“When people stop talking, that’s when violence happens.” -Charlie Kirk
Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old husband, father, patriot, and conservative activist, was assassinated at one of Turning Point USA’s “Prove Me Wrong” college campus events on September 10, 2025. This was a targeted attack and a graphic depiction of the worst, most rotten capabilities of mankind. This crime has once again marred the American ideal of free speech, showing that evil does exist and despite our Constitutional right to free speech—freedom isn’t always free.
The assassination of an innocent man, a husband, and a father to two young children, who made his life’s work about engaging in free and healthy debate, is despicable. In the past week and a half processing Mr. Kirk’s murder, I have spent a lot of time watching clips of Charlie in debates, speeches, and interviews that show how dedicated to his beliefs he was and how he managed to converse with all sorts of people in a respectful manner. Though he often disagreed with people who came up to the mic to ask him a question, he earnestly sought out to understand their point of view, correct misconceptions, and if no conclusion could be reached, he always tried to parse the issue at hand to find at least one point they could agree upon. I think it important to stress this point. Charlie rarely lost his cool. A few out of context clips have been circulating that show rare moments of intensity, but they cannot be used exclusively to define the man. After watching his debates in their totality, anyone with an open mind can see that he truly cared for the truth and did not have any malice in his heart. Crowds would boo and heckle debate his opponents on college campuses and Charlie would correct them and ask them to hear out the opponent. He was bigger than the impropriety of these kids. He was an advocate for truth in a world where people are adamantly opposed to even having to defend their viewpoints with simple explanations. So much so, that many people promote violence in response to being questioned.
When this kind of violent rhetoric is promoted and not condemned, it seeps into the subconscious of viewers, and makes these vile thoughts seem rational. Users on TikTok were celebrating the shooting, claiming “one down” (implying more to go). I saw someone on Instagram post: “No one deserved it more.” Sickening.
This is the first time in my life that I have felt deeply affected by the death of a famous figure. Though I have been sad at the passing of actors from my favorite movies, that never felt real. Celebrities feel so far removed from normal life. Charlie Kirk’s murder, I believe, has affected me and so many others so much because he was one of us. A regular guy who managed to live out the American Dream. Even outside the scope of this being a horrific assassination, Charlie Kirk throughout all of his work and online presence, existed as just who he was—a good Christian, good husband, good father, and dedicated Patriot which makes this feel like more of a personal loss.
Though Charlie did not attend college nor did he promote it, he was a strong advocate for learning. He encouraged students to seek out all the knowledge they can, to seek wisdom, to read and contemplate as he so often did—about politics, theology, philosophy, and classical examples of what is true, good, and beautiful. One of the issues he was most passionate about was the revival of the American family. Charlie Kirk time and time again spoke of the traditional family as paramount to glorifying God.
A quote from Charlie that summarizes his value of the strong family unit:
“If any young man is listening to this right now, like stop, stop watching p**n stop, you know, smoking w**d, stop drinking endlessly, find yourself back to church. That will reorient your life. And do what the Church tells you to do, right? Find a woman, marry her, provide, have more kids than you can afford. That’s my advice for young men. Don’t play the victim. Even though you legitimately can play the victim card on everything we’ve said, the mindset of a victim is parasitic to your soul.”
Even beyond Charlie as a man, we must acknowledge what he stood for. An 18-year-old young man who built an organization from the ground up—that which has become that largest and greatest in the conservative movement. He was the most eloquent advocate for truth in this generation. In an interview, Charlie was asked what he would want to be remembered for after his death. Charlie responded, “courage for my faith.” All of Charlie’s beliefs were rooted in his fierce belief of being a servant for God. Though he was an evangelical Christian, Charlie had started to advocate for Christians to venerate Mary, the mother of God in recent months. (Big thumbs up!) Charlie Kirk was the figure of unification for the current conservative movement. This can be seen in the 2024 MAGA x MAHA x conservative youth coalition that emerged for the 2024 election—thanks to TPUSA’s events.
Whatever this means for America, I pray that we may have strong hearts, and eyes fixed upon the Lord.
“Good is never accomplished except at the cost of those who do it, truth never breaks through except through the sacrifice of those who spread it.” -St. John Henry Newman.
May God bless and protect Charlie’s family. May God bless and protect America. Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us. St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us.