Overview

• Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was gunned down during a speech at Utah Valley University this week.
• Klein writes that Kirk exemplified healthy democratic practice by engaging students on campuses and credits his efforts with helping shift college-age voters to the right in 2024.
• He recounts recent episodes of U.S. political violence and threats, from the Whitmer kidnap plot and January 6 to the Pelosi home attack, the near‑assassination of President Donald Trump, and 2025 attacks targeting officials and their families.
• The column criticizes reactions that either tie Kirk’s death to his policy views or use it to justify calls for retaliation.
• Klein argues that political violence spreads across factions and ultimately endangers everyone, concluding that society’s safety is shared or lost together.