent into political violence,” said conservative commentator Douglas Murray, hours after the shooting.

Loud, but Not Loud Enough?

Believe it or not, the tussle now begins over what Charlie Kirk really thought about Israel.

Although he’s on record endlessly arguing in defense of the Jewish State and its actions in Gaza, infamous hater Candace Owens, claiming to speak up for “her friend,” alleged that Charlie was on the verge of changing his views — and would have, until he was subjected to an “intervention” in the Hamptons. Two weeks ago, she charged, billionaire Bill Ackman, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon, and Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu, by phone, threatened Kirk — while offering handsome donations to TPUSA if he continued to play along.

Netanyahu posted on X immediately following the murder that he had spoken to Kirk two weeks earlier and invited him to Israel. Owens alleges that the invitation had a “threatening tone.”

Tucker Carslon is loudly announcing that Kirk opposed US strikes on Iran, and he finds fault with Bibi’s quick post in his honor. “I don’t think it’s helpful for people to jump in, particularly foreign heads of state, to say, ‘This is what he lived for, my cause,’ or whatever,” he told Vance on Kirk’s podcast. “That’s disgusting…. That turns everybody off. You don’t help your own cause... and it’s also literally untrue.”

The Woke Left Cries Foul?

As of press time, some 51,000 tips about social media celebrations over Kirk’s death had poured in to online watchdog groups like Chaya Raichik’s Libs of TikTok and @TrumpStudents. Students for Trump national chair Ryan Fournier reports dozens of firings after making the posts public. Notable boots include US Army Colonel Scott Stephens and Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah. MSNBC Analyst Matthew Dowd was canned after he pretty much said Kirk had it coming: “Hateful words… lead to hateful actions.”

If you thought the left was going to take a good, hard look in the mirror after a heinous act driven by its own ideology… you don’t know the left.

Left-tilted talking heads on the networks declared that it is time for a national conversation on free speech… not because a champion of it was killed, but because people are being fired “just” for celebrating his murder.

“I’d say, [that’s] a direct attack on Americans’ free speech rights in the most classic sense, right?” complained New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie on PBS.

Will Creeley, legal director for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, disingenuously proclaimed that, “Kirk would be horrified by a state-approved ideological viewpoint” that underlies the firings.

Silent, but Not Silenced

Assassins never seem to learn that killing people only immortalizes their legacy.

Days following Kirk’s assassination, his microphone has gotten exponentially louder. His name is now familiar to millions of people who had never heard of him, and his podcast was guest-hosted by no less than the VPOTUS. Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said the organization “received over 32,000 inquiries in the last 48-hours to start new campus chapters,” a 1500% increase from its current chapters at 900 colleges and 1,200 high schools.

The pattern follows what happened after the killing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which not only solidified his civil rights movement but turned him into a federal holiday, a museum, and a street in every American city; and after the attempted shooting of then-candidate Donald J. Trump, which elevated him to pop idol status in the eyes of millions and just may have pushed him into the White House.

Spikes in Faith

The other awakening gripping middle America in the wake of Kirk’s death is religious in nature.

His dedication to keeping some form of the “Jewish sabbath” has been shared across many frum WhatsApp chats. But a word of warning is in order: In life, Kirk was an evangelist Christian, and in death, he has already been crowned a martyr.

Kirk had endorsed a theology that calls on Christians to control important aspects of society, including government. Turning Point USA Faith, the religious arm of his youth organization, was founded to “wake up believers to their biblical responsibility to fight for freedom.” He preached about “bringing a nation to repentance” and often said his activism was religiously driven. In his eulogy, Rob McCoy, pastor and cofounder of TPUSA Faith, blamed the “murderous spirit” that has acted before in Christian history.

Speaking after her husband’s murder, Erika Kirk emphasized the moment as a call to faith. Memorials held across the country, including one near Lakewood, took the form of religious candlelight vigils.

Recent demographic research indicates Kirk was winning his crusade. A Barna study found 66% of Americans affirm a “personal commitment” to Christianity, a 12% jump from 2021. Most of the shift is among Kirk’s primary target audience: young people, particularly Gen Z and millennials, with spikes in faith of 15% and 20%, respectively. That’s a dramatic swing from previous decades, when religion was primarily the realm of seniors. Pew Research Institute found similar spikes in distinctive faith subgroups.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1080)