Polina Pelipenko | News Editor
September 28, 2025
Charles James Kirk was an American political activist who was assassinated on Utah University’s campus on September 10th. He was debating on the University’s lawn when a bullet shot him right in the neck in the middle of his words. The crowd was immediately evacuated, and Kirk was quickly taken into the ambulance. Due to the placement of the bullet, the doctors agreed that Kirk was dead as the bullet had hit him. The shooter was later charged as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. The case is still ongoing with no verdict coming out, and many court officials warn that the Trump Administration’s continued comments on this case are affecting the due process of this case.
The assassination has blurred political lines under the unifying grief of Kirk’s death, yet the steps taken in the following weeks to months will define how this moment is written in history. The death put the spotlight on a deeper issue lying in the political world; how is this going to affect politics? Logan Vinger, a sophomore at SCHS, made the point that “politics are just manmade and no person should die over words.” His voice echoes the words that many spoke in the past 2 weeks that signify the strong sense of displacement and fear in current politics. Fellow sophomore Summer Luciani stated that “it should be a sign that we should address gun violence as a whole and not just blame political parties.”
The current Trump Administration has vowed to “crack down on leftist antifa groups who are trying to destroy the administration,” yet there are still no confirmed links between the shooting and any groups of Democrats. Democratic leaders warn the public that what could have been a unifying event to help confront political and gun violence could be warped to an anti-Democratic rampage from the Trump Administration that would curb on defying the Constitution and hurting the already grieving political world.
Unfortunately, Kirk’s assassination was not an isolated incident, but just recently in June, Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman was fatally shot alongside her husband and their dog in their home, with the suspect later revealing a list of other Democratic targets. Political violence seems to be at an all-time high right now on all political sides.
Whether the Trump Administration will be able to handle this horrendous event with peace and a want to reform rather than going into it with hatred for the other side will eventually determine if this event will help lead to a calmer political realm or just deepen America’s political division.
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