This is an article from the Winter 2025 Civitas Examiner (Volume 2, No. 4) and was written by one of our students, Lucy M. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue. To read more Civitas Examiner stories or to submit your own, click here.
On Sept. 10, 2025, Founder of Turning Point USA and political commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on the campus of Utah Valley University.
Opinions about the shooting are very diverse. Some believe that the shooting was actually a good thing, removing a bad person. Others believe that the shooting was horrible and sick, that it was removing a very good person.
President Donald J. Trump ordered all the flags at half-staff following Charlie’s murder, which received mixed responses because even though Charlie was well loved in the country, he wasn’t a politician or former president.
The shooter was identified as Tyler James Robinson, who was likely mentally ill at the time of the shooting. The police have uncovered that the bullets used to shoot Charlie Kirk had sentences and phrases engraved on them such as: “Hey Fascist! Catch!”, “If you read this, you are GAY Lmao,” and “Bella Ciao,” which is a reference to an Italian song against fascism.
When Tyler Robinson, the convicted shooter of Charlie Kirk, was questioned about why he would kill Charlie. “I had enough of his hatred […] Some hate can’t be negotiated out,” he responded.
This statement received mixed opinions. Robinson also sent a message to his roommate—who was a biological male transitioning to be a woman–which some say shows a possible motive to kill Charlie Kirk–which read “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it”.
This whole situation has led to both American unity and division. Both parties put the blame on the one across the aisle.
Tyler Robinson’s family has spoken out as openly conservative, but saying that Tyler had rejected those same beliefs, and he was more liberal than his family. Even though where he stands on the political aisle shouldn’t be relevant to this topic, as it was a tragedy either way.
On Sept. 21, 2025, a memorial service was held for Charlie Kirk where his wife, Erika Kirk, made an appearance and gave a speech in which she said that Charlie “wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life.”
“Our savior said ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ That young man…I forgive him […] I forgive him because that’s what Christ did, and that’s what Charlie would do.” She said in her speech.
One development that has led to great controversy is Jimmy Kimmel, on Jimmy Kimmel Live. This past Sept. 15, 2025, Jimmy Kimmel made inaccurate comments about the Charlie Kirk assassination, such as stating that the killer was MAGA and placing the blame on conservatives, despite police authority having determined that Robinson was left-leaning.
“We hit some low news over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” Kimmel said, before the segment was removed from the air shortly thereafter.
He was removed from the air after receiving some vague messages from the Federal Communications Commission stating that they would be “very busy” if Jimmy Kimmel wasn’t reprimanded in some way for intentionally lying on air.
The FCC is an independent government agency whose purpose is to regulate communications technologies like traditional broadcasting and even satellite services. The FCC has specific rules over lying on air, but is typically limited by the first amendment.
Following his removal, about 3.8 billion dollars were lost from Disney’s market value due to people cancelling their memberships. This whole situation left Disney pretty strained when it came to what to do next. With many conservatives who were outraged by Kimmel’s comments about Charlie’s passing, and many liberals who stated that removing him from air was an infringement on free speech.
Something that people seem to agree on is the FCC’s involvement with the Jimmy Kimmel situation. Many people think that the FCC should not have been involved because it is a government agency that should be unable to interfere with this situation. Though, some others believe that since Jimmy Kimmel was lying on air, it doesn’t necessarily matter that the FCC is a government agency because he was breaking their rules.
There has been no conclusive case, but many find the FCC’s involvement with this situation likely illegal.
Of course, Disney has the right to take his show down temporarily, because they’re an independent company. If what Jimmy Kimmel’s saying doesn’t align with the messages they want to put into the world, then they have the right to suspend him, whether that’s temporary or indefinite. Originally, Jimmy Kimmel’s leave was registered indefinite, but now he’s back on the air.
Ultimately, Jimmy Kimmel Live was reinstated and came back on the air on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. With this, Disney put out a statement that they removed Jimmy Kimmel’s show temporarily “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.” And called his comments “ill-timed and insensitive.”
The team at Jimmy Kimmel Live claimed he would address his comments in his next live show, but not apologize for them.
This whole situation left the people divided with many arguing that Jimmy Kimmel should’ve left Disney as a whole for them limiting his speech, and some saying he shouldn’t have been reinstated because of what he said about Charlie Kirk. Some others are just happy he’s back. People also speculate that he was removed because he was getting poor ratings in general, and that it wasn’t specific to the Charlie Kirk assassination comments.
On Sept. 23, 2025, Kimmel came back on the air for his first show back. He began his show thanking all of the people who supported him when he was taken off of his show. He then went into how the government should not have been involved in his situation, and how it was an infringement on his first amendment rights, and the first amendment rights of the company. Also speaking on his comments made on the Charlie Kirk assassination, not apologizing for what he said, but explaining that he had no intent to blame a specific group for the actions that led to Kirk’s death, and that he was actually intending to do the opposite.
“But, I understand that to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both. And for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset. If the situation were reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way.” He said.
He ended the show by sharing his opinion about what Donald Trump is doing to freedom of speech. His belief is that Trump is trying to discredit the first amendment by “gunning for our journalists,” and attacking the freedom our country is built on. His last remarks were on Erika Kirk, and how he believes we need to be more like her by forgiving the people we disagree with and the people who harm us.
Not only Kimmel, but many people were being fired from their jobs and positions because of their stance on the Charlie Kirk assassination. Specifically if they believed it was a good thing. For example, the Middle Tennessee University fired their assistant dean of students, Laura Sosh-Lightsy because of her public remarks on social media about the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Overall, the assassination of Charlie Kirk has sparked a major movement in the United States. There are negative effects, such as the polarization of political parties, widening the gap between republicans and democrats, each demonizing the other side. Even things like infringements on freedom of speech, to share your opinion without being fired from your job. However, there were also major communal effects on the US. Directly following the assassination that same day, there was a widespread public denouncement of political violence. Most of the American people came together on that day to point out that violence based upon the political beliefs of fellow Americans is wrong.
This assassination also sparked the movement of conservatives in the youth. His organization, Turning Point USA ,grew in popularity, particularly among young people, as a steady trend after his death, with many regarding Kirk as a martyr of some kind.
