Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.—John Milton, Areopagitica.

The freedom of Speech may be taken away, and, dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter.—George Washington, address to the officers of the Army, March 15th 1783.

by Sanjay Perera

LEADER, activist, public speaker. Charlie Kirk was also an author, and arguably the most influential young man in the US Republican party, and someone President Donald Trump respected and admired. He was a founder of Turning Point USA. His murder, aptly termed a political assassination, was an attempt to silence anyone who has a reach across youth and many others: from promoting clear reasonable thought, a love of reading and learning, knowledge, the pursuit of wisdom, anti-Wokeism, and a rejection of violence as a solution to disagreements. He stood for strong spiritual and family values. He was firm in his views and at times in his criticism of those who opposed his views or the founding principles of America; but he was never vicious nor vindictive. He was one of those rare individuals who lived according to his words which was to reach out and build coalitions where possible. What stands out in his work is his campus tours throughout America where he met university students and held open dialogue with them; it was at one of these events in Utah that he was killed recently soon after the event started. But the most remarkable aspect of these talks on wide-ranging issues such as political correctness, the bane of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), abortion, the need for a rise in spirituality in the States and the world, Trump’s leadership, the scam of higher education, the need for more blue-collar workers, the importance of family and having children, the right to bear arms, and much more: his patience and generosity in engaging with youth or anyone else.

Charlie did display irritation at times, but his willingness to take insults, harsh and foul words flung at him, attempts to shout him down, rude gestures, and aggressive attitudes as he steadily dismantled whatever arguments (usually the lack thereof) presented or hurled—was a wonder to behold. He was driven by something greater than himself as revealed by the manner he endured verbal abuse, explained his position and attempted to educate the person challenging him. He had impressive debating skills and great knowledge, constantly urging students to read and learn beyond the curriculum, to attempt transcending the unfortunate brainwashing that has overtaken much of the academy particularly, and tragically, in the humanities.

He would ask those who claimed to be English majors if they were familiar with the works of Charles Dickens or Jane Austen, and many had not read the works of great writers nor did some even hear of Jane Austen. Charlie’s point was that much of English literature college classes veered away from such authors to those who tended to segue into the so-called ‘liberal’ agenda that generated a DEI obsession. A question he often asked those who studied economics: did they know of Thomas Sowell, Milton Friedman or Ludwig von Mises; most did not know though some admitted they were in their first year and so unfamiliar with those mentioned. Charlie’s point was that there was insufficient interest within many students nor impetus in the academy, especially at undergraduate level, to encourage students to consider views that went against the current narrative—one that embraced DEI, and crazed over BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) which targetted Israel as the enemy.

The attempt to silence Charlie and those who agreed, and the many who increasingly converge on his viewpoint given the state of the world, comes in many forms; apart from trying to distract from what he says through using increasingly meaningless terms like ‘fascist’ or ‘Nazi’ (which now seem to apply to anyone who disagrees with you)—his enemies lash out against what he spoke up on, i.e., critical thought, freedom of speech, patriotism, American values, the Judeo-Christian tradition, spiritual values, free enterprise, entrepreneurship, self-reliance, the danger of rising antisemitism, cancel culture, constant attempts to shut opponents down through ranting and violence. Whatever he championed was anathema to those who hated him. Indeed, he was martyred for his ideas, beliefs and insistence on the spiritual basis of the world and its concomitant: the sanctity of human life. He was America First and against his country being involved in foreign adventures but advocated a strong military and defensive posture. And there are those regarded as being on the political right who also disagreed with him. Still, he stood his ground as an individual, a man of family and faith. He was imperfect like all of us, but righteous—never self-righteous—in his convictions.

I go around universities to have challenging conversations, because that’s what is so important to our country: to find our disagreements respectfully. Because when people stop talking that’s when violence happens…that’s when civil war happens.

—Charlie Kirk.

What do those who hate him and his legacy stand for? Anything that contravenes the sane, rational, peaceful, humane, reasonable and truly spiritual. Whatever strengthens national identity and purpose for the highest good, places the welfare of citizens first, shows charity to the community and neighbourhood; policies and ideas that create economic prosperity for yourself and those who contribute to your society; governments that use public funds wisely and place the national interest and that of their people first: these cause those possessed with ignorance and hate to act as if they are being exorcised and they react accordingly.

