Charlie Kirk Dead

[Darth Yan]

https://apnews.com/live/utah-valley-uni ... ng-updates

Basically he was giving a speech and was shot in the neck. His death was confirmed by a spokesman.

Personally, good riddance to bad rubbish.

[Crazedwraith]

Regardless of what you think of him and sounds like he wasn't a good person, this is a really bad thing and will be used by the current regime to do bad things. Though in fairness they'd do they anyway at the next excuse if it wasn't this one.

[LadyTevar]

Ok, so the older white man they'd detained was NOT the shooter?

[EnterpriseSovereign]

I'd never heard of him before today but it sounds like he was an asshole and nothing of value was lost

That's what they're saying and that the shooter is still out there. Shame Thomas Matthew Crooks wasn't as good a shot as this guy.

[Soontir C'boath]

Regardless of what you think of him and sounds like he wasn't a good person, this is a really bad thing and will be used by the current regime to do bad things. Though in fairness they'd do they anyway at the next excuse if it wasn't this one.

We had a Democratic politician assassinated and it's not even in news anymore already.

But yes, it certainly doesn't help in the sphere of political commentators on who might be next if one chooses to do tit for tat.

In the end, Charlie Kirk once said back in 2023, "I think it's worth it. I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights." -Snopes

It's just unfortunate that when they say things like this, they mean it to happen to other people. Not themselves.

[Zaune]

Well, that's one way to stand up for your beliefs in 2nd Amendment fundamentalism.

[Elfdart]

Great career move!

[LadyTevar]

The internet's going nuts with all the RightWing Conservatives whinging and crying over Kirk's death, and lashing out at everyone who even thinks of saying "Yeah, well, he was an asshole".

I'm having a really fun time trolling some of these whiners on FB right now.

[Soontir C'boath]

Ok, update: 22 year old Tyler Robinson has been turned over to the police by a family friend after confessing to a family member that he committed the deed.

It's ridiculous how details seem to be so fluid. Reuters wrote below that it was a family member. Watching videos and other sources, they outright say it was the father and it was just him that turned him in. Other sources have said he was a registered Republican, but then Reuters wrote he was non-affiliated. Definitely a reminder to myself that even sources I trust may not get it right.

OREM, Utah, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The suspect in Charlie Kirk's shooting, Tyler Robinson, is a 22-year-old Utah native who authorities say had allegedly criticized the conservative influencer in a recent conversation and was living with his family at the time of the shooting.
Robinson was arrested late on Thursday after a family friend called authorities, officials said on Friday.

Investigators have not publicly identified a motive. Utah Governor Spencer Cox told reporters that a family member interviewed by law enforcement said Robinson had recently mentioned Kirk’s appearance at Utah Valley University, where he was shot on Tuesday.
"They talked about why they didn't like him and the viewpoints he had," Cox said.

Robinson had also become more political in recent years, the family member told investigators, and authorities said he had engraved what appeared to be anti-fascist messages on bullet casings they found with the suspected murder weapon.

Robinson, who was arrested for aggravated murder and other charges, has no criminal history, according to state records reviewed by Reuters.
He was a registered voter but was not affiliated with a political party, according to voter records. He is listed as an “inactive” voter, which indicates he did not cast a ballot in last year's presidential election, when Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris.

Robinson graduated in 2021 from Pine View High School in St. George, Utah. A video online of the commencement ceremony shows him carrying his diploma on stage as attendees cheer.

He briefly attended Utah State University in Logan for one semester that fall, the school confirmed to Reuters. It was not immediately clear why he left the college.

In a video posted by his mother on Facebook, Robinson can be seen reading aloud from a letter offering him a four-year scholarship from Utah State University, as she cheered. Another post said Robinson had earned a score of 34 on the ACT college entrance exam, which would put him in the top 1% of test takers, according to the Princeton Review test preparation company.

At the time of his arrest, he was living at his family’s home in Washington County, in the southwest corner of Utah near the Nevada border, Cox said.
He has two younger brothers, according to his parents’ Facebook posts. His mother is a social worker at a non-profit healthcare company, while his father’s occupation was not immediately clear.

FACEBOOK POSTS SHOW DOTING MOTHER
His mother’s Facebook posts over the years – most of which were deleted on Friday – mostly doted on her family: documenting trips to Alaska, the Caribbean and Disneyland; celebrating school plays, Halloween costumes and adopted pet rabbits; expressing pride as the three boys moved up in school. None of the posts appeared political in any way.

