Charlie Kirk, RIP

In April, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, posted, "Assassination culture is spreading on the left." Sadly, that proved to be prophetic, as an assassin took Charlie's life yesterday while he was speaking at Utah Valley University. He was only  31 years old.

Charlie Kirk's time as a Republican influencer in the new right was much too brief. Kirk founded Turning Point USA when he was just 18 years old and spent his media career making the argument for conservatism in a generally hostile media ecosystem. 

That’s what he was doing Wednesday afternoon when he was fatally shot in the neck. In the moment before the loud snap of a gun could be heard and a gushing injury appeared on his neck, he finished a sentence about "violence".

So far two suspects have been arrested and then released. As is customary these days, police say the shooting is still under investigation and they have no clue (duh!) as to the shooter's identity or motive. 

Still, it's impossible not to make any connection to politics and the growing wave of societal derangement. Mr Kirk was one of the American right's top conservative influencers. Now, after years of the progressive left preaching about revolution, about words being violence and about President Donald Trump being the second coming of Hitler, he's been "cancelled". RIP.

Charlie Kirk was reviled by the left not just because he was a Trump supporter, but also because he was so effective. He founded a media organization that, along with a handful of others on the right, played a key role in shattering the monopoly of ideas held by the left-leaning mainstream media. 

But he famous mostly for his debate-style "Prove me wrong!" videos, in which he sat with a microphone, listening to a long diatribe from a progressive audience member attempting to prove him wrong, and afterwards replying with a firehose of counterpoints. His style was sharp and humorous. It was a golden formula for engagement on Youtube, and no doubt an outlet for closeted young conservatives and disillusioned liberals who rarely get to see these beliefs expressed in the wild.

Charlie Kirk was a Christian*, a firm believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Just last week, he quoted Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." A few days ago, he posted, "Jesus defeated death so you can live." Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

* On his vlog Return to Tradition, Anthony Stine reveals that, shortly before his death, Charlie Kirk and his wife began attending Holy Mass once or twice a month at St. Bernardette's Catholic Church in Scottsdale AZ, and was very close to coming into the Church.