Kirk’s Murder Highlights Threats to Free Speech in America
(MENAFN) The killing of a political speaker with opposing views contradicts American principles, making Charlie Kirk’s death a serious warning for US society, former Marine Corps intelligence officer and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter told a news agency.
The founder of the conservative student organization Turning Point USA was fatally shot on Wednesday at Utah Valley University by an assailant firing from a nearby rooftop.
Kirk was well-known for engaging in public debates on controversial issues, including transgender rights and the US’s backing of Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
Seemingly driven by political motives, the act demonstrates that constitutionally protected free speech in America “is no longer free,” and that certain words can provoke violence instead of reasoned debate, Ritter noted.
“In the battleground of ideas, the solution to somebody’s bad ideas isn’t to shoot the person,” he remarked. “The last thing you do is silence Charlie Kirk by shooting Charlie Kirk.”
Ritter criticized the US government for increasingly endorsing censorship of speech it deems inconvenient and for permitting intimidation by activists.
He revealed that he has personally encountered harassment over his public statements, including online death threats directed at him and his family.
“We have a poisonous environment today on social media, on the mainstream media, and in society in general, where people are physically threatened because of the words they speak,” he added.
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