ANALYSIS
RED TERROR I Trump, Uribe, Kirk...: attacks on conservative politicians and activists multiply worldwide
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and a key ally in Donald Trump's campaign, died after being shot in the neck during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
Leaders attacked by far left.
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and a key ally in Donald Trump's campaign, died after being shot in the neck during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The killing was confirmed by the president.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The attack adds to the list of attacks perpetrated in recent years against conservative leaders who defend the ideas of freedom. Just a month ago, in Colombia, senator and presidential pre-candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay was assassinated after an attack he suffered on June 7 during a campaign event in the town of Fontibón, on the outskirts of Bogotá.
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Another political assassination that caused great commotion was that of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, which occurred in 2023. He was shot three times in the head as he left a rally in northern Quito.
Violence directed against conservative leaders is not an isolated phenomenon, but has manifested itself in different parts of the world. In 2022, tragedy struck Japan, when former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down while giving a speech on a street in Nara. Years earlier, in 2018, Brazil was the scene of another attack, when then-candidate and future president Jair Bolsonaro was stabbed in the middle of a campaign rally.
In 2024, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump also survived an attack during a rally in Pennsylvania, when he was shot in the ear.
European conservative leaders have also been attacked
Meanwhile, in Spain, on November 9, 2023, the former vice president of the European Parliament and co-founder of Vox, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, was the victim of an attack in the heart of Madrid. While he was walking down the street, a man approached him and shot him in the face, impacting the bullet in his jaw and causing serious injuries. Despite the seriousness of the attack, Vidal-Quadras was taken conscious to the Gregorio Marañón hospital, where he underwent surgery and remained hospitalized for several days.
These events show that violence directed against conservative leaders, far from being an isolated phenomenon, has manifested itself in a recurrent manner in different corners of the world. And it is something that Charlie Kirk had rightly warned about.
In April, the conservative activist made a publication in which he addressed political violence by the radical left. In that regard, Kirk warned that “assassination culture is spreading on the left.
"Forty-eight percent of liberals say it would be at least somewhat justified to murder Elon Musk. Fifty-five percent said the same about Donald Trump,” he wrote.
">Assassination culture is spreading on the left. Forty-eight percent of liberals say it would be at least somewhat justified to murder Elon Musk. Fifty-five percent said the same about Donald Trump.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 7, 2025
In California, activists are naming ballot measures after Luigi Mangione.
The… pic.twitter.com/xiGAAvoPHy
"The left is being whipped into a violent frenzy"
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