02a U.S. Politics – Conservative

Assassination and the Watershed Radicalization of the American Right – PJ Media– pjmedia.com
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If you’re looking for something poignant, I’m not your guy right now. My colleagues have done remarkable work eulogizing and paying tribute to Charlie Kirk; there is absolutely nothing that I can add to their heartfelt words. Words that I know weren’t easy to write.

In what is a huge departure for me, I had already mapped out what I was going to write here at the top of Thursday’s Briefing before noon my time on Wednesday. It was about 9/11, although probably not what you might expect. That will be turned into a column that I’ll publish later today.

As soon as the news that Charlie Kirk had been shot hit, the day immediately became a surreal blur of fast-moving information that felt like it was happening in a slow-motion nightmare. I didn’t know Charlie — he came to prominence just as my many years of activism were winding down. I have been aware for a long time of the great work that Turning Point USA does, however. I know a lot of younger people who have been politically energized by TPUSA and who had a lot of respect and affection for Kirk.

People I know who don’t pay a lot of attention to politics were devastated and glued to the news. My private messages, texts, and phone calls featured a lot of monosyllabic expletive-laden expressions of shock and outrage. Two friends offered variations on “this feels different.” That was echoed in other conversations. My good friend Kira Davis posted this on X:

If you ask me a year from now when I got radicalized – it’s today.

— Kira (@RealKiraDavis) September 10, 2025

FBI Recovers “High Powered BOLT ACTION RIFLE” of “College-Aged” Assassin– gellerreport.com
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The FBI has recovered a “high powered BOLT ACTION RIFLE” in a wooded area where the assassin fled after kiIIing Charlie Kirk

The suspect is believed to be “college-aged.”

“All cartridges have engraved wording on them, expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology.”

“Investigators have collected footwear impression, a palmprint and forearm imprints for analysis,” the FBI says

🚨 BREAKING: The FBI has recovered a “high powered BOLT ACTION RIFLE” in a wooded area where the assassin fled after kiIIing Charlie Kirk

The suspect is believed to be “college-aged”

“Investigators have collected footwear impression, a palmprint and forearm imprints for… pic.twitter.com/zodDSiY1xS

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 11, 2025

And this: https://twitter.com/scrowder/status/1966118431511433267

“On September 10, 2025, at approximately 12:24PM, Conservative political influencer Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at the Utah Valley University in Orem, UT. Mr. Kirk was speaking at the University as part of the American Comeback Tour. Multiple SLC I and III agents responded immediately. The suspect fired one shot from an elevated position on a rooftop in an adjacent building on the campus and surveillance video shows the suspect, jumping off and fleeing the area on foot. ATF and other law-enforcement located an older model imported Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near the campus. The location of the firearm appears to match the suspects route of travel. The spent cartridge was still chambered in addition to three unspent rounds at the top fed magazine. All cartridges have engraved wording on them, expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology. An emergency trace has been submitted an ATF SLC is working leads generated by the trace. The firearm and ammunition have been taken by the FBI for DNA analysis and fingerprint impressions. Upon completion of forensics, the firearm will be disassembled for additional importer information. Multiple people of interest having contacted or detained because of eyewitness testimony and review of video footage. The primary suspect is yet to be identified. ATF is assisting the investigation with multiple other federal, state, and local partners and the case is co-led by the FBI and Utah SBI.””

JD Vance Reveals the Major Role Charlie Kirk Played in His Political Career– www.westernjournal.com
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The man is gone, but the fire he lit still burns.

So wrote Vice President J.D. Vance in a post on X as he reached back into his years of friendship with conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down in Utah on Wednesday while trying to pass on the fire of conservatism to a new generation.

Vance initially offered a prayer when news of Kirk’s death broke, writing on X, “Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord.”

Later, he reflected on the long journey he made from the edges of politics to its core, walking with Kirk every step of the way.

“A while ago, probably in 2017, I appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox show to talk about God knows what. Afterwards a name I barely knew sent me a DM on twitter and told me I did a great job. It was Charlie Kirk, and that moment of kindness began a friendship that lasted until today,” Vance wrote.

“Charlie was fascinated by ideas and always willing to learn and change his mind. Like me, he was skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016. Like me, he came to see President Trump as the only figure capable of moving American politics away from the globalism that had dominated for our entire lives,” he wrote.

FBI Seeks to Identify Person of Interest in Charlie Kirk Shooting– www.dailysignal.com
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation released a photo of a new person of interest in the Charlie Kirk assassination, asking the public for help identifying him.

FBI Salt Lake City posted on X Thursday, “We are asking for the public’s help identifying this person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.”

Its post features two images of a man in a dark sweatshirt and jeans, a baseball cap, and sunglasses.

That post follows investigators’ earlier statement that they had “good video footage” of a suspect that they weren’t publicizing for now.

