Published in the Toronto Sun, 14 September 2025
There are some truly sickening people out there, practically dancing in the streets in the wake of the senseless assassination of American conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. So tell me, you soulless ghouls, how should Erika Kirk, Kirk’s widow, explain to her children why daddy can’t ever come home again, or answer “Why can’t daddy come to my birthday party for just a few minutes?” or (particularly from her youngest child) “Did I ever meet daddy?” Maybe their 3-year-old girl will have faint memories of her father, but their 1-year-old son won’t have any memories. You don’t have to sing Kirk’s praises, but show some basic human decency.
Bruce Forsyth
Barrie
(The volumes of people demonstrating absolute glee over Kirk’s death are horrible. And what makes them think – “oh someone was assassinated – I need to take to social media to celebrate.” It’s pathetic)
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The full, unedited column:
I’ve now had a few days to process what happened at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on 10 September, when Conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk was publicly assassinated for the crime of being a proud Christian man, for speaking his mind and asking others, challenging them in fact, to debate him and “Prove me wrong.” A lot of people have been showing their true colours. Calling Kirk a Nazi and fascist comes up a lot. I’ve had discussions with people and witnessed other discussions and I’m sickened.
There are some truly sickening people out there, practically dancing in the streets in the wake of Kirk’s murder, which was a political assassination. There us really no other way to describe it. Five years ago, we were seeing a man who was a convicted criminal, turned into a saint due to the manner of his death. In absolutely no way did George Floyd deserved to die. He deserved to go to jail, not receive a death sentence. Now we have many, many people if not outright cheering for his death, are saying that they really don’t care about his death. Well, you should care. Get past your own narcissism and open your eyes.
I’ve been rattled harder than I’ve been in a long time, and left me feeling a little ashamed that I’ve apparently become numb to a lot of the killings that seem to go on a daily basis, on both sides of the border. The murder of 8-year-old Jahvai Roy, shot by a stray bullet in his bedroom in Toronto apartment passed, as did the murder of Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska, stabbed to death on a Charlotte light rail train in Charlotte North Carolina, without the same reaction as I’m feeling now. Neither deserved to die.
Kirk, a 31-year-old husband and father of two children, ages one and three, didn’t deserve a bullet to the neck. Maybe people can explain to me exactly why they believe he was a fascist and a Nazi. Remember, I can very easily look up the definition of both in my Webster’s Dictionary. Otherwise, cut out the usual leftist B.S. tropes of calling anyone with whom you disagree fascists, Nazis and racists. Try coming up with a decent argument.
I was a police officer and for over a decade, I silently suffered from un-diagnosed PTSD. Numerous times I thought of putting my service pistol in my mouth, or driving my scout car into a solid object. I drank every day before work, after work and sometimes even at work. I couldn’t sleep, so I resorted to taking an increasing amount of prescription sleeping pills, washed down by those alcoholic beverages. I found out the hard way that when it says on the prescription bottle “Do not consume alcohol with this medication,” it’s not a suggestion. Even at my darkest times, the thing that kept me fighting to live was my daughter. Despite the pain in my head, it sickened me to think of leaving my daughter behind. I couldn’t bare the thought of her growing up without the Daddy she loves so dearly.
Not long after I finally got help, which unfortunately led to the end of my career, I was at a police memorial ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio. I listened to an address by Grace Leon, widow of Cleveland Police Officer Wayne Leon, who was shot to death during a “routine traffic stop” 16-years earlier. He was only 32-years-old and besides his wife, left behind 3 children, ages 5, 4 and 2. During her address, Grace not only described how she had to explain to her children that Daddy would never come home again, she also had to answer questions like, “Why can’t Daddy come to my birthday party for just a few minutes?” or (from her youngest child) “Did I ever meet Daddy?” I started crying because I realized that I almost put my daughter through that. Even with my will to live for her, I’m very lucky that I didn’t die from my alcohol and prescription drug abuse.
