CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN: 'Charlie Kirk assassination is a warning shot to the world'

Blood on the ground of a Utah university campus is not just an American tragedy. It is a warning shot to the rest of the world.

Charlie Kirk, the brash MAGA firebrand, has been gunned down in front of students while doing what he was best known for - debating anyone and everyone who dared challenge him. It was a grotesque, shameful end to the life of a man who, for all his views, did something too few politicians or pundits ever dare to do: he faced his critics head-on.

Let us be absolutely clear. You didn’t have to like Kirk’s politics - and many disliked them - to see the obscenity of his assassination.

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He was cut down not because of a crime, not because of corruption, but because of words. And when bullets start flying in answer to words, democracy itself begins to collapse.

His death is a human tragedy America cannot forget. A young man who, at just 31 and with two young children, had built an empire of influence that inspired loyalty and anger in equal measure is now dead.

His friends and family will grieve. His supporters will rage. And his enemies - some of whom are already disgustingly whispering satisfaction on social media - must reckon with what it means to celebrate political murder.

But here is the danger: that rage will not stop at America’s borders. It will not be contained by the Utah police cordon. It has every potential to cross the Atlantic.

Because violence is contagious. The anger over Kirk’s killing will be weaponised, used to inflame, to divide, to pit people against one another far beyond US soil.

Already, Britain is bracing for what could be a “perfect storm” of unrest. On Saturday, Tommy Robinson, who has already used Kirk’s death to whip up his supporters, promises his “biggest free speech” rally yet. Opposite him, Stand Up to Racism will gather their counter-protest.

Two marches, two worldviews, colliding on the streets of London. Add to that the shockwaves from Kirk’s assassination, and you have the ingredients for chaos.

Ask yourself: what happens when grieving supporters and opportunistic agitators seize on this killing as proof that the “other side” wants to silence them forever? What happens when one man’s disgraceful murder is turned into propaganda for a culture war already spiralling out of control?

The danger is obvious. The anger over Kirk’s death, twisted and exploited, could pour petrol on the flames of division here in Britain.

His name will be plastered on placards. His face will be invoked as martyrdom. His killing will be spun into a rallying cry: “See what happens when free speech is suppressed?” And while his critics are right to denounce his views as toxic, they must tread carefully.

Because the truth is this: no one should ever die for what they believe. In the weeks to come, including the days of Donald Trump's state visit, expect to hear Kirk’s defenders describe him as a victim of leftist intolerance. Expect his opponents to sneer that he sowed the seeds of his own fate. Both miss the point.

The point is that violence, once unleashed, never stops at the target. It spreads. It infects. And soon, it consumes the very freedoms both sides claim to defend.

Charlie Kirk did not hide behind gated mansions or cushioned talk shows. He went out into the public square and let students make their best attempts at his arguments, not with bullets but with words. That takes courage. It is a grim irony that, in the end, someone decided words were not enough.

And that is where Britain must pay attention. We can despise Tommy Robinson’s rhetoric. We can oppose his vision of the world. But if Saturday’s marches descend into violence, if fists replace arguments, we are on the same road the US is stumbling down now.

Kirk’s death is not just an American story. It is a cautionary tale. Democracy only works if we answer words with words, not weapons. Disagree, debate, dismantle an opponent’s argument, sure. But kill them? That way lies ruin.

Britain must beware. America is bleeding. We cannot afford to let the blood spill here.