In the days since Charlie Kirk was tragically killed while speaking at Utah Valley University, a particular narrative has emerged in Republican circles and been adopted by central figures in the Trump administration: that responsibility for Kirk’s death lies not just with alleged shooter Tyler Robinson but with broad swaths of left-wing organizations and media outlets — writ large, the broad, amorphous demographic known as “The Left.” This idea is ridiculous, but that hasn’t stopped top White House officials from using it to lay the groundwork for state suppression of dissent.
Hours after Kirk was shot, top Republican donor and former Trump advisor Elon Musk posted “The Left is the party of murder.” Days later, Utah Senator Mike Lee reposted an image of Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika weeping over his casket captioned “The left did this. They radicalized the killer and he murdered a good man… I will never unify with the monsters who did this.”
On Sunday, conservative commentator Matt Walsh posted this message to an audience of 3.8 million followers: “Left wing violence is the greatest terror threat that Americans face and it isn’t even close. We must actively dismantle and crush these terror networks. Every elected Republican must be clear about this. No false equivalencies or impotent ‘both sides’ rhetoric.”
Kirk was allegedly shot by a man named Tyler Robinson, a Utah native who, according to his family, had “become more political” in the years leading up to the shooting and had voiced his disdain for Kirk. Some shell casings from the rifle allegedly used in the shooting had anti-fascist messaging written on them. Utah Governor Spencer Cox told news outlets that Robinson was “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology.”
If Robinson is the killer, it seems likely that he is liberal who became more and more radicalized towards violence and left-wing partisanship until he boiled over. Even if left-wing media played a role in that radicalization, it doesn’t follow that they are to blame for Robinson’s actions. He is an individual with free will who chose to make a series of decisions which ultimately culminated in the decision to shoot a man. The responsibility lies with him. It doesn’t make sense to hold an entire half of the American political spectrum responsible for Kirk’s killing — the half that Musk calls “The Left” with a capital L.
Another problem with holding “The Left” responsible for Robinson’s alleged actions is that it’s more of an idea than a definable group of people and organizations. When Mike Lee posts that The Left killed Charlie Kirk, what individuals and groups is he specifically referring to? It’s not clear. This ambiguity allows him to stoke feelings of righteous indignation in his audience without actually taking the risk of blaming anyone in particular.
Matt Walsh’s post on left-wing violence being “the greatest terror threat that Americans face,” is even more confusing. Walsh doesn’t cite a source for this bold claim, but a recent study from the CATO Institute, a right-libertarian think tank, found that left-wing terrorism has been responsible for only 2% of the deaths caused by politically-motivated terrorism in the United States since 1975, while right-wing terror is responsible for 11% of the deaths. Both are dwarfed by deaths due to “Islamism,” which make up the other 87%, though nearly all of those deaths occurred on September 11th, 2001. Walsh is either knowingly lying or incredibly careless and ignorant. Either case is troubling.
It’s also unclear what “terror networks” Walsh is talking about. There is no public information whatsoever that suggests the possibility of co-conspirators involved in the killing of Kirk, much less any “terror networks.”
Despite this lack of evidence, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller appears to be on the same page as Walsh: “With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle, and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people.” What networks is Miller planning to crush? That remains to be seen.
On Wednesday, President Trump announced that he would be designating Antifa as a terrorist organization, despite the fact that Antifa isn’t an organization at all, but — like “The Left” as a whole — a broad ideological movement sharing some common symbols. One could make the case that any given individual American, regardless of actual ideology, is part of “The Left.” It would be possible — albeit more difficult — to make the case that they are a part of Antifa. There is no membership card. There is no structure. There isn’t even a defined set of beliefs. “The Left” is nothing more than a useful abstraction that exists in the minds of the politically engaged.
If the power of the state is being mobilized against organizations that don’t properly exist, to avenge a killing perpetrated by just one man, then who will end up being targeted? The Trump administration and its media allies have already begun exploiting Kirk’s tragic death to justify censorship. Students are being expelled. Workers are being fired. The Federal Communications Commission pressured ABC to suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show from airing.
Some of the comments made about Kirk after he was gunned down in front of his wife and toddlers are incredibly disrespectful. However, they are also forms of political speech protected under the first amendment. If you honestly believe that this trend of censorship will end in two weeks after Kirk’s death leaves the news cycle, you have the naïveté of a toddler. Governments don’t simply give up a newfound power after using it once. The monstrous leviathan that is the United States federal government will be no exception.
One potent check against the power of this leviathan is public opinion — the will of the people. That’s why blaming “The Left” for Kirk’s death has become so popular overnight. When Vice President J.D. Vance blames “left-wing extremism” for Kirk’s killing, he harnesses the anger swirling through the conservative base and directs it right back at “The Left.”
Missouri Representative Bob Onder did the same on the floor of Congress when he declared, “Some on the American left are undoubtedly well-meaning people. Their ideology is pure evil. They literally will kill those with whom they disagree.”
Now when the Department of Justice suggests bringing RICO charges — designed to prosecute organizations according to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — against random liberals who heckled Trump at a dinner, it’s okay because what they’re really doing is bringing Charlie Kirk’s killers, “The Left,” to justice. Ignore the fact that the likely killer, who seems to have acted alone, is already sitting in a Utah jail cell.
On Fox News, Stephen Miller addressed those whom he called “domestic terrorists in this country,” warning them: “The power of law enforcement under President Trump’s leadership will be used to find you, will be used to take away your money, take away your power and if you have broken the law, take away your freedom.”
Conservatives have spent the last decade campaigning endlessly for free speech. Charlie Kirk himself denied that hate speech even exists. But now, the Trump administration is cracking down on their political opposition, with Kirk’s corpse as their blank check. As the hecklers at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab are finding out, if you criticize Trump, you’re part of “The Left.” If you’re part of “The Left,” you killed Charlie Kirk. Thus, the relentless power of the state may be brought down on you.
As Miller said so succinctly, “It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name.”
The opinions expressed within this piece represent the views of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Jefferson Independent.
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