Charlie Kirk was shot dead on September 10th, 2025, after holding his classic debate-style event at Utah Valley University. He was in the middle of debating a student over gun control, in which he was asked if he could recall how many mass shootings there had been over the past 10 years. Kirk rebutted by asking, “Counting or not counting gang violence,” and then one shot fatally killed him. The shot came from reportedly 200 yards away. He was only 20 minutes into his speaking event when the shooting occurred.
Charlie Kirk was an online political pundit and staunch ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. He was known for doing just this: touring different college campuses where he would debate students over issues like abortion, racism, and, ironically, gun violence. Kirk regularly drew ire and controversy for his statements online, which were often rooted in white supremacy, misogyny, and homophobia. The commentator referred to Martin Luther King as “awful” and told Taylor Swift to “submit to her husband” after she announced her engagement. This was just the first leg of his tour, which was cut short by another all too common event of gun violence.
In the aftermath of his death, Trump immediately blamed “those on the radical left”. He linked the rhetoric from the left as being directly responsible for the rise in “terrorism” and political violence in the country. “The radicals on the right are radical because they don’t want to see crime … The radicals on the left are the problem – and they are vicious and horrible and politically savvy.” On Fox News, Trump was asked how the nation could resolve the growing tension, and he replied by saying, “he couldn’t care less”.
His lack of concern becomes all too obvious as most of his statements were utter lies. In reality, according to an ADL report, three-quarters of extremist-related killings over the past 10 years have been from the right. Beyond ideology, mass shootings and acts of political violence are made easier by America’s lax gun laws. But the easier solution isn’t to address the fact that there are more guns in circulation in America than people or that the gun homicide rate is 26 times higher than in any developed nation – no, the easier solution is to lie. To show every sign of apathy for the citizens you serve, and instead fabricate a narrative.
Charlie Kirk’s assassin has been caught, and an investigation is already underway to determine the motives. Still, the truth is almost meaningless when it will ultimately be used as a vehicle for weaponization. Without any real solutions, polarization will only result in more polarization; violence will only result in endless violence.
This narrative that Trump has created is not unique. It’s one founded in a not-so-distant past of authoritarianism and demonization of leftists. As noted in “How Trump Will Carry on the Legacy of Fascism”, he is taking a page out of the fascist playbook. These regimes weaponized martyrs and events of political violence to escalate violence against political dissent and limit the rights of the public. Nazi Germany was founded on the Reichstag Fire, an arson attack that Hitler used to diminish already fragile liberties. The greatest danger of our present is that Charlie Kirk’s death becomes the next Reichstag Fire.
There are several examples of fascist regimes using certain events to escalate tensions and violence. Before Francisco Franco’s rise in Spain, the assassination of a Catholic-nationalist and monarchist, José Calvo Sotelo, served as a prelude to authoritarianism. It sparked the planning of a military coup and the Spanish Civil War, which secured Franco’s power. During his reign, he imprisoned and massacred thousands of leftists and collaborated with the Nazi regime.
A more recent example is October 7th, the attack on an Israeli music festival by Hamas and other Palestinian forces. This has led to the genocidal campaign, which has murdered at least 60,000 Palestinians through starvation, bombings, and torture. October will mark the second year of these ongoing atrocities.
But the most relevant example to Charlie Kirk’s death comes from two events at the inception of Nazi Germany. One of them was an arson named the Reichstag Fire. Passersby on the night of February 27th, 1933, heard the sound of breaking glass. The Parliamentary building burst into flames soon after. The fire destroyed the main chamber and caused an estimated $1 million in damage.
Police arrested Marinus van der Lubbe, a 24-year-old Dutch laborer with Communist sympathies, who was found at the scene. He confessed to the arson, stating his motive was to spark a workers’ uprising against the state. He was convicted and then beheaded one year later. However, many people at the time questioned whether there was truly any tie to Communism. Some people even theorized that the Nazis set the fire themselves. Historians generally agree that Van der Lubbe was truthful in his testimony.
Hitler took the event as an opportunity to crack down on the left. The freshly installed chancellor eroded the Weimar constitution, the right to assembly, and free speech through the Reichstag Fire Decree. It went into effect the next day and also allowed the regime to overrule state and local laws. When Hitler went to inspect the building, he stated, “Anyone who stands in our way will be cut down”. These words weren’t just a statement, but a promise, as thousands of Communists were rounded up that night, tortured, and imprisoned. This included 81 Communists in the Parliament. Just a month later, the Enabling Act was passed, which effectively handed over power to Hitler. Then, when the old president, Hindenburg, died, Hitler was granted absolute power.
The second event is the martyrdom of Horst Wessel. He was a member of Hitler’s paramilitary group, the SA or the Stormtroopers. Wessel’s group often got into scuffles with Communists in Berlin, and on January 14th, 1930, a small group of communists fatally shot him.
Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels mythologized Wessel’s death and turned him into a martyr. He was celebrated in films, books, and public ceremonies. Prior to his death, Wessel had written a song that became an anthem within the Nazi Party. Through his death, they influenced others to die for the cause and rationalize attacks on leftists and other Nazi targets.
As of writing this, Trump has already begun to weaponize the FCC to silence Jimmy Kimmel and has made moves to label Antifa a terrorist organization, despite it being a decentralized movement. With his streak of fabrication, this designation will most likely be used to go after leftists or any political dissent.
Just a day after the shooting, Trump could be seen dancing at Yankee Stadium. That same day, a reporter asked how he was holding up, and he replied, “I’ve been very good,” then pointing to the $200 million ballroom the White House is building. It’s clear that Trump didn’t really care about Charlie Kirk’s death. He only cares about how he can weaponize the narrative to carry out his fascist agenda.
It is our job to remind our neighbors and friends that this attack on the “left” will not be helpful. That, if successful, will put them in the crosshairs as well. After all, Martin Niemöller is credited with his famous quote, which he said while imprisoned in a concentration camp. No amount of lying low or capitulation will keep you safe, so fighting back while the organs of justice are still vaguely intact is the only option.
Charlie Kirk often celebrated political violence, whether it be George Floyd’s murder or the genocide in Gaza, but he ultimately became a victim of it. Kirk’s death and the Trump administration are the inevitable conclusion to a nation founded on political violence – founded on genocide and othering the out-group. The unavoidable consequence of an untreated wound is an infection that has festered over the past 250 years. From the torturous conditions of enslavement to the Jim Crow South to the McCarthy trials, Eisenhower’s mass deportation, the assassination of the Black Panthers, and America’s detrimental foreign policy – this wound is rotten.
Graphic courtesy of Clare Seymour
