Officials say the man who killed Charlie Kirk acted alone, but conservative groups and some Republicans in Congress say he was part of a vast liberal conspiracy that should be investigated, defunded and eradicated.
“He May Have Pulled The Trigger, But Charlie Kirk’s Suspected Killer Didn’t ‘Act Alone,’” said one of many headlines at The Federalist. The conservative site said “the suspect appears steeped in Marxist Antifa-style indoctrination” and said “the FBI should be going scorched earth” on liberal groups that influenced him.
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy
Texas Rep. Chip Roy has requested the House of Representatives “form a select committee on ‘the money, influence and power behind the radical left’s assault on America and the rule of law.’”
“We must take every step to follow the money and uncover the force behind the NGOs, donors, media, public officials and all entities driving this coordinated attack,” said Roy, whose announcement cited liberal megadonor George Soros and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Across the Capitol, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton introduced the Nonprofit Governance Integrity Act to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 “to prohibit foreign nationals from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and Cuba from serving on the board of directors of certain nonprofits.”
Tom Cotton
Cotton’s bill would not apply to “churches or a convention or association of churches,” a reference to the practice of some activist nonprofits (including Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, American Family Association and Liberty Counsel) that have asked the IRS to reclassify them as an association of churches, which reduces their public reporting obligations.
This exception would protect The International Organization for the Family and the World Congress of Families, which are affiliated with a Russian donor, said the liberal group People for the American Way.
Many conservative outlets linked Kirk’s killing to a series of attacks on conservatives while failing to mention any attacks on liberals. They say the anti-conservative barrage began in 2012 when a gunman attacked the Family Research Council’s D.C. office.
“They Are Hunting Us — 15 Violent Political Attacks on Conservatives,” said the headline at Breitbart, which cited the attack on the FRC office. Conservatives said the attack on FRC was inspired by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s decision to add FRC to its “Hate Map” of hate groups.
Some conservatives claimed — without evidence — the SPLC’s addition of Kirk’s Turning Point USA to the Hate Map in 2024 led to Kirk’s killing.
“If the SPLC is serious in opposing political violence … it should remove Turning Point USA from its hate map,’ which plots Kirk’s organization alongside Ku Klux Klan chapters,” said The Daily Signal.
“Any serious federal investigation must also examine connections — direct or indirect — between Antifa cells and the Southern Poverty Law Center,” said FRC, which claimed that TPUSA’s presence on the Hate Map led to Kirk’s killing: “Coincidence? I don’t think so.”
There is no organized group known as “Antifa,” which is a common catch-call conservatives cite as their foe.
Spencer Cox
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a devout Mormon, won bipartisan praise for his efforts to cool heated rhetoric after the killing in his state. But The Federalist criticized him and other Republican officials (Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford and Alabama Sen. Katie Britt) for seeking calm rather than rousing culture warriors.
“Instead of treating the murder as a wake-up call to the growing, dangerous trend of left-wing violence, too many Republicans are hiding behind generic calls for ‘unity,’” complained The Federalist, which said violence is fundamental to left-wing politics.
“If you’re going to call conservatives Hitler, sooner or later someone will start acting on the metaphor,” wrote columnist Steve Deace on Glenn Beck’s news site, The Blaze.
In a Sept. 22 executive order, President Donald Trump said, “I hereby designate Antifa as a ‘domestic terrorist organization.’” Since Antifa is not an organization, it’s unclear what the order will accomplish.
“Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Feels Different Because It Marks the Start of A New Culture War,” claimed The Federalist. But Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said the killing was actually part of a decades-old culture war.
“America is reaping what it has sown,” said Perkins, who blamed the killing on a post-1960s effort “to drive God, his word, and his authority from public life. The aim was to relegate faith to the private corners of society, never to influence the classroom, courtroom or public square.”
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