Charlie Kirk was the victim of a political assassination that we all need to condemn. Our polarized society needs to heed Kirk’s desire that we talk to each other.

There is another side of Charlie Kirk that needs attention. Before making Kirk a martyr, we should know more about him and the student organization that he created in 2012; Turning Point USA. TPUSA has drawn both conservative mainstream as well as extremist elements from the far right. It has promulgated conspiracy theories about covid and election fraud. Kirk has promoted Christian nationalism and the idea that Christians should dominate the government and other areas of life in the U.S. TPUSA has ties to right wing extremists who advocate for white supremacy, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant positions. TPUSA has said that they reject white supremacist ideology even though they continue to attract racist groups and several of its leaders are known to make bigoted remarks about minority groups.

TPUSA states that they have a presence in thousands of schools, and social media is flooded with their members advocating for TPUSA groups to be established in all high schools. That effort has begun in Sarasota County. Kirk suggested that Republican states should authorize raids against Black Lives Matter and Planned Parenthood. After a white supremacist attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband, he asked for a “hero” to bail out the attacker.

Some will ask why we would write this when Kirk was such a strong supporter of Israel. The reality is that we are not a single-issue people. We also have called out dangerous organizations and individuals on the far left. We condemn the assassination of Kirk, appreciate his support of Israel but are concerned about how TPUSA is a danger to democratic values and the tradition of acceptance of religious and individual diversity in the United States. September 2025