When Did It All Go Wrong?

Alessandro Pioltelli ’26

As of the writing of this article, it’s been one month since Charlie Kirk, an extreme right public figure and founder of one of the most popular conservative organizations in the U.S, Turning Point Media, was very publicly assassinated. His death brought forth such a firestorm of media coverage and debate that even the big man himself, Donald Trump, was sidelined on the national stage.

But despite all the discussions and debates happening over whether or not his murder was justified or even deserved, one thing seemed to be clear. 

“After Kirk Killing, Americans Agree on One Thing: Something Is Seriously Wrong”. 

This was the title of a New York Times article published on September the 12th, a mere two days after his death. It discusses how many Americans were starting to feel like the country was moving towards an unsalvageable state, one where people are killed simply because of their political opinion. It asks both right and left-wing voters about their reaction to Kirk’s assassination and what their first thoughts were. Now, although what these people are saying is perfectly reasonable in a situation such as this, I’m here to state what many others already know and have known for quite some time. Something is seriously wrong in America, and the fact that it took this assassination to finally wake a lot of people up is, in my opinion, disconcerting. 

Now, I don’t mean to say that there isn’t anything different about this murder compared to the countless others that have gotten national media coverage. Charlie Kirk was well-known for his public debates, where he went to colleges around the country and debated college students on numerous issues. His approach, compared to that of other conservative figures, seemed to actually foster critical thinking, bringing together both sides of the political spectrum to discuss their views. As such, he was well known in both conservative and liberal spaces- a rarity in a time where the country is more politically polarized than ever. 

Nevertheless, his murder should not have been the straw that broke the camel’s back — to use a cliche. 

This country has had issues like gun violence and freedom of speech for decades. These topics have begun to trend again as a result of his death, but they have been around for a long time, and we have simply accepted them as a facet of American existence, despite the horrific acts that often occur in regard to them. 

We have accepted that every couple of weeks, or even days, someone takes a gun to a public space and murders innocent civilians, and that any attempts to pass gun control bills are completely ignored and overturned. We have accepted that less than five years ago, our current president staged an insurrection to overturn election results and topple democracy, leading to the deaths and suicides of multiple people, and pardoning the people who did it in the first place. We have accepted that what is essentially hate speech isn’t just a valid political view, but a popular one at that, and one that a large portion of Americans either support or don’t care enough to oppose. 

The points I am making may be fairly obvious to some, and very preachy to others, but I think that as a country we need to seriously stop and reconsider whether the murder of someone who said that “it’s worth it” to have some gun deaths each year to keep the Second Amendment should be viewed as more of a sign that something is wrong in the American political climate than the wholesale murder of children and the pardoning of insurrectionists. 

But this, once again, may seem obvious to you. So I want to leave you with a question that might be worth using as a lens to analyze American politics and its past, present, and future; a question that, unfortunately, has no clear answer. 

When did it all go wrong?