The preferences of those who saw and still regard Charlie as an enemy, who inhumanly take joy in his death include: rage, ungovernable hatred, violence in all forms; they see shouting, ranting, rioting, utter lawlessness, absence of reasonableness, anti-critical thinking, empty sloganeering, mindlessness, virulent antisemitism, the desire to crush dissent and cancel anyone who stands for their truth peaceably, anti-spirituality, a materialistic anti-theistic viewpoint, censorship overtly and subtly, sheer incoherence of thought, and much more as defining characteristics of what it is to be human. Yet, whenever someone who disagreed walked to the microphone and began, and if Charlie’s supporters teased them mildly: he would tell them to be welcoming to those who disagreed, that some who had an antithetical view were there out of good faith; he showed charity to all and malice towards none.

Special mention should be made of psychotic US Democrats insulting the slain and justifying Charlie’s murder such as US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar an Islamist Somalian refugee who has never had anything good to say about the US yet remains there as she expands her wealth; even Stephen King who seems blindsided by brainwashing or showing symptoms of probably sitting too long at his desk, isolated in a cabin conjuring monsters for his stories—apologised soon after for his disgraceful false comments about Charlie.

Meanwhile, the alleged shooter of Charlie apprehended over a day later from the killing does not seem to have any genuine motivations for his act of violence other than Charlie was full of ‘hate’. What has also emerged according to the FBI is that the alleged assassin lived with his transgender partner. Notwithstanding, evidence needs to be produced that he has the prowess to have shot Charlie in the neck, killing him with one shot from a roof top; nor are there any further pointers that he actually understood what Charlie represented other than vague statements that his victim ‘spread hate’. Charlie was a non-violent man but was a danger to extremists and acolytes of violence, those imbued with authoritarian and totalitarian tendencies: those who relish censorship and revel in Orwellian nightmares.

The American values for which Charlie Kirk lived and died: the values of free speech, citizenship, the rule of law, and the patriotic devotion and love of God…An assassin tried to silence him with a bullet but he failed because together we will ensure that his voice, his message, and his legacy will live on for countless generations to come.

US President Donald Trump, who will award Charlie the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously. Trump also ordered the US flag be flown at half-mast at the White House and government buildings and military installations, etc.

Not long before his murder, Charlie posted a bold video on the horrific killing of the innocent Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska. She left an area of conflict and was killed in another war zone: the US; a country battling the enemy within, Wokeists and those who have infiltrated it, a nation riven by harmful ideologies and millions of illegal immigrants. As US Vice-President J.D. Vance mentions, there are wealthy individuals who fuel publications and movements that instill this violence such as the George Soros Open Society Foundations and Ford Foundation who benefit from generous tax treatment, subsidised by the taxpayer: yet their actions result in “setting fire to the house [the USA] built by the American Family over 250 years.” Vance adds:

If we want to stop political violence like what happened to Charlie Kirk, we have to be honest about the people who are celebrating it and the people who are financing it.

On Iryna, Charlie was unapologetically honest in his comments and was criticised by his detractors, as he was so often, for this trait over the years. Charlie said,

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…no one seems to care when a white woman gets stabbed to death: Why is that?

And his guests in that podcast were open about the racial element in the murder of Iryna especially so as proponents of DEI always view everything through a racial lens. During his many discussions Charlie would point out, when challenged by African Americans on issues of racism and need for compensation of blacks for what happened in America’s past: that everyone had to move forward and not be held accountable for what happened in the past when those today are not responsible for what occurred back then; if not, each person has to answer for what those before them had done, endlessly, and no one including those asserting victimhood—this was Charlie’s point—would have any agency to choose to do the right thing, to exercise free will, to choose good over evil: because they were mainly responsible for (or absolved by) the actions of those who came before and not accountable for what they did in the present or future. He constantly asked uncomfortable questions and made challenging statements: that much of the black community had to answer for why crime was high in their communities; they could not keep blaming others for their situation all the time. Charlie in truth-telling mode would say what politicians preferred to avoid mentioning: that Asian communities in the US despite the problems of discrimination of the past had done well academically and economically, subsequently; that the Jewish community many who fled the atrocities of World War II and have been hounded to this day by violent antisemitism—have excelled on so many fronts. His disturbing follow up question to his statements on such matters each time: ‘Why is that?’ It is not difficult to see why he would be despised or seen as a threat by the dysfunctional Democrats and the so-called ‘Liberal’ Establishment’s biased propagandistic mainstream media: the celebrants of DEI.

