Thoughts on Charlie Kirk
Wednesday I got a text from a friend, that just said, “OMG,” along with a video from X. I clicked, not knowing I was about to witness something that I won’t be ever able to get out of my head. It was the moment Charlie Kirk was shot, I watched it in real time, stunned. There was so much blood and it didn’t look survivable. I quickly jumped on a livestream which confirmed shortly after what I already assumed, he was shot and killed.
I’ve never cried over someone I didn’t know personally before, but I broke down. I just witnessed a murder. Maybe it was because the day before I had watched the full graphic video of this young woman Iryna stabbed to death on a train in NC, while no one helped her as she died. That already had me really rattled, wondering what kind of country I’m raising my kids in. Then to see Charlie, who stood for open conversation, debating at college campuses around the country and be gunned down for his ideas… it felt like too much. It felt personal.
Charlie wasn’t a presidential candidate or some distant senator I felt no connection to. He was a 31-year-old husband and father of two who showed up on college campuses to challenge ideas, spark respectful debate, and encourage students to think critically. He was known to many as “the TikTok debate guy.” But if you’ve watched his full videos, you’ll know he wasn’t harsh or cruel. In fact, he often asked his audience not to boo or mock people who disagreed with him. He modeled what it looks like to have strong convictions while still respecting others. He showed us how to disagree without dehumanizing, how to truly agree to disagree. I felt like I knew him as many of millions did.
His death felt like more than a tragedy, it felt like an attack on free speech, the very foundation of what makes America so unique. Freedom of speech is a pillar of our democracy, and it’s under threat. When dialogue is punished, and ideas are met with bullets instead of arguments, we all lose. As Charlie Kirk said “When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence. That’s when civil war happens, because you start to think the other side is so evil, and they lose their humanity.”
The next day I woke up in a fog, all I could think about were his wife and little kids, who are same age as my little ones. I realized: I’ve been too quiet. I’ve held back my beliefs out of fear- fear of being misunderstood or attacked online. But I can’t live that way anymore…
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