By MICAH BECKWITH
Guest Columnist
When a conservative leader like Charlie Kirk was assassinated for daring to speak truth, it revealed a sickness in our culture we can no longer ignore.
His death was not an isolated act. It added to a growing list of assaults on conservatives that demonstrate a dangerous pattern: Republicans are being targeted, while many on the Left and in the media look the other way.
These malicious attacks were not committed by right-wing Republicans. However, the narrative is often twisted to suggest that conservatives are the violent ones, which is a strategic, blatant lie. Voices on the Left are the first to excuse riots, encourage mobs, and celebrate intimidation as legitimate political tools.
We saw it on July 13, 2024, when a gunman opened fire at President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa., where our former and future president was grazed in the ear by a bullet – just inches away from ending his life. During the assassination attempt, an innocent supporter of President Trump, Corey Comperatore, was murdered while shielding his family from the bullets.
This was an attempted assassination of a former president and the leading Republican candidate. How did some in the media respond? Rather than uniting in outrage, commentators speculated whether it had been staged. They questioned whether the blood on Trump’s face was “real.” That tells you everything about the climate we live in today.
When an attempt is made on a president’s life and the media’s instinct is to suggest it was fake, we know integrity has left the newsroom.
After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, MSNBC analyst, Matthew Dowd, went on air and suggested Kirk’s own divisive rhetoric bore responsibility for the climate in which he was killed. Imagine that, blaming the victim of political violence for his own murder. The instinct was not to condemn violence against a conservative, but to rationalize it.
Just days before Charlie Kirk was assassinated, CNN’s Van Jones downplayed the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee, Iryna Zarutska, by saying the attacker was “hurting.”
When Charlie Kirk debated this issue on air with one of the “stars” of CNN, Jones downplayed the harm of cashless bail, knowing the man who stabbed Zarutska was a career criminal who had been arrested over a dozen times. He went on to say, “We don’t know why that man did what he did.”
Again, the instinct was not to defend the innocent victim or acknowledge the culture of violence. Instead, CNN chose to excuse the perpetrator and also work in a way to bash Charlie Kirk, stating that he was “race mongering and hate mongering” after he simply pointed out that the man who murdered Zarutska uttered the words, “I got that white girl.”
This pattern of minimizing violence does not just come from media commentators. It comes from the highest levels of Democrat leadership. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shrugged off riots by saying, “People will do what they do,” as neighborhoods burned to the ground and businesses were destroyed.
Kamala Harris, who at the time was a sitting U.S. Senator, said of the 2020 unrest, “They’re not going to stop, and everyone, beware because they’re not going to stop.” She later promoted a bail fund for those arrested during riots. These are not throwaway lines. They are signals.
In 2021, Rep. Maxine Waters told her supporters, “We’ve got to stay on the street, and we’ve got to get more active. We’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.”
When leaders in positions of power treat chaos like justice, they embolden unstable people to believe violence is justified.
The Democrat Party once appealed to Rust Belt workers, union families, and defenders of free speech, but over time, their message stopped resonating. Their economic policies failed to win the confidence of middle America. Their cultural arguments began to fall flat. Rather than correct course, they shifted to a strategy of division. They decided that if they could not persuade, they would intimidate. If they could not win by policy, they would win by chaos. They demonize anyone with momentum and influence, hoping to scare them into silence. What they do not know is this: you cannot bury influence.
Contrast this with Republicans. You will not find conservative leaders calling on crowds to burn cities or to assault their opponents.
President Trump has consistently reminded Americans that we are a nation of laws. When Steve Scalise, who at the time was House Majority Whip, was nearly assassinated, Republican leaders grieved, prayed, and strengthened security.
When President Trump himself faced assassination attempts, Americans who love freedom bowed their heads in prayer, stood firmly for justice, and renewed their commitment to peace through strength. They did not encourage mobs or call for violence.
The contrast could not be clearer.
This is not just a political debate; it is a moral one. If we normalize violence in our politics, we lose our republic. Free speech will die, not from censorship alone, but from fear. Parents will not attend school board meetings, pastors will not preach truth, and young conservatives will not dare speak in class because they will be afraid of what might follow.
I will continue to be outraged by Charlie Kirk’s assassination, but instead of calling for more violence, I will honor his legacy by speaking truth.
I condemn all political violence, regardless of party affiliation, because an attack on one voice is an attack on the very foundation of our constitutional republic.
We will not be silent. We will not surrender the public square. We will not let violence, whether excused, minimized, or justified, become the new normal in America.
Indiana can lead by example. Let us show the nation that debate is still possible without destruction, that arguments can still end in handshakes, and that faith, courage, and freedom still have the final word.
Charlie Kirk’s voice on this Earth has sadly been silenced, but his message endures and will continue to impact our nations for centuries.
As Utah Governor Spencer Cox said, “History will dictate if this is a turning point for our country, but every single one of us gets to choose right now, if this is a turning point for us.”
Micah Beckwith is a pastor at Life Church in Noblesville and serves as Indiana’s 53rd Lieutenant Governor.
All due respect, political violence have been enacted on BOTH sides of the aisle.
In June 2025, a Democrat House Rep. of Minnesota, Melissa Hortman, and her husband was shot and killed in their home by. Vance Boelter, the accused shooter, has very Right/Conservative views.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Sharpio, a democrat, had his house firebomb in an assassination attempt on April 13 2025.
All events are tragic but they indicate a much LARGER issue than simply what side of the aisle you’re on.
What you are doing is only making more of a rift in the community when what we need is to WORK TOGETHER and SOLVE THE ISSUES FACING THIS COUNTRY. You say you condone political violence on both sides, but pointing blame on the otherside is only going to sow more distrust.
During these trying time, I look towards the bible for advice – Luke 6:37 & Matthew 18:21-22 specially
Charlie Kirks widow publicly forgave the sick, deranged individual responsible .. at her husband’s memorial service no less.
Apparently she walks the walk with regard to her Christianity.
If only our elected officials could see their way clear to forgo the quest of scoring political points, even for a moment, & aspire similarly as Mrs. Kirk.
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