On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated at the age of 39. King left behind a wife and three children. He was and still is an American social and political icon of the highest order.
A Baptist minister, for years he led protests for racial equality and civil rights using nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience, led marches for the right for all adult Americans to vote, for desegregation, and equal labor rights. He led marches on Washington, DC, and two of three Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights marches. He was the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which became and still is a major civil rights organization. And he was under heavy surveillance by the federal government under Presidents Johnson and Nixon. FBI agents investigated him. King was vilified by the press.
And King was long opposed to American involvement in the Vietnam War.
Then he was removed from the equation when a lone rifleman at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee assassinated him, though there are still questions as to whether that man was James Earl Ray.
In 1977, King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
I will argue that King's death was the single most significant assassination of any American who was not a politician. He had thousands, if not millions, of friends and followers. But, he never ran for political office, though he was a registered Republican. Since his death, his name has been and is invoked by politicians and leaders of every sort for far too many positions, reasons, and movements.
Then, fifty-seven years later on September 10, 2025, Charles James “Charlie” Kirk was assassinated at the age of 31. He left behind a wife and two children. He was an American social and political icon of the highest order.
For years he held events for equal rights that opposed racist DEI policies, as well as other issues. His signature event were open-air lectures and question-and-answer sessions on US college campuses. These open-air events were necessitated by college leaders intentionally placing his events in classrooms and auditoriums that were far too small to hold the crowds who showed up to hear him speak. He founded Turning Point USA at the age of 18, also known as “TPUSA”, a conservative youth and student movement that's mission is to counteract the leftist indoctrination so prevalent in American schools and universities today. TPUSA, as well as hundreds of other conservative organizations, was placed under heavy surveillance by the federal government under Presidents Obama and Biden. Kirk was also vilified by the mainstream media.
Also a staunch Christian, Kirk was long opposed to American involvement in foreign wars, railing against American involvement with Iran, Russia, and others.
Then he was removed from the equation when a lone rifleman at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah assassinated him. I'm sure there will be questions as to was the actual shooter for decades to come.
Kirk will also be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
I will argue that Kirk's assassination is the current generation's Martin Luther King, Jr. moment. And like King, Charlie Kirk was not a politician. He never ran for political office, though like King, he too was a registered Republican. And he has thousands, if not millions, of friends and followers.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk, like that of Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Left, will likely solidify American conservatives and will arguably bring into that fold millions of others who were indifferent or doubtful of the motives and intentions of Kirk and his supporters, and those of his opponents. This could be for America a watershed moment the likes of which hasn't been seen in nearly six decades. The death of this man, who was not a politician, could lead to vast changes in the landscape of American society and politics.
And like the death of King, this is likely not what the assassin intended.
