Political Violence: Blaming the Victim

On September 10, 2025, America experienced a devastating loss.

It was a video of Charlie and Erika Kirk’s three-year-old daughter that first riveted me to the story. I saw on social media an urgent request for prayer for Charlie Kirk, who had been shot. A moment later a video appeared, showing his daughter toddling backstage at a studio where Kirk had appeared recently. At first, she hesitated, not seeming to know where to find her Daddy. Then she spied him, and her little legs began to run as she made a beeline towards him and leapt into his arms. What a heartwarming scene.

Moments later, another post announced the unbelievable news that the Daddy of this little girl had died.

That’s what drew me in. The heartbreak of a little child whose life will not seem quite right again for a very long time, if ever. It wasn’t politics, right vs. left, or hate vs. love, or any of the wording that worldly voices so coldly slap onto a situation. It was the idea of a very young family’s dreadful loss, followed by the fact that this was a man of God, cut down while expressing his beliefs. I read about him for the first time, really, as posts about his extraordinary work began to appear. And it was riveting.

Initially, I was surprised when the backlash came. That was naïve of me. I should have known that in our divided society some individuals would not be able to stand the many posts expressing shock and heartbreak at the loss of this leader who bore the labels "rightwing" and "Christian". They needed to respond in a way that minimizes that loss, so they criticized Kirk’s followers for not posting sympathetic messages about other tragedies. They implied that Kirk’s sympathizers were hypocrites.

Even worse, some people hinted that Charlie Kirk brought this on himself. They claim that he provoked violence by what he said. MSNBC’s senior political analyst Matthew Dowd was fired for making this insinuation. To his credit, Dowd later issued an apology, saying that he did not intend to blame Kirk for the horrendous attack (MSNBC). Sadly, there are still others whose statements do hold Kirk accountable for the violence that led to his death.

In its report about Dowd’s dismissal, The Guardian writes that Kirk “had a history of rightwing provocation and Christian nationalism, and frequently espoused bigoted rhetoric about Islam, women, LGBTQ+ communities and people of color.” The links which The Guardian uses to prove their claim of bigotry show only that Kirk promoted Christianity in America, and that he believed that radical Islam is not beneficial to the west, that abortion is wrong, and that DEI hiring policies can result in less qualified candidates being employed in positions that affect other people’s well-being.

None of these opinions are based in hate. Promoting Christianity is called evangelizing, a religious practice protected by our Constitution. Radical Islam opposes democracy and capitalism, which renders it incompatible with western nations, just as Kirk said. Being anti-abortion is based in love for the woman and her unborn child. Regarding DEI, doesn’t it give a measure of security to know that your doctors are hired because they’re qualified, regardless of their race, gender, or anything other than merit? Yet, for these common-sense beliefs, The Guardian and many of our left-leaning friends call Kirk a bigot.

More disturbing, however, is the information on The Guardian’s link for proof of Kirk’s anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. The link leads to the website of Florida’s LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus. Two days after Charlie Kirk’s murder, the Caucus’ website carried the following information:

Quote from Kristen Browde, President of the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus: 
Political violence, for any reason, is wrong. 
Gun violence, for any reason, is wrong. 
Spending your life, inciting violence, demonizing political opponents? 
Attacking those who are different?
Every bit as wrong. And when violence follows such actions? 
One can’t be shocked. All you can do is recommit yourself to fight against it.

Do you see what Browde is saying here? Demonizing political opponents and attacking those who are different is “every bit as wrong” as firing a gun to kill someone. First, even if one makes statements that demonize political opponents, murder is still worse than that. Second, from what I’m seeing of Charlie Kirk, he did not incite violence. Rather, he inspired Christian youth to act on their beliefs, and he challenged his opponents to discuss their views with him. He welcomed debate. He listened to young people’s questions, and then offered his strong opinion. It was not a popular opinion with everyone, but it did not demonize his opponents. Still, Florida’s LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus claims that Kirk’s assassination was to be expected. “One can’t be shocked,” writes their president, Kristen Browde.

How does a civilized society even respond to the claim that murder is to be expected, under any circumstances? How does a group that prides itself on the slogan, “Love is love,” make such a cold statement in the face of a young family deprived of their husband and father? How is it that Christians, or anyone for that matter, are vilified for believing in life, and for wanting to share their faith? 

This is a problem for Mary, Undoer of Knots. The tangled rhetoric of humans who have lost their humanity in a political jungle excuses sin and facilitates evil. Only prayer will save this people.

If justice could reign right now, Kristen Browde would be required to spend some time closely observing the tiny Kirk children in their first weeks without their father. She and like-minded others would be forced to sit up at night when the newly widowed mother of two cannot sleep because of the horror of what happened to her husband. Ms. Browde would be imprisoned in a room watching Mrs. Kirk struggle for words to answer her daughter’s two-word question, “Where’s Daddy?”

Works Cited and Consulted

MSNBC fires analyst Matthew Dowd over Charlie Kirk shooting remarks. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/msnbc-fires-matthew-dowd-charlie-kirk-shooting. 13 Sept 2025.

Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus. https://lgbtqdems.org/statement-on-the-murder-of-right-wing-agitator-charlie-kirk/ . 13 Sept 2025.