Charlie lived by the principle that no matter how horrible another person’s speech may be, their ideas must be defeated by better ideas, not by resorting to violence. Charlie was killed on September 10th. On September 11th, we observed the 24th anniversary of the Islamist terrorist attack on our country. These events have something in common. They were both carried out by those who hold on to ideologies that cannot stand up to scrutiny and challenge. So they feel that their only recourse is to commit an act of violence to silence those who oppose them, and to intimidate and terrorise others into silence. This is the definition of terrorism. We cannot allow ourselves to be terrorised into silence. We need to live Charlie Kirk’s example that are captured by the words of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.: Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.

Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence; Kennedy Center Memorial for Charlie Kirk, Sept.14, 2025.

The killing of Charlie has more to it than is apparent. It is indeed an act of terror, it is domestic terrorism, it is a direct assault on the First Amendment of the US Constitution which enshrines freedom of speech. It is a brutal attempt to silence dissent. To crush voices of reason that use clarity of mind, honesty—no matter how uneasy that can make us; openness in dialogue, healthy debate, public discourse that tries to understand better and solve difficult issues; anyone who displays genuine integrity. The attempted assassination of Trump last year and that of Charlie days ago are not random acts; if the would-be and actual killers are influenced by mainstream media and Democrat haters demonising Trump or Charlie and their supporters, that would be bad enough; but there are surely others who think they would have gained much by eliminating effective opposition to their agendas. What is desired is the silencing of concerns that Charlie voices and alerts people to: what is preferred is the eradication of critical thinking; the engendering of social violence through unbridled protests, disorder, antisemitism, removal of freedom; the promotion of ideologies and doctrines that celebrate the killing of disbelievers and apostates, a death-drive and culture of self-immolation upon the altar of intolerance, the evisceration of any attempts at learning, and the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom; the devalorisation of truth-seeking as a way of life.

As pointed out soon after Charlie’s murder, and as he himself repeatedly said, when harm is done to Conservatives, or even after school shootings in which students are killed including those at prayer: there is no unrest, looting, vandalising of property, cars burnt, a madness that continues for days on end—unlike what happens when those supported unconditionally by Democrats and the Liberal Establishment are responsible for when something awry happens to them; and even if that event can be explained as being unjustified there is no excuse for the uncontrollable violence that ensues. The extreme self-victimisation mindset nurtured by Democrats and the Establishment turns on itself and others in acts of wanton destruction. Whatever is illegal, veers into insanity, and disregards the welfare of all must be permissible.

Focused anger, righteous anger directed for a just cause is one of the most important agents of change in human history. And we are going to channel all of the anger that we have over the organised campaign that led to this assassination, to uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks: the organised doxing campaigns, the organised riots, the organised street violence, the organised campaigns of dehumanisation, vilification, posting people’s addresses, combining that with messaging that’s designed to trigger and incite violence, and the actual organised cells that carry out and facilitate the violence. It is a vast domestic terror movement. And with God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle, and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people. It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name.

Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and the United States homeland security advisor, Vice President JD Vance Remembers Charlie Kirk.

Charlie’s comments on the decline of the West in general, and the UK in particular, are prophetic. He was often controversial. A few months ago he had this to say in an interview in Britain:

Sadly, this place is a husk of its former self. This place needs to get its mojo back…this is the place that split the atom and invented the steam engine and brought common law to the world. And unfortunately, the perception amongst American conservatives is that this is increasingly a conquered country and that there is not a firm opposition [party] to try to bring Britain back to greatness.

I hope that’s Reform [UK]. We’ll see what happens. It certainly isn’t Labour and Keir Starmer and all the nonsense that he’s doing in this country…You guys have birthed free speech to the world, and now you are becoming a totalitarian country…

My primary doctor in America is actually a Muslim and he’s amazing. That’s not the point. The question: is macro Islam compatible with Western values?…Of course, it’s not. There are…reasons why Islam does not believe in freedom of speech. Islam does not believe in freedom of religion. And Islam does not believe in separation of mosque and state. Those…things are antithetical to the West…

They are commanded to actually go into the state and try to change the state to be more Islamic around the core pillars of Islam. And the last thing I’ll finally say is I cannot see a single western country that has become more Islamic and has become a better place to live, that is happier or freer…from quality of life to cultural cohesion to whether people want to live there…

A culture ceases to exist when we don’t have unified language, when you cannot talk to your neighbor. I’m not discounting that there are good individual Muslims…

There’s a reason why when you go to these Islamic countries you’re not going to see the equal protection of rights; they do not believe in universal human equality, they do not believe the same things that we believe in the West. And I think it’s suicidal to import millions of them…

And again, this is the Red-Green axis, and Britain is at the forefront of this. You have the Marxists that have infiltrated your government and the Islamists that are coming to your country. And when they combine together, they both agree on one thing [though] they have huge disagreements on a lot—they hate the west and they want to see it broken.