Just hours prior, Robert Bohls, the FBI special agent in charge of the investigation, announced the discovery of a bolt-action rifle investigators believe was used in the shooting. The rifle was found in a “wooded area where the shooter had fled.”

According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, the rifle was found with a magazine containing three unspent rounds engraved with “expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology.”

Melania Trump Posts Heartfelt Message Honoring The Life Of Charlie Kirk– wltreport.com
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First Lady Melania Trump has released her response to the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk.

In the post on X, Melania shared that Charlie’s life should be remembered as a lesson in valuing family, love, and country.

You can read it here:

Charlie’s children will be raised with stories instead of memories, photographs instead of laughter, and silence where their father’s voice should have echoed.

Charlie Kirk’s life should serve as a symbolic reminder that compassionate awareness elevates family, love, and…

— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) September 11, 2025

Law enforcement finds ‘transgender and anti-fascist ideology’ on Charlie Kirk assassin’s cartridges– www.lifesitenews.com
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Law enforcement have found a rifle near the campus where conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was shot, with cartridges all “engraved” with expressions of “transgender and anti-fascist ideology.”

Steven Crowder posted to X Thursday morning an exclusively obtained email from the American Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) sharing internal findings about the weapon used by Kirk’s yet-unidentified assassin.

EXCLUSIVE: This morning my team received an e-mail from officer at ATF.

The email included a screen shot from what appears to be an internal message describing a weapon and cartridges located by an ATF and other law enforcement near the scene of the Charlie Kirk shooting at… pic.twitter.com/UKtOUPY5DC

— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) September 11, 2025

“The suspect fired one shot from an elevated position on a rooftop in an adjacent building on the campus and surveillance video shows the suspect, jumping off and fleeing the area on foot,” read the ATF message.

Docs Indicate Charlie Kirk Assassin Was Motivated By Transgender Ideology– thefederalist.com
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Ammunition found in a gun that law enforcement suspects could have been the weapon used to assassinate Charlie Kirk was engraved with anti-fascist ideology and transgender expressions, according to new reports.

Steven Crowder shared on X an email his team purportedly received from an officer at the ATF. The email states that “ATF and other law-enforcement located an older model imported Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near the campus.”

EXCLUSIVE: This morning my team received an e-mail from officer at ATF.

The email included a screen shot from what appears to be an internal message describing a weapon and cartridges located by an ATF and other law enforcement near the scene of the Charlie Kirk shooting at… pic.twitter.com/UKtOUPY5DC

— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) September 11, 2025

 

“All cartridges have engraved wording on them, expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology,” the email reads.

The Wall Street Journal later reported similar details, citing an internal law-enforcement bulletin and a person familiar with the investigation.

FBI Releases Photos of Suspected Charlie Kirk Assassin– slaynews.com
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The FBI has released photos of a suspect identified as a new person of interest in the assassination of conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

As Slay News reported, Kirk was shot and killed during a speech at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.

The images show a thin male wearing jeans, a long-sleeved black shirt with an American flag graphic, black sunglasses, and a hat.

Rifle Recovered, Escape Route Tracked

FBI Salt Lake City Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls said investigators have traced the sniper’s escape route and recovered a “high-powered, bolt-action rifle.”

Authorities also obtained foot, palm, and forearm imprints linked to the shooting.

The update follows confusion on Wednesday when law enforcement announced two separate detentions.

Kirk Shooter’s Ammo Engraved With Messages of ‘Transgender and Antifascist Ideology’ › American Greatness– amgreatness.com
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Ammunition inside the rifle used to assassinate Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk was engraved with messages of “transgender and antifascist ideology,” the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing a law enforcement bulletin and a source familiar with the investigation.

Kirk, 31,  was fatally shot in the neck while speaking at an outdoor TPUSA event at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday.

Federal investigators recovered the high-powered, bolt-action rifle in a wooded area near the university.

The FBI on Thursday also released photos of a “person of interest” in the murder,  as the Bureau continued its manhunt for the killer, appealing to the public for information. According to Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner, Beau Mason, the suspect “blended in” with students on campus. The photos show a person wearing a hat, sunglasses and a black, long-sleeved t-shirt that appeared to have a photo of an American flag on it.

The Wall Street Journal’s reporting tracks with what conservative journalist Steven Crowder reported early Thursday.

“This morning my team received an e-mail from officer at ATF,” Crowder posted on X at 7:35 am. He said the email included a screenshot “an internal message describing a weapon and cartridges located by an ATF and other law enforcement near the scene” of the shooting.

Law Enforcement Announces ‘Breakthroughs’ in Charlie Kirk Investigation– www.westernjournal.com
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Law enforcement officials said Thursday they have made progress in their investigation into the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot to death Wednesday during a turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University.

