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Many Conservatives View Kirk’s Death as a Galvanizing Force for Years to Come
The New York Times ^ | Sept. 15, 2025, 5:03 a.m. ET | Emily Cochrane

Posted on 09/15/2025 12:30:24 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

The vice president escorted Charlie Kirk’s casket home on Air Force Two. Thousands of people across the country gathered at candlelight vigils. A Republican congresswoman called for him to be allowed to lie in honor in the Capitol.

The gestures signal not only how conservatives see Mr. Kirk as a martyr, but also their view that his assassination could be a watershed moment that will propel their cause and cement both conservative and conservative Christian values in American life for decades to come.

Mr. Kirk’s death has “unleashed the dragon,” Luke Barnett, a pastor, told the congregation on Wednesday at Dream City Church in Phoenix, where Mr. Kirk had hosted monthly “Freedom Night in America” events.

He addressed young people specifically. “It is time for you to rise up because of what has happened to Charlie Kirk today,” he said to cheers. “I can just envision, right now, 10,000 Charlie Kirks rising up in campuses right across America, proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ.”

It was a moment not just of mourning but of opportunity, he suggested: “Charlie is gone. Who’s going to fill his place?”

Less than a week after Mr. Kirk was fatally shot at an event at Utah Valley University, the anger and grief remain raw for many across the country, and it’s difficult to predict the long-term political impact of Mr. Kirk’s death amid a highly charged climate.

The movement he led may require more time to take shape without him. But many of Mr. Kirk’s allies have vowed to pick up his mantle and expand the reach of his beliefs.

“This is what happens when you make a martyr — you embolden everyone who believes like they do,” said...

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: charliekirk; kirk
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1 posted on 09/15/2025 12:30:24 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I AGREE....THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING


2 posted on 09/15/2025 12:31:42 PM PDT by ridesthemiles (not giving up on TRUMP---EVER)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Dear New York Times: We used the ballot box in 2024 to enact change with the help of a majority of Americans, but Democrats have not accepted defeat, engaging in a lot of unacceptable behavior including now political assassinations.

We need Democrat lunatics to stop killing our people, and that is NOT negotiable.

Hopefully a resolution can be achieved peacefully within the battleground of ideas instead of escalating of more violence, which would be incredibly bad for the country.

It's up to the Left to make the correct choice.
3 posted on 09/15/2025 12:36:32 PM PDT by SunStar (Democrats piss me off!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

A lot of people/groups are going to have to get their egos out of the way.


4 posted on 09/15/2025 12:36:42 PM PDT by Chipper
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
 
 
The haters, the domestic enemies, gave themselves a mortal wound on this one. This got the attention of the young people out there. It wasn't some old guy, someone generations removed. It was one of them, one of their own, who was relatable to them. Yes, the shockwaves are going to last for years to come.
 
 

5 posted on 09/15/2025 12:36:58 PM PDT by lapsus calami (What's that stink? Code Pink ! ! And their buddy Murtha, too!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“...a Galvanizing Force for Years to Come”

I zinc so, too.


6 posted on 09/15/2025 12:37:44 PM PDT by decal (They won't stop, so they'll have to be stopped)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Ask no quarter. Give no quarter.


7 posted on 09/15/2025 12:38:31 PM PDT by TigersEye (Terrorism has been institutionalized by the left. Ask no quarter. Give no quarter.)
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To: SunStar

The left has cancelled the soapbox with their bullet box.

Or so they think.


8 posted on 09/15/2025 12:39:58 PM PDT by lightman (Beat the Philly fraud machine the Amish did onest, ja? Nein, zweimal they did already!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Turning Point has got to evolve to a strategy that allows for the emergence of new leaders from within the organization.


9 posted on 09/15/2025 12:40:56 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I think it is.

It will be as memorable and impactful as MLK’s, John Lennon, or the Kennedy assassinations.

Im not saying I agree with folks like John Lennon....but when you think off assassinations in the US that had a lasting impact, and people remembers over generations.....that’s what comes to mind.

Charlie will be in this group.


10 posted on 09/15/2025 12:41:06 PM PDT by suasponte137
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

And many liberals, including on the NYT staff, view it as a cause to celebrate.


11 posted on 09/15/2025 12:43:36 PM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard (When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

First, we need to make “public edycation” die a quick death...or at the least return it ti reading, writing, and arithmetic...to 8th grade. After that...it should be up to the parents.


12 posted on 09/15/2025 12:45:34 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Make educ institutions return to the Mission...reading, writing, math...not Opinions & propaganda)
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To: ridesthemiles

I hope that you’re correct.

One thing you can say about the radical left is that they are relentless.

Conservatives may initially be outraged by events. But, we generally just want to get back to normal lives. Sustained long term political activism is rare.

I hope that this assassination-murder changes that.


13 posted on 09/15/2025 12:45:36 PM PDT by sjmjax
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To: goodnesswins
First, we need to make “public edycation” die a quick death...

Outlaw teachers' unions.

Even that Commie Franklin Delano Roosevelt opposed public sector unions.

14 posted on 09/15/2025 12:46:58 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Je suis Charlie Kirk.)
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To: goodnesswins
we need to make “public edycation” die a quick death...or at the least return it ti reading, writing, and arithmetic

Needs to be priority ONE.

15 posted on 09/15/2025 12:47:19 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: SunStar

1861...sound familiar?


16 posted on 09/15/2025 12:48:27 PM PDT by Fledermaus ("It turns out all we really needed was a new President!")
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Our church had the altars full Sunday with people praying for our country!


17 posted on 09/15/2025 12:49:55 PM PDT by 2nd Amendment
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

There are numerous talented young people rising within the conservative movement.

Natalie Winters, Jayne Zirkle, Kara Mackinly, Vince Dao, James Allsup, Nick Sandmann, etc.

The conservative movement is ascending, while the degenerate leftwing is being renounced and rejected all over the world. Normal people are fed up with the depraved transsexual agenda. The grooming of children is at an end.


18 posted on 09/15/2025 12:50:18 PM PDT by Flavious_Maximus (Tony Fauci will be put on death row and die of COVID!)
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To: 1Old Pro
Turning Point has got to evolve to a strategy that allows for the emergence of new leaders from within the organization.

All Charlie ever did was encourage people to tap into their inner leader.

19 posted on 09/15/2025 12:52:13 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Je suis Charlie Kirk.)
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To: Flavious_Maximus

Grooming them to be terrorists was two steps too far.


20 posted on 09/15/2025 12:53:20 PM PDT by TigersEye (Terrorism has been institutionalized by the left. Ask no quarter. Give no quarter.)
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