Less than 24 hours after an unknown shooter assassinated Charlie Kirk, the widespread consensus on social media and in communities was that something about this feels different.
Americans knew things were heating up after a man shot a security guard at the Family Research Council over its beliefs in traditional marriage, after Republican Rep. Steve Scalise was shot at a congressional baseball practice, after a man planned an attempt on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s life, and after a woman plagued with radical gender ideology and Democrat-taught racism shot up a Christian school in Tennessee.
Over the last year and a half or so, Americans have endured two attempts to take out President Donald Trump, one of which took the life of hero husband and father Corey Comperatore, a self-professed demon-possession-motivated shooting on praying children, and now a fatal attack on a 31-year-old husband and father of two.
Kirk’s crime? Shouting his love for God, family, and country from the rooftops. Debating college students and effectively mobilizing American youth for conservatism.
We may not have identified who fired the fatal shot or why, but we don’t need to. The fact that the shooter aimed at Kirk’s neck and only pulled the trigger once tells us everything we need to know about why Kirk was murdered in broad daylight, doing the thing he loved most.
Kirk endured many a corporate media hit job in his short life. Those, paired with Democrats’ unwavering rhetoric calling for violence against their political enemies, undoubtedly played a role in the physical hit job that took his life.
The assassination of a titanic figure in the Christian conservative movement wasn’t simply about politics, though. It was much more.
As sad as it is, an attack on someone like Trump was not a surprise. Not only have several presidents endured assassination attempts, but Trump specifically was a target of some of the most vitriolic corporate media and Democrat smears since he announced his candidacy for the 2016 election. The blue party and their allies in the propaganda press tried for years to smear Trump as a Nazi and white supremacist, to impeach him and throw him in prison. It was only a matter of time before someone took a literal shot at him.
Kirk on the other hand, was a fairly normal guy. Sure, he had influence, but he didn’t hold the same power as elected officials or bureaucrats. At the end of the day, he was a normal guy touting normal values and beliefs that many Americans share.
Kirk was killed for the same reasons that keep many Americans alive and going. That did not go unnoticed. His murder effectively established him as a martyr and sent ripples through more than just Republican circles.
The end of Kirk’s life inarguably affected generations and will affect generations to come. Whether they cared for him or not, members of Generation Z especially were familiar with Kirk’s ways.
That’s why Americans are immeasurably angry. Angry that a wife and two kids went to bed last night without getting a goodnight from their favorite person in the whole world. Angry that engaging college kids on the topics of our time can get you killed. Angry that Democrats don’t give enough of a damn to even pretend they could tolerate a moment of silence and prayer. Angry that GOP cowardice set the stage for this moment. Angry that the media ghouls and their satanic blue sky stans spent all day yesterday celebrating. Angry that the blue party politicians and groups that have solicited political violence against people like Kirk have yet to face accountability. Angry that the shooter is still on the loose.
The assassination of Kirk feels different because it is. Americans are no longer interested in taking attacks on their principles, people, and cities sitting down. The murder of a young man whose only crime was being an effective Christian and conservative communicator marks the beginning of a war, a turning point that Democrats will regret ever starting.
When the culture war came, many self-proclaimed Christians and conservatives were caught off guard. When the rioters and looters ravaged the nation’s cities in 2020, many bent the knee and posted black squares to their social media.
Not this time.
People aren’t simply changing their voter registration status over this; they are changing their hearts and minds. They are shoring up their defenses — both spiritually and physically — and readying for battle.
Kirk knew this culture of assassination was coming and going to threaten people like you and me. The “time bomb” he typed about in April 2025, however, is no longer ticking. It just went off, and the large swaths of Americans who felt the shrapnel will respond.