WSJ
The killing of Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two and a prominent political leader on the right, is another horrifying scene in a country that is heartsick of witnessing them. Kirk was appearing at a public event Wednesday in a courtyard on the campus of Utah Valley University when he was shot in the neck.
As we went to press, news reports said no suspect was in custody, and the killer’s identity remained unknown. A university spokesman had said the shooter fired from a building about 200 yards from Kirk’s speech. Given the pattern of such events, it would not be surprising to learn that the assassin was disturbed and mentally ill. Given Kirk’s celebrity as a MAGA movement leader, it would not be surprising to learn that the killer had a political motivation.
This is all the more tragic because Kirk built his movement, Turning Point USA, the old-fashioned way: through political debate. His method was to appear on college campuses and welcome all comers to take him on with questions and opposing points of view. He did this amid the height of cancel culture and the worst of screaming mobs on campus who wanted to shut down conservative speakers.