“We were able to make a few breakthroughs,” Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said Thursday morning in a video posted to X.

“Starting at 11:52 a.m. the subject arrived on campus, shortly away from campus. We’ve tracked his movements onto the campus, through the stairwells, up to the roof, across the roof to the shooting location,” he said.

“After the shooting, we were able to track his movements as he moved to the others die of the building, jumped off the building, and fled off of the campus and into a neighborhood,” he said.

He said authorities have contacted residents to collect video from their security cameras.

“We do have good video footage of this individual,” he said.

Mason said the footage would not be released to the public “at this time” unless police efforts to identify the shooter using law enforcement technology prove unsuccessful.

🚨WATCH: Utah DPS Commissioner Beau Mason shares “breakthroughs” in the investigation into the assassination of Charlie Kirk. pic.twitter.com/kKNlMdoVnG

— Off The Press (@OffThePress1) September 11, 2025

Columbia Students Turn Assassination Into a Punchline– townhall.com
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Columbia University’s satirical newspaper, The Federalist, published an article making fun of Turning Point USA’s pro-Second Amendment position just hours after Charlie Kirk was assassinated at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.

The headline read, “Turning Point USA Undergoes Unexpected Ideological Shift, States Second Amendment Actually Not That Important Anymore.”

A mock statement from TPUSA leadership, written by the satirical newspaper, read:

The Turning Point USA leadership team recently convened to discuss the role of the Second Amendment in our propaganda, I mean, education. We’ve decided to reconsider our stance on gun control and personal freedoms. This decision was made completely independently of recent events.

Guns kill people. That is a truth that we have only recently learned. It turns out, ignoring all of those public health experts and grieving parents and nationwide statistics wasn’t a good idea. Our bad!

“In typical conservative fashion, it seems, Turning Point USA only realizes how terrible their politics are when it f**ks with their own lives. Go figure,” the article concluded.

DC Comics immediately cancels new series after author mocks Charlie Kirk’s murder– www.theblaze.com
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A new comic book series was canceled after the writer mocked the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

Kirk was murdered during a stop on his campus tour at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, leaving behind his loving family that includes his wife and two children. Kirk was just 31 years old.

‘We place the highest value on our creators and community and affirm the right to peaceful, individual expression of personal viewpoints.’

On the same day the first issue of DC Comics’ “Red Hood” was released in stores, the company announced it was canceling any future orders of the series. “Red Hood” is a spinoff from the “Batman” universe, with the main character being Batman’s former sidekick, Robin.

In a statement sent to retailers late on Wednesday, DC wrote, “DC Comics cancels existing orders for Red Hood #2 and Red Hood #3, and any orders for future issues of the series.”

“DC Comics will credit retailers for all invoiced copies of Red Hood #1, inclusive of copies that may have already been sold,” the publisher wrote, according to Popverse.

JD Vance to accompany Charlie Kirk’s body flying home to Phoenix aboard Air Force Two | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com
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Vance will be accompanied by Kirk’s friends and family.

Vice President JD Vance, who traveled to Utah on Wednesday alongside Second Lady Usha Vance in the wake of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination on Wednesday afternoon, will accompany Kirk’s casket and family members back to Arizona aboard Air Force Two.

Vance is expected to meet with Kirk’s family and friends in Utah on Thursday, after which they will all fly aboard Air Force Two to Phoenix with Kirk’s casket, three sources familiar with the plans told NBC News.

Vance published a tribute late Wednesday evening, highlighting the pair’s friendship over the years.

“Charlie genuinely believed in and loved Jesus Christ. He had a profound faith. We used to argue about Catholicism and Protestantism and who was right about minor doctrinal questions. Because he loved God, he wanted to understand him,” Vance wrote in part.

“Someone else pointed out that Charlie died doing what he loved: discussing ideas. He would go into these hostile crowds and answer their questions. If it was a friendly crowd, and a progressive asked a question to jeers from the audience, he’d encourage his fans to calm down and let everyone speak. He exemplified a foundational virtue of our Republic: the willingness to speak openly and debate ideas.”

FBI Offers $100,000 Reward for Information Leading to Identification and Arrest of Charlie Kirk Assassin | The Gateway Pundit– www.thegatewaypundit.com
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The FBI is now offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of the individual(s) responsible for the murder of Charlie Kirk.

TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk was brutally murdered at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. An assassin shot him from an elevated position on top of a roof at the university.

Earlier Thursday, the FBI released photos of a ‘person of interest’ in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.