Other posts show Robinson and his brothers occasionally with guns, though that is not uncommon in a state with permissive firearms laws.
“Driving away without him was one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do in a long time,” his mother wrote in one post about helping him move to college in 2021. “He’s so excited to start his journey and it’s going to be so amazing for him!”

On Thursday evening, Cox said, a family member called a family friend who in turn called the Washington County’s Sheriff’s Office “with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident.”

Robinson’s roommate also showed messages Robinson had sent via the Discord platform describing leaving a rifle in a bush wrapped in a towel – matching the weapon that authorities recovered in a wooded area near the scene of the shooting.

Robinson was booked into the Utah County jail in Spanish Fork, about 12 miles (19 km) south of the university where Kirk was shot. He has not yet been formally charged.

Reporting by Andrew Hay, Nathan Layne, James Pearson, Jana Winter, Raphael Satter, Sarah N. Lynch, Tim Reid, AJ Vicens; Writing by Joseph Ax, editing by Ross Colvin, Alistair Bell and Nick Zieminski

[LadyTevar]

Rep Nancy Mace, before they found the killer : "TIME TO BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY!"

REP Nancy Mace, after finding out it's a Cis White Mormon Teen: "Kirk would want us to pray for such an evil, lost individual to Find Jesus. We will try to do the same"


Uhh... he was Mormon, he'd known Jesus all his life, honey.
But you go ahead and start searching for Christ yourself, gods know you need him far more than Kirk or Robinson do.

[bilateralrope]

I don't know much about Charlie Kirk. But I've been told that he called empathy a sin. Which means a lot of people on the right are ignoring what he believed in favor of what they find convenient. As usual.

It's ridiculous how details seem to be so fluid. Reuters wrote below that it was a family member. Watching videos and other sources, they outright say it was the father and it was just him that turned him in. Other sources have said he was a registered Republican, but then Reuters wrote he was non-affiliated. Definitely a reminder to myself that even sources I trust may not get it right.

At least there isn't anything pointing to him being a democrat until people look deeper, unlike the guy who shot at Trump.

[Ralin]

I don't know much about Charlie Kirk. But I've been told that he called empathy a sin. Which means a lot of people on the right are ignoring what he believed in favor of what they find convenient. As usual.

Wait I've been joking about how we should honor his legacy by being on guard against the sin of empathy but is he actually the one who came up with that line? Quick search says it was some pastor.

[Solauren]

I've seen several Republicans now calling for tougher gun-laws. The same ones non-Republicans have been calling for for decades.


It's almost like they realized "it could happen to ME"

[bilateralrope]

Lets see how many change their mind once the school shooting industry starts lobbying.

Yes, that exists. The school shooting industry is worth billions — and it keeps growing.

Sane gun laws would mean less shootings, so they can't sell as much stuff to protect against them.

[Solauren]

Lets see how many change their mind once the school shooting industry starts lobbying.

Yes, that exists. The school shooting industry is worth billions — and it keeps growing.

Sane gun laws would mean less shootings, so they can't sell as much stuff to protect against them.

Only if they have a bad PR department. A Good PR department would take place the credit for the reduction in shootings on their products, cite non-existent statistics and the like, and then reveal their newest product.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Apparently the shell casings for the rifle had anti-fascist phrases inscribed on them, including "Hey fascist! Catch!" and "Bella ciao," the title of a World War II-era Italian anti-fascist song.

And of course Trump is calling for the guy to get the death penalty.

[Elfdart]

When George Lincoln Rockwell was killed in 1967, there was no attempt to make him a martyr or saint, except maybe among cross-burners and goose-steppers. No moments of silence were held in the Capitol -let alone Yankee Stadium- for Rockwell. President Lyndon Johnson didn't hold a press conference vowing to avenge the fallen "hero", and Vice President Hubert Humphrey sure as hell didn't send Air Force 2 to give his earthly remains a ride across the nation, either. Somewhere in hell, Horst Wessel must be thinking "Bitch, please!"

Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Deserves No Mourning

The white Christian nationalist provocateur wasn’t a promoter of civil discourse. He preached hate, bigotry, and division
Elizabeth Spiers

Charles James Kirk, 31, died on Wednesday from a gunshot to the neck at a Utah Valley University campus event just as he was trying to deflect a question about mass shootings by suggesting they were largely a function of gang violence. He died with a net worth of $12 million, which he made by espousing horrific and bigoted views in the name of advancing Christian nationalism. The foundation of his empire was the group he cofounded and led, Turning Point USA, which is a key youth-recruitment arm of the MAGA movement. Kirk was able to launch Turning Point at the age of 18 because he received money from Tea Party member Bill Montgomery, right-wing donor Foster Feiss, and his own father, also a prolific right-wing donor. He was an unrepentant racist, transphobe, homophobe, and misogynist who often wrapped his bigotry in Bible verses because there was no other way to pretend that it was morally correct. He had children, as do many vile people.

It is rude of me to say all of this, because we live in a culture where manners are often valued more than truth. That is why a slew of pundits and politicians have raced to portray Kirk’s activities, which harmed many vulnerable people, in a positive light—and to give him the benefit of the doubt that he did not grant to anyone who wasn’t white, Christian, straight, and male.

There's more at the link.

[bilateralrope]

There's also this shell casing:

Other engravings hinted more at connections to online trolling and memes, including one that said, "If you read this, you are gay LMAO."

So I have to question if what he inscribed on them reflects what he believes.

[LadyTevar]

Apparently the shell casings for the rifle had anti-fascist phrases inscribed on them, including "Hey fascist! Catch!" and "Bella ciao," the title of a World War II-era Italian anti-fascist song.

And of course Trump is calling for the guy to get the death penalty.

There's gamers saying that both of those lines are from video games. The "Hey fascist! Catch!" is the line where you throw a bomb at one enemy, supposedly.

[Solauren]

Probably the video game got them from history, and the Gamers are too uneducated to know the sources.

[Elfdart]

Probably the video game got them from history, and the Gamers are too uneducated to know the sources.

Americans by and large are pretty ignorant about history and politics: the educational system and media are designed to keep us in the dark. The idea that an American gamer in his early 20s knew the origins of Bella Ciao or which faction in Italy it's most identified with, is as ridiculous as a 12-year-old boy's claim that he looked through an issue of Playboy for the latest short story from Kurt Vonnegut. Is it possible? Sure, but it's not likely at all.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

The internet's going nuts with all the RightWing Conservatives whinging and crying over Kirk's death, and lashing out at everyone who even thinks of saying "Yeah, well, he was an asshole".

I'm having a really fun time trolling some of these whiners on FB right now.

Found some more here:
Link.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Probably the video game got them from history, and the Gamers are too uneducated to know the sources.

Americans by and large are pretty ignorant about history and politics: the educational system and media are designed to keep us in the dark. The idea that an American gamer in his early 20s knew the origins of Bella Ciao or which faction in Italy it's most identified with, is as ridiculous as a 12-year-old boy's claim that he looked through an issue of Playboy for the latest short story from Kurt Vonnegut. Is it possible? Sure, but it's not likely at all.

Does anyone without Italian roots even know something as obscure as that?

[bilateralrope]

Apparently the shell casings for the rifle had anti-fascist phrases inscribed on them, including "Hey fascist! Catch!" and "Bella ciao," the title of a World War II-era Italian anti-fascist song.

And of course Trump is calling for the guy to get the death penalty.

There's gamers saying that both of those lines are from video games. The "Hey fascist! Catch!" is the line where you throw a bomb at one enemy, supposedly.

Specifically Helldivers 2. Where the players are fighting for a fascist regime.

The arrows on one shell casing are the sequence to call in an airstrike.

Bella Ciao has an interesting aspect to how it's used today

The message on the third unfired bullet is particularly interesting. The song “Bella Ciao” is an Italian anti-Nazi and anti-fascist folk song from the 1940s.

However, it’s also a popular song among “Groypers,” a group of far-right extremists aligned most popularly with 27-year-old white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes. This group has historically criticized Kirk from the right, and in what they called “Groyper Wars,” Fuentes would criticize Kirk and instruct his followers on how to troll Kirk’s events.

On Friday afternoon, a screenshot of a “Bella Ciao” remix appearing on a “Groyper Wars” playlist gained more than 2,400 retweets on X.

So we have nothing to tell us if he the shooter was to the left or right of Charlie Kirk. The messages on the casings could go either way.

[Elfdart]

Does anyone without Italian roots even know something as obscure as that?

It was a popular song for crooners to sing back in the 1960s, so maybe among a few people older than baby boomers.