I was probably one of the first people to know about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, beside those who were actually in attendance. 

My mutual friend’s dad attended the rally. He texted them right away that Kirk had been shot and my friend relayed the message to me immediately, since we both loved Kirk.

I found out before it had even been part of the news, so I had no access to more information on it. I went to TikTok where I found confirmation that he had been shot and that it didn’t look good.

I then proceeded to look on X, where I saw even more reports that he had been shot. I also came across a video of the shot, but from a distance. Five minutes later, I witnessed the explicit close-up video of him being shot on TikTok.

That video was traumatizing, and this is coming from someone who can bear the sight of blood. I knew after seeing that video, that there was no way he was going to survive. I think that bullet was shot precisely where it instantly destroyed his nerves, causing his arms to fly up into the air. Even if he were to have survived, I think he would’ve been brain dead.

The news coverage isn’t the issue here, it summarized the event and how it unfolded. The issue is the reaction of those who hated Kirk. They’re celebrating, praising and even making jokes about which conservative individuals to attack next. 

At the end of the day, Kirk was a son, dad and husband. Seeing people happy about his death and saying he deserved it are the real issue in our society because they condone this evil action.

If those on the left are advocating for guns to be taken away and for no more gun violence, then why are we celebrating this?

 Just because an educated man didn’t agree with your views doesn’t give you any right to kill him. However, I do feel that this situation is likely to spark an even bigger fire within the younger generation. 

They think they shut Kirk up by assassinating him, but instead they’ve made his voice and his message even louder. No matter the person, what they stand for and what they advocate for, nobody deserves to be killed for using their voice.  

Elliana Hendrickson is a junior majoring in Media, Communications and Journalism.