On Sept. 10, 2025 at 8:29 a.m, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during a debate on the Utah Valley University campus. Charlie Kirk was a right-wing political activist, well known for his controversial takes and passionate opinions, leading him to gain a certain level of both respect and infamy across the country. Kirk had traveled to many different universities, and participated in countless debates with just about anyone that wanted to ask him a question. It was during one of these debates that he was murdered.
An important fact to make clear about Kirk was that he was an activist: nothing more. While he was very influential in his field, he did not hold any position of power. Kirk debated on gun laws, transgender rights, and many other important topics that need to be talked about in our society. However, Kirk had many radical opinions of these sensitive topics, leading to many people vilifying him for his opinion. But at the end of day, his debates were just that: his opinion. There have been numerous articles written all about his stance and how they may or may not have been right or wrong, and whether people care about his death at all, but at the end of the day regardless of his character, a man was killed in cold blood.
It is easy to conclude that his murder was wrong, just as all murder is, and to leave it at that. But his death means so much more for the future of our country. The Bill of Rights outlines our birthrights as American citizens, with the first amendment stating that we as citizens have the rights to, “freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble”. Kirk justly exercised all of these freedoms regularly, and was killed for it. Kirk was doing nothing illegal, not even immoral. He was simply stating his opinion, loudly and with controversy, but still, just talking about his beliefs. He was just using his right to free speech. Furthermore, Kirk was not just giving speeches, he was holding open debate, completely willing to address any opinion differing from his own. He openly welcomed criticism, respecting others rights to freedom of speech just as much as he wanted his own rights to be respected. And still, his life was taken because someone disagreed with him.
To be murdered over his intrinsical American birthright sets a scary precedent for the future of our nation. To simply brush over his murder because he was a politcal activist is the exact opposite of what we as a united people need to do. Regardless of whether you liked him or his opinion at all, the fact that he was silenced over it is simply against the pillars that we have built the United States of America on. We need to be open to discourse, to criticism, about anything and everything, especially in politics. To murder over a human right that we hold makes our country no better than ones that we fought for the very same reason. Our decades of war and bloodshed to secure our rights mean nothing if we ourselves disregard them. Our nation needs to protect our rights if we as a country wish to survive.
