Is this where we are now?
What makes the Charlie Kirk shooting different, and chilling
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The only sensible response to Charlie Kirk’s killing is to be horrified, and heartbroken for his family. None of his controversial comments or positions make it any less awful. (While a specific quote of his about gun violence makes the rounds on social media, Snopes puts it in context.)
Yes, as the media is pointing out, it appears to be the latest act of political violence sweeping through both sides of America’s political system. In June, a gunman killed a Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and her husband, and wounded another Democratic lawmaker and his wife. A prosecutor called it “the stuff of nightmares.”
Neither political party is stemming the growing violence. To understand this failure, and how the media is making it worse, listen to my recent episode on gun violence at schools and across society.
But there’s something else about the Charlie Kirk shooting that makes it different and chilling. As of now, authorities are saying he was killed by a single shot from the roof of a building 200 yards away.
This is, as far as I can tell, new and different. Some prominent politicians have to worry about shooters from this kind of a distance, and longer. But in general, even very controversial speakers have not. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot from 207 feet away in 1968. In 2022, author Salman Rushdie, subject of a fatwa from Iran, was stabbed on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and survived.
Have we reached a point in which controversial speakers need Secret Service level security scoping out rooftops? I speak at public events all the time. Is this something that I, and so many other people, now have to worry about? To be clear, I’m not comparing myself to these folks with massive, rabid followings. But if this triggers copycats, will speaking in public become more dangerous than ever? (Side note: I gave an inaugural lecture at Chautauqua.)
The media is, of course, going wild with political angles and discussions about Charlie Kirk’s killing. (It will almost surely meet the definition of assassination, but until we know the shooter I can’t declare that a fact.) And more details will come out. But in our society, we need more people to come together to build solutions. That requires looking at the same set of facts. And on that, the media is coming up relatively empty.
Share your thoughts and questions, including what you’re seeing about all this in the media, for next week’s episode.
JL
I have been reading very recent revelations about Kirk’s killer. He is farther right than Kirk. He supports Nick Fuentes. Another far right wing-nut doing a despicable act. But this time the right is eating their own.