{"id":515,"date":"2025-09-20T11:01:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T11:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greenville-nc.com\/?p=515"},"modified":"2025-09-23T10:34:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:34:31","slug":"krista-kafer-dont-use-kirks-death-to-silence-speech-even-the-gross-speech-endorsed-by-a-canon-city-councilwoman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.greenville-nc.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/20\/krista-kafer-dont-use-kirks-death-to-silence-speech-even-the-gross-speech-endorsed-by-a-canon-city-councilwoman\/","title":{"rendered":"Krista Kafer: Don\u2019t use Kirk\u2019s death to silence speech, even the gross speech endorsed by a Ca\u00f1on City councilwoman"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Ca\u00f1on City Councilwoman Emily Tracy posted<\/a> to her personal Facebook page a link to an\u00a0opinion piece\u00a0entitled \u201cCharlie Kirk\u2019s Legacy Deserves No Mourning.\u201d The piece criticized Kirk\u2019s past comments about women and minorities, concluding with the words: \u201cI won\u2019t celebrate his death, but I\u2019m not obligated to celebrate his life, either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Posting an article, even without a positive comment, signals agreement, but there is nothing in this piece, harsh and partisan as it is, condoning Kirk\u2019s death. Nevertheless, the Ca\u00f1on City Council voted to draft a censure motion after an irate crowd demanded the councilwoman\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n

If anyone should be censured, it is any public official who uses this tragedy to punish political opponents. Rather than kowtow to vengeful mob sentiment, Ca\u00f1on City council members should dismiss the censure resolution when they meet again in October.<\/p>\n

Also, former state House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese should rethink her post calling for the governor to fire Jazmin Murguia<\/a>, a suicide prevention coordinator for the Colorado Department of Public Health. Murguia\u2019s profanity-laced social media post criticized people for expressing grief about the conservative firebrand while remaining silent about other tragedies. Abrasive, even hateful, the post nevertheless did not in any way rejoice in Kirk\u2019s murder. Unless she is exhibiting partisan bias in her social work practice, her job should not be threatened. The same goes for teachers who have been suspended for posting criticism of Kirk or his supporters.<\/p>\n

There is a difference between lauding the murder of an innocent human being and criticizing the victim\u2019s opinions and statements, between condoning violence and suggesting the public outpouring of grief is selective or disproportionate.<\/p>\n

As long as there are politicians who seek to lower flags or have Kirk\u2019s body lay in state, there will be those who react strongly, if sometimes tactlessly, to these actions. Lionizing the deceased as a martyr will likewise. When people like Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas say, \u201cIf Charlie Kirk lived in Biblical times, he\u2019d have been the 13th disciple,\u201d I have to respond to my errant Christian brother, \u201cWTF dude, have you no shame?\u201d (For those looking to cancel this column, WTF is short for \u201cwithstand thoroughly faulty hermeneutics\u201d).<\/p>\n

Kirk was an influential activist and commentator who successfully launched a conservative youth movement and whose tragic death is understandably grieved by those who knew and admired him. Even so, he is not an appropriate candidate for canonization.<\/p>\n

Some public officials have bigger plans for using Kirk\u2019s death to silence those with whom they disagree. In addition, to urging listeners to call employers of people they think are \u201ccelebrating Charlie\u2019s murder,\u201d Vice President J.D. Vance said on a recent podcast the government should use its power to target liberal organizations starting with the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundations.<\/p>\n