FILE - Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk speaks at a Turning Point event prior to Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaking, Sept. 4, 2024, in Mesa, Ariz.

Image Credit: AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File

OPINION

I’ve always heard folks say, “Don’t speak ill of the dead.” Presumably, the reasoning is that they’re no longer here to defend their comments or actions. Sorry, but sometimes we have enough of a record…hundreds or thousands of examples of comments and behaviour to warrant a critical enough review of someone’s life…to speak the truth about them.

Don’t misinterpret my words…no one should be targeted with violence because of what they say in a democracy. That’s not how democracies work. That’s how authoritarian dictatorships work.

That said, in the case of Charlie Kirk’s murder this week, he said some awfully vile things over the past few years. A 22-year-old Utah man, Tyler Robinson, was arrested and booked on murder charges in connection with the Kirk's killing although authorities have yet to reveal his motive.

Kirk has said - often multiple times - horribly racist, misogynistic and offensive  things. He has lied…and in the guise of engaging others in debate…simply spewed propaganda. He mostly chose those who were largely uninformed, misinformed and less intelligent than he to debate…then baited them before shaming them sarcastically.

(DON THOMPSON / iNFOnews.ca)

Kirk was a father and husband…but painting him now as a gentlemanly scholar willing to engage the most intelligent members of those holding opposing political and cultural views…or as a pious leader who respected all religions…is simply fantasy not fact. He trolled folks on the internet, on social media and at speaking engagements.

Tens of thousands of Republicans - outraged to the point of labelling Kirk’s killer a Liberal and Democrat within minutes of the assassination on social media - called for immediate retaliation…revenge.

Elected Republicans - led by President Donald Trump - lionized Kirk immediately…calling him a martyr for their cause. These same Republicans weren’t so moved on June 14, after a masked gunman targeted and shot two Minnesota state legislators and their spouses in their homes.

Likewise, two months earlier, when another man targeted the Pennsylvania governor and his family…burning a good portion of the governor’s mansion and endangering their lives…there was no Republican outcry.

The fact is, during the last ten years, 75 percent of political murders have been committed by extremist Right Wingers, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.

Just before Kirk was shot, someone in the audience asked him how many mass shooters in the last decade were transgender Americans…with Kirk responding, “Too many!” Well, yes, one would be too many…but Kirk’s implication was that there were lots. Not true.

The questioner volunteered - incorrectly - that five was the number. It is two. The same questioner shouted, “Do you know how many mass shootings there were in the last ten years?” Kirk replied seconds before his death, “Counting or not counting gang violence?" somehow implying that inner-city gang murders are usually mass shootings. Not true. The F.B.I. counts mass shootings as three or more deaths.

Make no mistake, it is a tragedy whenever anyone is murdered for their political or cultural views. But we shouldn’t re-write history. We should not ignore the enumerable things Charlie Kirk said that inspire and incite members of Republican MAGA crowds toward hate…and violence.

Here are just a few quotes…taken from Kirk’s speeches, video interviews and podcasts:

“I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year, so that we can have the Second Amendment."

"We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s."

"It is a growing consensus in the pro-life world that abortion is never medically necessary."

“Young women, they don't value having children. Trump voters, young men, they want family, children and legacy. Young women who voted for Kamala Harris, they want careerism, consumerism and loneliness."

“Black women do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.”

In the past days, Republicans - Donald Trump chief among them - have made Kirk seem like a genuinely nice guy…someone always open-minded to the thoughts and beliefs of others. We should remember, he was not.

Speak neither ill nor good of the dead...simply, speak the truth.

— Don Thompson, an American awaiting Canadian citizenship, lives in Vernon and in Florida. In a career that spans more than 40 years, Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. A passionate and compassionate man, he loves the written word as much as fine dinners with great wines.

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