Left-wing violence is still being normalized

Six months before being shot in the neck and murdered, the popular conservative commentator Charlie Kirk retweeted our study on political violence in America. Warning the nation that assassination culture was spreading amongst the left, Kirk highlighted our study showing that 48 percent of politically left-wing respondents in a recent poll said it would be at least somewhat justifiable to murder Elon Musk. He noted, too, that 55 percent of them also believed the same about killing President Trump. And, most acutely, he highlighted that this is the natural outgrowth of a left-wing political culture that has tolerated violence for years. Sadly, tragically and unbelievably, we learn that he has become its latest victim. Left-wing violence is still being normalized. And once more, it is continuing to bear ugly and bitter fruit. 

The ongoing events around the shooting of Charlie Kirk murder remain in motion. At the time of writing, few details have been squeezed out; yet we cannot imagine that, given his overt political posture, this was anything short of a targeted assassination incubated by the same pathological trends that are expanding online. Charlie Kirk is a well-known right-wing commentator with strong views on a variety of topics that are salient to vast swathes of the Western world. Within hours of his shooting in Utah yesterday, individuals ranging from Donald Trump, Candace Owens and even Benjamin Netanyahu took to X to offer prayers and consolations. Even for a country growing used to calls for corporate executives and conservative politicians to be “luigi’d” (slang for assassinated, named for Luigi Mangione) this act is breathtaking in horror. This assassination occurred while he was surrounded by thousands of idealistic college teenagers. 

Given the high likelihood of his shooting as politically motivated, there is simply no doubt that this represents another, more serious escalation in the growth of political violence in America. In July’s edition of The Spectator, our research showed that the rise in left-wing violence was both unmistakable and unprecedented. In polling, we discovered a sea change in American life, partly reflected in surveys and partly reflected on meme cultures on social media. And within a few hours of Kirk’s shooting, posts generating hundreds of thousands and even millions of views expressed delight, amusement and pleasure in this unprecedented act of political violence against a cultural commentator. Many of those X handles who did so carried the red triangle of Hamas affiliation with pride. Others accused him of being hateful, demagogic, Zionist fascist. A panelist on MSNBC, meanwhile, suggested that it might merely be the result of an accidental shooting of a gun in celebration.

The rise in left-wing violence reflects a US society that is tearing apart at the seams. Images, memes, and public glorification of such actions found their folk hero in the rise of Luigi Mangione, after his public killing of Brian Thompson last year sparked a firestorm of public debate on drastic polarization in the US. This murder ricocheted through social-media ecosystems and video-game forums, generating a panoply of bizarre memes that celebrated his act as noble and just response to the evils of corporate America. All of these alarming changes rest on growing psychological distortions, as more and more Americans feel like they lack control over the events of their own life. Civic responsibility increasingly dissolves into utter nihilism, as public revenge against political “enemies” takes center stage for aggressive individuals seeking a moment of glory. They know enough people online will mourn them. Luigi Mangione’s defense fund has already raised a staggering $1 million dollars. 

Soon we will hear who the shooter was and why he committed this shocking act of extreme political violence. Inevitably, we will learn where his or her political commitments lay. Undoubtedly, too, we will learn that he believed himself to be fighting for a good cause. Tragically, he is unlikely to be the last one to do so.

Left-wing violence is being normalized. The question remains about whether it can be stopped. Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk.