The right-wing media ecosphere has declared war on America following the murder of white supremacist and Christian nationalist Charlie Kirk.
They’ve declared war before.
January 6 was a failed violent coup against our nation’s capital that caused multiple deaths.
You could say war had already been declared when Minnesota lawmakers and their families were murdered in their homes several months ago. The gunman — a 57 year old white man — had a hit list of 45 elected democratic state officials.
MAGA instigates other white supremacists, radicalized by men like Ben Shapiro, Christopher Russo, Andrew Tate, Nick Fuentes and Charlie Kirk, into violence every day.
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal, Charleston, South Carolina
Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh, PA
Walmart, El Paso, Texas
Tops, Buffalo, New York
Club-Q, Colorado Springs, CO
Uvalde, Texas
Dollar Store, Jacksonville, FL
Allen Premium Outlets, Allen, Texas
While regular Americans have not been safe at grocery stores, churches, schools, movie theaters, sporting events, or dollar stores for decades, MAGA commentators who have repeatedly called for the deaths of marginalized communities are using Kirk’s murder as a rallying cry to commit even more violence.
Although the shooter is still at large and his motivations still unknown (FBI has released an image of young white man as the person of interest), Trump used the moment to threaten those who criticize white supremacism.
“For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis…” Trump said.
Charlie Kirk built his platform by advocating for state-sanctioned rape of women through forced-birth policies, calling for the death of queer people, cheering genocide and supporting terrorism.
He called mask mandates “medical apartheid” and spread vaccine conspiracies that cost hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths during the pandemic.
Kirk promoted the false conspiracy about the 2020 election being stolen, and played a role in orchestrating a violent riot that led to several deaths at the United States capital on January 6, 2021.
Kirk regularly attacked non-Christians with violent, hateful rhetoric, like when he called New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani a “parasite” and compared Islam to “slitting the throat of democracy.”
Kirk falsely blamed racial and ethnic minorities for accidents and even intentional sabotage by white men — like after flooding in Texas.
Kirk caused real harm to families in his repeated demonization of LGBTQ+ people, even endorsing the execution of queer people. He was a chief propagator of hate speech, falsely accusing queer and trans people of being pedophiles (all while supporting Donald Trump - a rapist and pedophile).
He launched a website called “Professor Watch” that led to harassment, doxing, threats and terror directed against hundreds of teachers across the country.
Kirk’s last words were falsely attributing mass shootings to trans people and gang violence, even though 98% of mass shooters are cisgender men, and the vast majority of white men.
And Kirk became rich off his violent rhetoric. With no college education and a platform of Christian nationalism, Kirk hate-speeched himself into being a multi-millionaire.
Expecting those who have been harmed by the violent rhetoric of Kirk and people like him to show sympathy is both inappropriate and offensive.
And now MAGA wants war?
It’s been war for those Kirk and others have targeted for years.
And to top it off — tone-deaf democrats are sharing quotes from MLK Jr., who Kirk hated and sought to erase, to express that some kinds of violence are not tolerable.
Nearly all violence is political.
Violence in Gaza is political. Violence against women is political. Economic, social, and medical violence is political.
To exempt the rich and powerful from the daily violence the rest of us experience further illustrates how the political elite class believes it should not endure the consequences of their actions, but the rest of us should.
Like the thousands of death and rape threats I’ve received in the last 24 hours. Or the many thousands I’ve received before yesterday.
A lack of sympathy for a white supremacist and Christian nationalist is not equal to celebrating gun violence or murder.
Yet, death threats from MAGA have become such a normal part of being an outspoken female on social media that only the worst, most direct and detailed threats are even worth reporting to the police anymore.
The right uses every excuse it can imagine or invent to promote violence against the most vulnerable in society.
That was true of Kirk and it’s true of those using his murder to call for violence now.
I admire your bravery and commitment to the larger truth.