“We are seeking the public’s help in identifying this person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. 1-800-CALL-FBI Digital media tips: fbi.gov/UtahValleyShooting”

We are seeking the public’s help in identifying this person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.
1-800-CALL-FBI
Digital media tips: https://t.co/8x77cwCBnr pic.twitter.com/5y2QgXwwlG

— Utah Public Safety (@UtahDPS) September 11, 2025

CNN’s Van Jones Two Days Before the Assassination: ‘Charlie Kirk Is Pure Race Mongering — He Should Be Ashamed’– conservativeroof.com
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Monday, during CNN’s “NewsNight” broadcast, host Abby Phillip and CNN contributor Van Jones attacked Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk for likening the fatal Charlotte stabbing of Iryna Zarutska to the 2020 George Floyd incident in Minneapolis.

Phillip offered a clip from Kirk’s program where he made the point, which Jones declared Kirk “should be ashamed of himself.”

Partial transcript as follows:

ABBY PHILLIP: So, certain people have been looking for an opportunity to find a case like this, to make a point like this. I want to play, this is Charlie Kirk, why he says this hasn’t gotten a lot of attention.

*BEGIN VIDEO CLIP* — CHARLIE KIRK, HOST, THE CHARLIE KIRK SHOW: A white Ukrainian refugee was murdered just because she was white. Everybody knows that obviously. If a random white person simply walked up to and stabbed a nice law-abiding black person for no reason, it would be an apocalyptically huge national story used to impose national, sweeping political changes on the whole country. Instead, Meghan Basham, no one seems to care when a white woman gets stabbed to death. — *END VIDEO CLIP*

ABBY PHILLIP: When you are mentally ill, you have a hard time knowing that you are mentally ill. But also, I mean, people like Charlie Kirk, Van, they’ve been looking for opportunities to make this some sort of like reciprocal George Floyd situation. And that’s the part that I think he’s almost giving away the game. It’s sad to see a lot of people going along with it.

Trans Writings Of Kirk Assassin ‘Related To Cultural Issues’– thefederalist.com
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When facts emerged suggesting the assassin of Charlie Kirk may be yet another deranged Antifa or transgenderism extremist, CNN immediately went to great lengths to cover the murderer’s reported political sympathies.

According to authorities, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, the assassin’s gun contained ammunition inscribed with phrases supporting “transgender” and “antifascist” ideology. In an apparent attempt to hide that information, CNN decided to run with a headline describing the bullets as having been “scrawled with cultural phrases.”

The chyron CNN ran on television said the same: “Phrases Related to Cultural Issues Were Scrawled on Rifle.”

Probably worse is that CNN said the bullets were inscribed with a “range of phrases related to cultural issues” (emphasis added) so it could launder the idea that “it’s not yet clear if they point to a motivation in the attack.” No. The assassin’s likely motivations are quite clear. Kirk was famous for his conservative and Christian views. That would be an obvious top motivator for someone to assassinate him in such a public and deliberate fashion.

Kirk made his life’s work doing something leftists could never do: Have reasoned debate with those who disagree to advance public discourse. He went on college campuses to talk to anyone who wanted to engage. That’s dangerous to the left because they can no longer logically defend their irrational positions. It’s very likely that for this great sin, Kirk was assassinated.

Charlie Kirk and Charlotte slayings ending political correctness– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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Years of looking the other way at Left on Right violence, excusing shootings by mentally disturbed transgender assailants, and shrugging off black on white crime may be ending with the assassinations of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk and Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska.

Fed up with being victims and the political correctness that required silence, pollsters are finding that more are speaking out, and the killings signaled the start of a massive blowback.

“I think what happens is people get complacent, they get comfortable, and then things get bad, and so people are called to action,” said Rasmussen Reports pollster Mark Mitchell.

“Imagine people out there talking about a new ‘white lives matter’ movement,” he said. That “happened just because of the North Carolina killing just in the last two or three days, and it’s completely changed the social media landscape permanently. People are talking in ways they were not talking about a year ago, about black crime statistics and things like that, and then to have this happen on top of it,” he said, pointing to Kirk’s killing in Utah yesterday.

And just like that, there was a White Lives Matter movement. https://t.co/5qW61bYzbm

— Mark Mitchell, Rasmussen Reports (@honestpollster) September 10, 2025

Charlie Kirk Assassination Proves The Left Needs To Fear Its Rules– thefederalist.com
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It was only one day before he was assassinated that Charlie Kirk said in a podcast interview that politicizing murder is often an imperative: “I don’t like politicizing situations like [the murder of  Iryna Zarutska], but it just necessitates it because there are so many dynamics at play here.”

So let’s not pretend for a second that there’s something untoward in talking about Kirk’s death in terms of politics. By definition, the assassination is political. Democrats got us here, and they are to be held to account for it.

Just two weeks ago, I noted Democrat leaders are increasingly using language in public indicating raw bloodlust, as when Democrat National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said he was “sick and tired of this Democratic Party bringing a pencil to a knife fight,” and that Democrats “cannot be the only party that plays by the rules anymore.”