He was an extraordinary friend…He was a defender of our common Judeo-Christian civilisation. He did so many things to defend free speech. He had his truth, he stood up for it, but he said you can come and debate me. He invited that debate, he certainly did not invite the violence that tried to silence him. This is a worldwide problem: the people on the extremes, the radical Islamists and their union with the ultra progressives: they often speak about human rights, they speak about free speech, but they use violence to take down their enemies—whether it’s President Trump who they tried to assassinate twice, they tried to kill me here too—but they got Charlie Kirk and it’s just heartbreaking.

Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu.

To prove how right Charlie was in his assessments of the current state of affairs: after debating the incoming president of the Oxford Union (a Woke ideologue), among other students, during that visit to Britain a few months ago—that very student celebrated Charlie’s murder.[1] The student then apologised as he deleted his social media post. He is apparently facing some disciplinary action but it seems it will be nothing of consequence. It is mind-boggling that a president-elect of a debating society would rejoice at the murder of an opponent; this is a sign of how far society and some people have deteriorated, how far many academic institutions everywhere have failed abjectly in inculcating critical thought and a humane attitude towards people: the humanities in universities have lost their humanity.

As Charlie once again said, prophetically, in a post years ago on X (see End note [1]):

You can tell a lot about a person by how they react when someone dies.

It is missed by those who cheer Charlie’s death and those who are responsible for it: that a young man was killed in front of thousands with his wife and two kids present, and captured on video. The family will never be the same. And the claims that Charlie was a figure of hate and had to be stopped: this only mirrors the hearts and minds of those responsible for his death and are diabolically gleeful, it is they who are burning with hate. But does this mean anyone has the right to destroy those they dislike or hate? There is no restraint nor guidance of the moral compass that binds those like Charlie and so many others; freedom is not the freedom of violence and mayhem when it suits anyone’s wishes: that is often the creed of blind materialists, the indoctrinated, the brainwashed, the umitigatedly ideological, and those who confuse the term ‘religion’ with the duty and right to kill others.

I had a conversation once with Charlie where we were talking about the danger that we both face from challenging entrenched interests. And he asked me if I was scared to die. And I said to him, ‘There’s a lot worse things than dying.’ And one of those is losing our constitutional rights and having our children raised in slavery. And I said to him at that time, ‘Sometimes our only consolation is that we can die with our boots on. We can die fighting for these things.’ Charlie gave his life so that the rest of us would not have to suffer those fates worse than death. Now it’s our job. He’s no longer there to lead us to rush in and fill the breach and win this battle for our country, for God, and for our families.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., US Secretary of Health and Human Services; Kennedy Center Memorial for Charlie Kirk, Sept.14, 2025.[2]

In an unforgettable speech after her husband’s murder, Erika Kirk said beside Charlie’s empty chair where he broadcasted his podcasts:

I want to thank the millions of people who have showed their love for Charlie…I want to thank my husband’s dear friend Vice-President Vance and his phenomenal wife Usha for their love and support. You guys honoured my husband so well bringing him home. You both are tremendous. I want to thank President Trump…

Mr President, my husband loved you and he knew that you loved him too. Your friendship was amazing…

Everyday he would ask me how can I serve you [Erika] better, how can I be a better husband, how can I be a better father…

The evildoers responsible for my husband’s assassination have no idea what they have done. They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith, and of God’s merciful love. They should all know this: if you thought that my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea what you have just unleashed across this entire country and this world. You have no idea. You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife: the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry. To everyone listening to this across America: the movement my husband built will not die.

No one will ever forget my husband’s name and I will make sure of it. It will become stronger, bolder, louder and greater than ever. My husband’s mission will not end…my husband’s voice will remain, and it will ring out louder and more clearly than ever…

Our battle is not simply a political one, above all it is spiritual. It is spiritual warfare, it is palpable.

