In the case of Kirk, law enforcement believes a combination of leftist ideological influences — including education, media, and online platforms — played a role in leading him to carry out the shooting.
of awful things, telling Ameri- cans that ‘innocent people are in danger’ because they dis- agree with our stance, and con- vincing Americans that speech is indeed akin to real violence.”
NORMALIZING HATE: Complex Progressive Propaganda Campaign Since Trump’s election in 2016, online rhetoric has cre- ated a tinderbox. Left-leaning leaders, includ-
ing congressional Democrats and cable pundits, often com- pare opponents to Nazis, align- ing with academia. Prominent Democrats
like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez of New York frequently refer to “fascist threats” when discussing Republicans, while networks such as MSNBC and CNN have highlighted Holo- caust comparisons. Even in death, conservative
leader Charlie Kirk’s memory could not escape the vitriol from elected officials on the left. In a video shared on her so-
cial media, Rep. Ilhan Omar accused Kirk of provoking his own death by allegedly foster- ing a climate of hate. The clip depicted him as
Dr. Frankenstein and stated, “His monster shot him through the neck.” When asked to explain her
post, the Minnesota Demo- crat remained unapologetic. Instead, she doubled down, telling CNN that Kirk’s mem- ory belongs “in the dustbin of history, and we should hope- fully move on and forget the
hate that he spewed every single day.” Libertarian strategist An-
gela McArdle, former chair of the Mises Caucus political action committee, told News- max that the shooter and oth- ers motivated to commit acts of violence are themselves vic- tims of a complex progressive propaganda campaign aimed at dehumanizing their political opponents. “The rhetoric from corpo-
rate media and academia over the past 12-13 years has rotted people’s brains,” said McArdle. “You have people like Ra-
chel Maddow — and many oth- ers — repeatedly calling Trump a Nazi and a fascist. “Why would anyone be sur-
prised that there is a segment of society that believes we need to murder Hitler to save de- mocracy? “It feels like we have been
living in a decade-long psyop, and if not psyop — it’s grossly negligent.”
INTERNET CULTURE: Online Spaces Promote Extremism On the day the suspect shot and killed Kirk, prosecutors say he texted his roommate to confess. While seemingly admitting to the murder and explaining his plan to retrieve his gun, he also mentioned why he carved messages into the ammunition. The suspect texted, “Re-
member how I was engraving bullets? The f *** messages are mostly a big meme.”
Authorities say the mes-
sage highlights the link be- tween political violence and the growing nihilism in online spaces that promote extrem- ism, raising questions about how internet culture influ- ences both extremist actions and the increasing divisive- ness and lack of moderation on major online platforms. Other niche references and
internet slang, including the lyrics of the antifascist song Bella Ciao, were found on the bullet casings. In a 2023 study for George
Washington University’s Program on Extremism, researcher Jacob Ware de- scribed a “third generation of online radicalization” char- acterized by the role of meme culture and the normalization of attacks. In the study, Ware argued
that the online environment surrounding violence and extremism blurs traditional distinctions of terrorism and encourages the creation of performative content con- nected to attacks. “Global grievances are
acted upon with great fury in very local contexts — and yet, the main audience is often on- line,” Ware concluded. In the case of Kirk, law
enforcement believes a com- bination of leftist ideologi- cal influences — including education, media, and online platforms — played a role in leading him to carry out the shooting. In a Sept. 17 interview, Vice
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