Charlie Kirk’s Murder Reminds Us: Violence Dismantles Democracy

Political terror is the road to collapse

Photo By Gage Skidmore / CC

On September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was shot in the neck while speaking at Utah Valley University, dying later that day. The images — captured on cell phones, live streamed, and replayed endlessly — are shocking. Yet they risk being consumed as spectacle rather than absorbed as warning.

Kirk was a polarizing figure, one of the most prominent voices on the American right. His assassination should not be fodder for schadenfreude or partisan scorekeeping. It should sharpen our focus on a more urgent reality: political violence is becoming ordinary in the United States.

A Pattern, Not an Anomaly

We have seen attacks like this before. On January 6, 2021, a pro-Trump mob staged a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, chanting “Hang Mike Pence” as they tried to block certification of the election. Paul Pelosi was beaten with a hammer inside his home. Michigan’s governor was the target of a kidnapping plot. And just this summer,President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt while campaigning in Pennsylvania. Charlie Kirk’s killing belongs to this grim lineage.

The data shows a clear imbalance. The Center for Strategic and International Studies reports that right-wing extremists were responsible for two-thirds of terrorist plots and attacks in the U.S. between 2015 and 2021, including nearly all the deadly ones. The University of Maryland’s START project echoes the finding: far-right violence has been consistently more lethal than far-left incidents over the last decade.

Polling data indicates that around a third of Republicans believe violence may be justified to ‘save the country,’ compared to about 13% of Democrats. At the same time, other research reveals that both parties have at times expressed alarmingly similar willingness to condone violence under certain political conditions. We do not yet know the shooter’s motive or political affiliate. The perpetrator remains at large. But context matters: even before motives are confirmed, this event fits into a broader trajectory of rising political violence.

Why It Matters Beyond One Man

The consequences extend further than one attack. Each attack widens the circle of fear. Prospective candidates think twice before running for office. Students avoid political events. Ordinary citizens who staff, organize, or simply attend public forums wonder if it is worth the risk.

Democracy relies not just on ballots but on the willingness of people to show up in public life. Violence undermines that willingness, replacing argument with avoidance.

The Media’s Role

Coverage of political violence is rarely even-handed. Right-wing attacks tend to be portrayed as the acts of “lone wolves” or “troubled men,” while left-wing incidents are often labeled as collective “unrest.” Meanwhile, social media algorithms reward outrage, not clarity — escalating sensationalism over sober analysis. In the tangled feedback loop of coverage and clicks, each new act of violence devolves into a culture-war spectacle rather than sounding an alarm for democracy.

What This Moment Demands

1. Kirk’s assassination should force an honest reckoning.

   • Leaders across the spectrum must condemn political violence unequivocally.

   • Media outlets must resist sensationalism and apply consistent standards regardless of ideology.

   • Citizens should recognize that indulging in fantasies of violence — whether in chants, memes, or “jokes” — creates the soil for real bloodshed.

   Democracy does not require us to like or agree with one another. But we do need to insist that ideas are contested with words, not bullets. When violence replaces debate, the entire system loses.

   No Closure

   Charlie Kirk’s death is is another eruption in a political climate that has been overheating for years. Pretending otherwise guarantees more eruptions to come.

   We owe it to democracy — and to ourselves — to reject the normalization of political violence. If we fail to do so, Charlie Kirk’s death will not be the last warning we ignore.