We have seen protesters on the left around the country mocking the assassination of Charlie Kirk, even reenacting his murder. Hate traffickers like Jennifer Welch have even justified his assassination. It is all shocking and depressing, but none reached the level of Hasan Piker leading a huge crowd in mocking Kirk and his faith. Before he was murdered, Kirk debated Piker and called him a “socialist hypocrite.” What is shocking is not the utter depravity and cruelty toward Kirk, but the ecstasy of the crowd in relishing the death of someone with opposing views. It is part of the conditioning in what I have previously called an “age of rage.”
In the video, Piker leads the crowd in the meme song “We Are Charlie Kirk” at a stop of his “Fear& LIVE” tour, including such lines as “We are Charlie Kirk, we carry the flame. We’ll fight for the Gospel, we’ll honor his name.” His co-hosts and the crowd seem to be laughing with joy.
Joining him at this hatefest at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco on August 21 were reportedly Will Neff, QTCinderella, and AustinShow.
Hasan is wearing his now-signature Mao jacket as the young crowd and his co-hosts laugh hysterically. It is the very essence of this movement to desensitize people, particularly young people, to violence and hate.
In Rage and the Republic, I wrote about this national ragefest. It allows people to hate completely and without thought to the humanity of those being hurt. What people will not admit is that they like it. Rage is addictive, and it is contagious. Just look at the crowd in San Francisco, and you will see the addictive quality of uncut, undiluted hate:
Piker, Will Neff, QTCinderella, AustinShow, and these fans have every right to spread hate. It is protected speech just as KKK and neo-Nazi groups are allowed to promulgate their own hateful values.
What is exasperating is how hatemongers on the left want to enjoy hate speech while accusing others of hate and intolerance. They do so by excusing their actions or views by demonizing those who disagree. Democratic leaders continue the false claim that democracy is dying in America and that this may be our last free election. While made over multiple elections, the claim of the imminent death of democracy (unless they are elected) does not appear to register with their supporters.
Recently the rhetoric has reached hysterical levels. Florida Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon has compared Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to “modern-day slave catchers” and the government is “literally trying to kill us.”
It is a narrative that allows you to speak like a Nazi while claiming to be fighting Nazis.
Piker thrilled the crowd by mocking a murdered man over his faith and his death. It is more than being simply classless. It is commodifying rage. Piker is reportedly raking in a fortune as are other hatemongers like Jennifer Welch. They traffic in rage to a nation of rage addicts.
It is a scene that only reaffirms the work of Kirk who sought to expose the hate and intolerance of the left, particularly on our campuses. Kirk infuriated many by challenging them to debate. There is no room for reason an an age of rage. Those who try to introduce opposing views on campuses are cancelled or attacked.
Recently, a group of pro-life teenagers were kicked out of the Wydaho Roasters coffee shop in Idaho by an owner who found their presence intolerable. At universities, faculty members have attacked displays and even students in righteous rage. One professor who pleaded guilty to assaulting pro-life students was not only not fired but even honored by another school.
Civility, and even humanity, become signs of weakness to those who relish the rage. They gravitate to figures like Abdul El-Sayed who has campaigned with Piker and promises to “choke out” Republicans and refers to moderates like Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) as ogres to have their heads cut off and put on pikes.
The American left has found their berserkers, the old Norse warriors who were known to fight in a virtual violent trance. The new berserkers offer the chance to hate completely and without remorse or reflection. Over time, supporters are conditioned to disregard even the murder of those with opposing views. As shown in San Francisco, assassination becomes nothing more than a sing-a-long in an age of rage.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
Decitenize with a one way ticket to the country their parents came from. Allegedly this guy was born here and his parents returned with him back to Turkey and raised as a Muslim. Thanks SC, what a decision.
I don’t quite under stand the phrase “What is shocking is not the utter depravity and cruelty of Kirk, but the ecstasy of the crowd in relishing the death of someone with opposing views.” in the intro to the piece. Methinks there are some words that got lost somehow or the wrong name was inserted.
Thought provoking article. It has a couple of things that need editing, however. I guess it just proves that you don’t use AI to write your pieces.
When Charlie Kirk was murdered there were many people saying he deserved it because he was so hateful.
I watched some Charlie Kirk videos and I did not see hate. What I saw was a decent young man who was willing to talk, in a civil manner, to anybody.
I am not a Christian, I am not even particularly religious. What I can say is that this is fundamentally a Christian nation and my concepts of right and wrong, good and evil, align pretty closely with Christian values.
I would have been very happy to have Charlie Kirk as a neighbor.
There are 2 types of citizens now, those who are offended and disgusted by the likes of hasan piker and those to ill-educated or indoctrinated to see the danger inherent in this pathway. My only question is which side has the power to prevail as that will determine our nation’s future.
The crazies are so far out in the tall grass that I am not sure what to make of their thought processes. Maybe they all need to have their brains scanned for toxoplasmosis, tapeworms, or some other brain parasites. They are dangerous.
@whimsicalmama
You took the words right out of likely many of our mouths. We will ever reach the point of wanting to address the question of why so many of our younger people are so susceptible to this in the first place? Well adjusted people do not hate other people, at any age, and these people are rapidly making the Manson Family appear tame.
Piker on the other hand is simply a sociopath, from a sociopathic ideology and obscene levels of privilege. He is pathetic, as is anyone that defends him in any capacity. Dem voters that can’t bring themselves to denounce him out of fear of being ostracized/siding with ‘MAGA’ need to find their damn spines.
Time for the rest of us to stockpile ammo, this is not going to get any better… its going to get uglier and uglier and one side will need to be eliminated