As Jocko Willink, a former US Naval Officer who served in the Navy SEALS says in “Declared Hostile: This Is America”:

Charlie Kirk, declared hostile by another man and executed for his beliefs and for the words that he spoke…And we see some people cheer and celebrate this execution. And that’s sickening…And everyone is carrying around and glued to a conduit of brainwashing…And it’s our phone. And you only have to go on that phone for five minutes to realize the kind of destructive and manipulative and divisive content that’s on there…

The result is very predictable. Isolation, polarisation, dehumanisation and radicalisation…the rejection of societal norms, the adoption of the most extreme views, and the abandonment of reason…There must be rules. And I’m not talking about rules to be imposed by our government. I’m not talking about rules to be imposed by the technocrats. I’m talking about rules that we need to apply to ourselves as humans, as individuals, as families, as communities…

Do not allow yourself to be possessed by digital demons. There is darkness in the world. There is evil in the world. And it has never been easier for that evil to crawl inside your head…

Do your utmost, your utmost to walk in the light. We have fought for freedom and we will do it again. We are not afraid and we will not tolerate those who aim to destroy us or destroy our way of life or harm our families or infringe on our freedom. Freedom is our God-given right. It’s ours to protect. It’s ours to cherish. That is our choice.

Charlie’s murder is an epic miscalculation. He will not be silenced. His words, example, and legacy continue. They have a powerful impetus given the dangers of authoritarianism and totalitarianism we live with. His untimely death only serves to ensure that many will speak their minds for the highest good of all. Above all, Charlie was a man of ideas. That explains why he left university, never bothered with it again other than to reach out to those who are being brainwashed within its walls; he learned much and processed knowledge carefully; kept thinking critically, and made reading widely a life-long habit. Ideas cannot be killed, they are transformed; when seeded on fertile ground these ideas will reap a harvest that will defy the locusts of the angry, the mindnumbed, the vengeful; the ideas bear fruit as living beings who will transmute darkness into light. But those who continue to sow discord and hate will truly reap the whirlwind.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14.

End notes:

[1] The video has since been removed, it was from this channel: Landeur. Charlie faced an even more aggressive audience and panel at the Cambridge Union where he stated bravely and accurately:

I believe in absolute truth claims and it’s absolutely wrong and bad when a society stops having kids to replace their own population and then you have to import the Third World and you become the Third World…The difference is when we get our way we’ll still have a country [the US], and your country [Britain] will be a Third World hell hole.

[2] Highlights of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s speech at the Kennedy Center Memorial for Charlie Kirk, Sept.14, 2025:

I met Charlie for the first time in July of 2001 [he probably meant 2021]. I went on his podcast and I think we approached each other with a lot of trepidation at that time, but by the end of the podcast we were soulmates, we were spiritual brothers, and we were friends. And over the next couple of years our friendship blossomed. He ended up being the primary architect of my unification with President Trump…

He thought conversation was the only way we were going to heal our country, that we had to learn to talk to each other without vitriol, without poison, without anger. We had to be able to listen to ideas. We had to be able to say what we mean, without being mean. And to talk to each other across this divide. It’s the only way to end the polarisation that’s driven by these algorithms and by all these other forces in our society…

We talked about the fact that our founders put freedom of speech in the First Amendment because all the other rights are dependent on it. And a government that can silence its opponents has license for any kind of atrocity. And we were specifically talking about what happened during the pandemic; once the government figured out that we would put up with the censorship—they went after the entire Constitution. They immediately took away our right to assembly, the First Amendment right, with social distancing regulations.

They shut down the First Amendment right to worship by closing all of our churches for almost a year, and keeping the liquor stores open as essential businesses…

And Charlie, more than any figure in our country, led the resistance that has restored freedom of speech to this country. And he built this movement—you— which is going to make sure that never ever happens again…

We are unique in history. We’re the only nation with this kind of Constitution. In Europe, they don’t have free speech anymore. We have it here. And we are the beacon for humanity, for the rest of the world. I’m all of those visions, his vision, his mission to preserve those things, his kindness; his kindness in talking to people with whom he disagreed are all things that we need to learn, and we need to integrate into our own lives.

And as Tulsi [Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence] said, we need to reach out with love to the people on the other side who are asleep and who are too frightened and too panicked and too controlled to understand what they are losing. And we need to protect those things until they wake up.

The writer is the founding editor of Philosophers for Change.

[Featured picture: charliekirk.com; top picture credit: Charlie was shot not long after this photo was taken. Tess Crowley, The Deseret News.]

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