Charlie Kirk’s death leaves Students uncertain

Republican influencer Charlie Kirk’s death left many students shocked as they posted about the shooting that occurred on Utah Valley University’s campus in Orem, Utah, Sept. 10. Kirk was well known for his college tours where he would debate college students across the country. These debates garnered Kirk nearly five million subscribers on YouTube. 

His organization, Turning Point USA, that he founded in 2012 along with conservative activist Bill Montgomery, was dedicated to advocating for conservative politics to a younger generation of high school and college students. Kirk’s death occurred while on his “American Comeback” tour with Turning Point USA.

One of these students impacted by Kirk’s death was College Republicans President Nick Adams who spoke on behalf of his organization.

“A lot of our members immediately kind of went to pray for his family and friends,” Adams said. “We know that most likely they’re definitely suffering a lot more than we could ever imagine.”

Immediately after finding out about the shooting, Adams said he sat for three to four hours waiting for more information on Kirk’s health until hearing of his passing. He said the death of Kirk is one College Republicans felt deeply with how ingrained Kirk was with college campuses. 

Going forward, Adams and the rest of the executive board for College Republicans said that when bringing in a guest speaker they would discuss what safety measures needed to be put in place to secure not only the speaker but those attending. 

“We believe that Truman students are not prone to violence,” Adams said. “They may voice their opinion, and we completely support voicing your opinion. We strongly believe that Truman students would not result to physical violence whatsoever.”

Truman’s College Democrats President Ben Croat was shocked by how desensitized to violence students are after the shooting. The reactions online were a mixed bag according to Croat. 

Croat said it was surprising that it happened to a person that everyone who is politically active knew, but not the fact that it was a shooting on a campus. Croat, despite his disagreements with Kirk, still found the shooting tragic.

“I think on campus, everyone, left or right, kind of had the same opinion that this is not a good thing,” Croat said. “This should not be happening. Whether we believe or disagree with his messaging or his rhetoric, the fact [is] that gun violence has seeped into the fabric of American society”.

Kirk was a controversial figure in politics, with many on the left criticizing Kirk for his ideology and demonization of minority groups. Croat agreed with these criticisms but still valued the idea of being able to express ideas without fear of political violence. 

Not everyone had sympathetic reactions to Kirk’s death, especially online given Kirk’s online based rhetoric. Adams said it was nice to see the positive messages for Kirk and his family from both sides of the aisle however he deeply opposed posts mocking or celebrating his death in any fashion. 

Adams said he believed in people’s rights to free speech stood above the dislike he had for people’s criticism and mockery of Kirk’s death. Adams said he thought the shooting might prevent some people from being as open to having a discussion with other people and emphasized its importance. 

Given Kirk’s rhetoric, Croat did not find it such a black and white issue on why or how people reacted the way they did. Croat said there needed to be empathy towards all humans, but understood why some could not feel the same due to being personally targeted.

“I’m not going to tell someone who’s been personally victimized by his rhetoric, that now you have to go online and be like, oh, he was a good speaker or whatever,” Croat said. “I don’t think it’s my place to even comment on how [they] reacted to that, even though I think as a society we should always be preaching empathy first. We should try to see it from the other side.”

Sara Seifert, Truman State Department of Public Safety Chief said there is always a worry of something tragic happening on campus, but DPS has protocols in place, especially when it comes to political speakers. Seifert said she felt blessed to work at Truman for how the majority of students carry themselves when it comes to disagreements, but hated that people take such offense to the opposite side politically. 

“All our students want to engage in activism, want to exercise their free speech, and they’re also very academically driven,” Siefert said. “They want to do it in the right way that, you know, their speech is heard, but they’re not going to cross that line into it being either an unlawful assembly or getting themselves into trouble”