8 Incidents of Violence, Threats in the Wake of Charlie Kirk’s Assassination, Kimmel’s Suspension

The assassination of Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk has brought many Americans together as they commemorate him, but it has also revealed the country’s political divisions.

In the past two weeks, vandals and other offenders have allegedly targeted Kirk memorials and TV stations involved in the suspension of late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel’s show.

While Americans mourned Kirk and news broke about his alleged murderer’s left-leaning politics and relationship with a transgender boyfriend, Kimmel said, “the MAGA gang [was] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

After Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr expressed disgust at Kimmel’s comments, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group decided to remove the show from the air, leading ABC, owned by the Walt Disney Company, to temporarily suspend the show.

On Monday, Disney announced it would reinstate the show Tuesday, but Sinclair and Nexstar said they would not restore it.

Many Americans expressed outrage, either at Kimmel’s remarks or at the show’s cancellation.

Meanwhile, some on the Left have celebrated Kirk’s death and condemned people who decide to commemorate the Turning Point USA founder.

1. Arson at a Church

On Sept. 17, police in El Paso, Texas, arrested 35-year-old Marynka Marquez and charged her with arson against a place of worship, specifically Beth El Bible Church.

According to police, Marquez “had gone to the church, placed a large bag against the outside wall of the church, set it on fire, and then fled the scene.”

The pastor had been leaving the church, so he spotted the fire and put it out. El Paso authorities investigated the arson and found a bag with “a paper plate with hateful language inscribed.”

On Sept. 18, the day after the attack, Beth El Bible Church held a vigil honoring Charlie Kirk.

2. ABC News Shooting

Police arrested Anibal Hernandez Santana, 64, after he allegedly opened fire at the office of Sacramento ABC affiliate KXTV’s station on Friday. Tenga, not Sinclair, owns the station in question. Santana faces charges of interference with a licensed communications station and possession and discharge of a firearm within a school zone, ABC News reported.

Authorities reportedly found a note Santana had written.

“For hiding Epstein & ignoring red flags,” the note read, according to National Review. “Do not support Patel, Bongino, & AG Pam Bondie. They’re next.”

The note had been signed “CK” with the words “from above.” Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho called the note “circumstantial evidence” that Santana had a “political motive” for the shooting. Ho also said he thinks “CK” stands for Charlie Kirk.

3. Other Threats

Sinclair abruptly canceled plans to air a Charlie Kirk tribute last week after the company’s ABC affiliates received multiple violent threats, The New York Post reported.

The company pulled the tribute Friday after it learned about “local threats directed at specific local ABC stations resulting from [the] ABC suspension” of Kimmel, a source told The Post. The company reportedly increased security at its ABC stations.

Sinclair did not respond to a request for comment to confirm or deny the report.

4. Anti-Kimmel Threats

According to sources who spoke to CNN, Disney employees and staffers on Kimmel’s show began receiving death threats after Federal Elections Commissioner Brendan Carr commented Wednesday condemning Kimmel’s remarks about Kirk’s assassination.

CNN reported that staffers’ emails and phone numbers had been published on social media, leading Disney to act to protect them.

“For Disney, the issue under consideration was bigger than Kimmel,” one source told CNN. “It became a safety issue for employees and the show’s advertisers.”

The Walt Disney Company did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment to confirm or deny these threats.

5. Vandalizing a Memorial

Police in Phoenix, Arizona, arrested Sunday 19-year-old Ryder Corral for vandalizing a memorial to Charlie Kirk outside the headquarters of Turning Point USA.

Corral faces charges of disorderly conduct and criminal damage, according to KTVK/KPHO Arizona Family News. Video shows Corral trampling over flowers, balloons, and other items at the memorial site.

6. Assault at a Memorial

Authorities arrested Courtney Beth Anderson, 56, for allegedly assaulting 73-year-old Valerie Jamieson at a vigil for Charlie Kirk on Sept. 14 in The Villages, Florida.

Arrest records state that Anderson appeared at the vigil, “yelling and holding up her middle finger to everyone at the event,” Fox 35 Orlando reported. Jamieson, co-founder of The Villages MAGA Club, asked Anderson to leave due to her “aggressive and rude behavior,” and Anderson responded by allegedly pushing her to the ground, causing her to hit her head. Witnesses reportedly told officers the alleged attack was “unprovoked.”

7. Setting Fire to a Memorial

Authorities arrested David Gilroy, 64, for allegedly setting fire to a private memorial for Charlie Kirk on Sept. 13 in Loveland, Colorado.

According to the Denver ABC News affiliate, Loveland Police Department records show Gilroy has a history of politically motivated attacks. In 2021, Gilroy “verbally harassed” two women before “slamming an open vehicle door on [one woman’s] leg,” seemingly upset “about the Trump/Pence political signs in their yard.”

8. Painting Over a Memorial

On Sept. 15, more than 1,500 students and others attended a vigil for Charlie Kirk at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The event, organized by the university’s Turning Point USA chapter, featured a candlelight vigil and the painting of one of the campus’ two “Spirit Rocks” with a portrait and tribute to Kirk.

University policy encourages students and staff to allow messages to persist for 24 hours before covering them and recommends those adding messages include a date and time. While conservative students spent the night keeping watch over the spirit rock, anti-Kirk students arrived Tuesday morning. These protesters proceeded to paint over the Kirk tributes, using the colors of the Transgender Pride flag, the local public radio station reported.

“I am appalled,” the school’s chancellor, Aswani Volety, wrote in a statement last week. “When passion overrides compassion, when we confront people for their beliefs rather than engage their ideas, we betray everything our university represents.”

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