The Kirk Assassination and the MAGA Threat to Free Speech

['Garrett Epps', 'More Garrett Epps', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar'] Washington Monthly 2025-09-19 00:00:00

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...A memory from before the Charlie Kirk assassination. I didn’t like Charlie Kirk, but I resent the hell out of somebody shooting him. Representative Clay Higgins, a Louisiana Republican, vowed on X to punish private actors who “belittled” the Kirk assassination. I’m basically going to cancel with extreme prejudice these evil, sick animals who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination. The moral panic over Kirk’s death reveals a fragility in public dialogue that was not present after the Kennedy or Reagan shootings.