By Sophie Perry

Copyright thepinknews

The US director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has compared the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk to the terrorist events of 9/11 which left thousands of people dead at a recent vigil held at the Kennedy Center.

Charlie Kirk, a right-wing influencer known for his gun rights advocacy and anti-LGBTQ+ views, was killed at Utah Valley University, in Orem, on Wednesday (10 September) while holding one of his ‘Prove Me Wrong’ debating events.

He was discussing the conservative conspiracy theory about trans shooters when a single shot hit him in the neck. He died later in hospital. Two days later, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson was arrested following a massive manhunt. Robinson’s ideology and personal beliefs remain unclear.

A memorial vigil for Kirk was held on Sunday (14 September) at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, with members of Donald Trump’s administration and right-wing pundits paying tribute.

During the Kennedy Center vigil, Gabbard compared the “targeted” attack on Kirk to the 2001 terrorist hijackings which claimed the lives of 2,977 people.

“Charlie was killed on September 10th. On September 11th, we observed the 24th anniversary of the Islamist terror attack on our country. Now these events have something in common,” she said, The Independent reported.

“They were both carried out by those who hold on to ideologies that cannot stand up to scrutiny and challenge, so they feel their only recourse is to commit an act of violence to silence those who oppose them, to intimidate and to terrorise others into silence. This is the definition of terrorism.

“We cannot allow ourselves to be terrorised into silence. We need to live Charlie Kirk’s example, the example he set, that is captured by the words of Martin Luther King: ‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that’.

She went on to say Kirk had lived the civil rights leader’s quote “every day and inspired countless people around the world to do the same”.

Former Democrat Gabbard criticised protesters who turned up outside Kirk’s memorial, describing them as “full of anger and hopelessness and hate”, saying they did not have “the spiritual happiness that Charlie experienced”, before adding: “They’re empty and this is where their anger is coming from. It is their rejection of God, their desire to be God and therefore they have made God their enemy.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt cited Kirk’s “tireless work” for MAGA and right-wing causes, and, according to The Hill House of Representatives speaker Mike Johnson said: “It’s as if the ground was shifted beneath us. We all felt it deep, deep inside. We remember that our dear friend Charlie would never want us to be overcome by despair. He would want exactly the opposite.

“We should also adopt his approach. Charlie loved vigorous debate but he loved people more. [He] was never motivated by hate.

“He could clean the clock of anybody in a debate. We all know it. But you know what he did after those debates? He was always the first person to reach out a hand of friendship or to offer an arm around the shoulder of someone who he felt was lost.”

Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said he first met Kirk when he went on his podcast and by the end of it, they were “soul mates… spiritual brothers and friends”.

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