Staff Reports
Millions of Americans turned out on October 18 for the so‑called No Kings protests aimed at President Trump, a coordinated nationwide effort that filled streets from small towns to major cities. What began as political theater quickly revealed something darker beneath the slogans and costumes: organized networks pushing a hardline anti‑Trump agenda.
The country is still reeling from the sniper assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on September 10 while he spoke at Utah Valley University, an act that laid bare the deadly consequences of acutely toxic political rhetoric. That assassination has changed the landscape of American politics and forced leaders to reckon with the reality that words on cable news and social feeds can translate into bullets in the public square.
Shockingly, footage and eyewitness accounts from No Kings events show some protesters openly gloating and even mimicking the murder of Kirk, including a viral clip of a Chicago educator making a disgusting gun gesture at a rally. These aren’t the isolated excesses of fringe actors; they reflect a cultural rot where celebrating political murder is treated as a partisan emoji instead of a national tragedy. The normalization of that depravity should frighten every parent and patriot.
At the same time, law enforcement warnings and yesterday’s discovery of a suspicious elevated platform with a clear line of sight toward where President Trump’s aircraft was staged near Palm Beach have raised real national security alarms. The FBI and Secret Service have rightly taken the matter seriously, investigating whether a sniper’s vantage point was being built under the guise of hunting or something else entirely. Americans should not have to wonder whether leaving a rally could put their president or any citizen in the crosshairs.
This isn’t hypothetical: investigators and reporters have already documented arrests of men traveling to multiple protests in tactical gear, and prior No Kings demonstrations in June produced deadly chaos in Utah when an armed man sparked a confrontation that left a bystander dead. The pattern is unmistakable — when politics becomes performance art for rage, it invites violent actors to show up prepared to do harm. Every law‑abiding American should demand zero tolerance for weapons‑bearing agitators at political events.
The federal government has begun taking consequential steps, from visa revocations for foreigners who celebrated Kirk’s killing to increased coordination between the Secret Service and the FBI — actions conservatives have been demanding for months as left‑wing mobs deploy intimidation and threats. This administration must follow through: prosecute threats, purge radical influencers who incite violence, and ensure those who teach our children are held to a standard that doesn’t condone murder.
Hardworking Americans deserve a politics that argues and disagrees without celebrating murder or plotting assassinations. It’s time for Republicans and independents alike to call out the lawlessness, demand accountability from media and tech platforms that amplify violent fantasies, and back real security for our leaders and our communities. If we fail to defend civility and the rule of law now, we risk losing the very freedoms and safety that make this country worth fighting for.
