[No pictures today, mates. The Captain just doesn't have the energy for it. Apologies.]
Mates, your Captain is stewing powerfully over yesterday’s shooting.
No, not the one in Colorado, in which three high school students were critically injured. That one is easy. The shooting was wrong and I am whole-heartedly praying for those injured as well as other students at the school.
CAPTAIN’S NOTE: The shooter has since died from self-inflicted wounds.
My struggle is with the other shooting – the one in Utah that has sucked all the oxygen out of the room.
Far-right podcaster and political agitator Charlie Kirk was shot dead while speaking to students on a college campus.
Only 31 years old, the college drop-out rose to fame by creating “Turning Point USA”, a right-wing student organization that was supposed to rival the liberal “Moveon.org”. Aligning himself with Donald Trumpf and the MAGA movement, in five years his salary quickly jumped from $27,000 to $325,000, and somehow he was able to purchase an $850,000 condo in Florida.
His became the face and voice amplifying Trumpf’s every conspiracy theory, from COVID-19 to election fraud to white nationalism to what happened on January 6th.
CAPTAIN’S NOTE: He promised to send 80 busloads of college students to the J-6 rally. In reality, he only filled seven.
The Southern Poverty Law Center classified his political positions as “hate speech”.
His assassin (yes, this was a political assassination) has not yet been caught. The working theory is that he was on a rooftop two hundred yards away.
Mates, that is the equivalent of two football fields!
The distance and accuracy of that single shot makes it obvious this was not some random shooter. It was likely a skilled marksman with specialized equipment.
Now, as someone on social media pointed out, if gun owners were required to register their weapons, the search for this shooter would be quickly narrowed down.
But we all know that's not going to happen, even now.
The fact that the shooter disappeared without a trace also suggests this was very carefully planned out.
The FBI almost immediately arrested two separate individuals and prematurely proclaimed on social media, “We have the shooter in custody!” They were both released a short time later for lack of evidence.
That’s Trumpf’s FBI.
Filled with podcasters and social media influencers.
So far, no evidence has been found to direct the FBI’s search.
No eyewitnesses.
No manifesto released explaining why he did it.
So let’s narrow it down: Who could have wanted Charlie Kirk dead?
Honestly, most anybody.
While most Democrats / liberals hated him, some in the right-wing also hated him. Laura Loomer, a pretty repulsive “influencer” herself, just last week declared:
“I don’t ever want to hear @charliekirk11 claim he is pro-Trump ever again. After this weekend, I’d say he has revealed himself as political opportunist and I have had a front row seat to witness the mental gymnastics these last 10 years.
“Lately Charlie has decided to behave like a charlatan, claiming to be pro-Trump one day while he stabs Trump in the back the next.
“TPUSA was only able to thrive thanks to the generosity of President Trump.”
She's not wrong.
CAPTAIN’S NOTE: Now that he is dead, she’s saying nice things about him again.
So, yeah, it could have been anybody!
Ironically, at the very moment Kirk was shot he was answering a question about gun violence.
You may be familiar with his position on gun violence, shared after a horrific mass shooting in 2023:
"I think it's worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights."
You know, those school children senselessly slaughtered?
Just a little [necessary] collateral damage.
Human sacrifices offered up to the almighty god of war: the Second Amendment!
“Worth it!”
Trumpf quickly hailed Kirk as a hero and ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff.
CAPTAIN’S NOTE: You may recall that when former President Jimmy Carter died (of natural causes), President Biden followed protocol and ordered flags to be lowered for 30 days. But Trumpf didn’t care about protocol and had them raised again before his inauguration.
And in a completely tone-deaf moment last night, the president declared,
“It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree…”
Yer Captain doesn’t even know where to begin with that statement! SMH!
As expected, social media has been abuzz since the shooting.
Some immediately blamed Democrats and demanded retribution.
“Blood for blood!”
CAPTAIN'S NOTE: Since we have no idea who the shooter is, it's a bit premature to assume he is a Democrat. But as the president said (above) we too often "demonize those with whom you disagree."
Y'all listening?
Apparently not, because Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) declared no one will be safe until the Democrats are completely crushed under foot!
And now she says she’s going to start carrying a gun – for her own protection.
No rooftop sniper’s gonna take her down!
Right-wing memes are already declaring Kirk a martyr.
Yer Captain asks, “A martyr for what exactly?”
One Congressman today declared there should be a statue of Charlie Kirk in the Capitol Rotunda.
Probably the same guy that wants to add Trumpf’s likeness to Mt. Rushmore.
Now mates, here’s my problem. As a pastor, yer Captain is supposed to see the light of Christ in every human being.
Many of my friends and colleagues have told me so.
“He was a child of God.”
“He was someone’s son, husband, father…”
“No one deserves to die like that.”
And I don't put a lot of stock in the concept of eternal damnation. I do believe God's grace is sufficient.
But I confess I am struggling with this one.
As Clarence Darrow once said, "I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure."
Yes, yer Captain grieves for Kirk’s wife and two small children.
I pray for them that they don’t carry on his legacy of hate.
I will agree that no one deserves to die for speaking their opinions – no matter how evil and twisted those opinions might be.
And his were often downright vile!
But for the man who once proclaimed, “I can't stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made-up, new age term that — it does a lot of damage”…
I’ll be honest. I won't dance a jig on his grave. But I also won’t shed a tear.
I won’t miss him.
At all.
The Apostle Paul wrote these words in his Letter to the Galatians:
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man [sic] reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
To paraphrase: Our actions / words have consequences.
And don't be fooled. Words can be just as deadly, just as violent, as any gun ever crafted by human hands.
So, you want to know who killed Charlie Kirk?
The Captain says, “Look no further than Charlie Kirk.”
***UPDATE***UPDATE***UPDATE***UPDATE***
Word from Utah today (9/12/25) is that the alleged shooter is in custody, turned in to Utah police by a family member.
Not found by Trumpf's FBI.
Curious.
His name is Tyler Robinson.
It seems SOMEONE owes Democrats an apology. 😎
