RISING FEARS OF VIOLENCE
Kirk, 31, was killed with a single bullet as he answered an audience member’s question at a campus event in Utah.
A 22-year-old technical college student has been charged with Kirk’s murder, and investigators say he told his romantic partner in text messages that he killed Kirk because he had “enough of his hate”.
Civil rights groups criticised Kirk for his rhetoric, pointing to numerous examples they described as racist, anti-immigrant, transphobic and misogynistic. His backers say he was a defender of conservative values and a champion of free speech.
His death has raised fears about the growing frequency of US political violence across the ideological spectrum, while also deepening partisan divides.
Trump’s speech on Sunday is unlikely to quell fears from critics that he intends to use Kirk’s murder to intensify a crackdown on his political opponents.
During her remarks, Gabbard tied Kirk’s killing to what she described as a historical pattern in which “political fanatics” eventually turn to violence to defend their ideals.
“They kill and terrorise their opponents, hoping to silence them,” she said.
“But in this evil that we have experienced – that Charlie faced – their flawed ideology is exposed, because by trying to silence Charlie, his voice is now louder than ever.”
Last week, Walt Disney’s ABC network pulled late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel off the air after Trump’s head of the Federal Communications Commission threatened the network over comments Kimmel made about Kirk’s death that some conservatives found offensive.