I’m now 9.5 years sober and will be watching my daughter graduate high school in the next year or two (if she decides to stay for a 5th year). Hopefully she grows up to be a world-famous artist. She surprised my mother recently with a portrait she painted of my mother and my late father, displaying a natural talent that she certainly didn’t inherit from me. Unfortunately, Charlie won’t be around to see his kids graduate from anything, get married, have kids, find a great job, and they won’t get to share those milestones with their father either.
It’s also very troubling to think that anyone, of any political stripe, of any religion, can be killed for simply being who they are and for publicly speaking their opinions. Will we see an end to outdoor political events, replaced instead by indoor events, protected by armed security and security procedures that rival airports, the White House, Fort Knox, The Kremlin, combined, times twenty?
So tell me, all of you who are celebrating Charlie Kirk’s death, how should his wife answer those questions? Should she tell them that the world is a better place because there is one less “fascist” in it? I don’t wish death upon any of my political opponents. I just wish they would go away, not be publicly executed.
I would gladly throw the switch on the electric chair for the animal who assassinated Charlie! He didn’t even have the courage of his convictions to stand in front of Charlie and debate him. Instead he took up a concealed position of a roof top, pointed a rifle at Charlie and pulled the trigger.
Charlie’s wife Erika is now a widow and his two children will grow up without their father.
My deepest condolences to Erika and the Kirk family.
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Let’s not forget:
23-year-old Iryna Zarutska.
8-year-old Jahvai Roy.
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The following is a conversation I had on Facebook Messenger. It started with a friend, who I won’t name, making a comment that President Donald Trump’s “Goebbels” had been killed. Strangely, this conversation has now been deleted.
Bruce Forsyth: Goebbels? That’s pretty harsh! Charlie believed in discussion and debate, always challenging people into proving why he was wrong in his beliefs. Time and time again, all his opponents could come up with was to call him a racist/homophobe/transphobe/Islamophobe/Nazi/etc.
J. Smith: I don’t think you heard his speeches, then. This guy was NOT an advocate of tolerance and equality.
Bruce Forsyth: J. Smith, I have heard his speeches. As Charlie might say, tell me why he was wrong in his beliefs. You don’t have to agree with everything he said, but he certainly didn’t deserve to die for them. I would gladly throw the switch on the electric chair for the animal who assassinated Charlie! I don’t wish death upon any of my political opponents. I just wish they would go away, not be publicly executed. His wife is now a widow and his two children will grow up without their father.
Then Kevin Payne enters the conversation:
Kevin Payne: he was an ass. Not right that he was shot, but its no loss.
Kevin Payne: we’ll have to agree to disagree. When he calls certain segments of our population an ‘abomination’ based on how they were born, sounds a little too nazi for my tastes. Of course its worth remembering that the nazis had plenty of supporters, including here.
J. Smith: Bruce Forsyth no he didn’t. It’s well documented of his vitriol and rhetoric and incitement against Jews, LGBTQ, etc. He attended a rally with zero security despite his incitement and intolerance.
said, “gun deaths are an unfortunate but acceptable cost of preserving Second Amendment rights”, comparing them to fatalities from automobile accidents. Critics, including leaders of Moms Demand Action, Giffords, and the Brady Campaign, strongly condemned Kirk’s comments, calling them dangerous and dismissive of the toll gun violence takes, particularly on children and teens.
Bruce Forsyth: Kevin Payne, Nazi? Really? You play the Nazi card? I don’t recall Charlie advocating for extermination camps.
Kevin Payne: neither did the nazis until they’d been in power for years. Pretending what the nazis did could never happen again is simply ignorant.
Bruce Forsyth: Kevin Payne, so Charlie was a Nazi and that’s why you’re OK that he died? You say “Not right that he was shot, but its no loss.” What kind of soulless ghoul are you? Do you have a wife? Kids? Well, Charlie’s wife lost her husband and his children lost their father. I despise Justin Trudeau and everything he stands for, but I NEVER once advocated for his death. As always, if you have to resort to Nazi comparisons, you have lost the debate. I’m done with you. Oh, and watch this video clip: https://www.facebook.com/reel/801674872293675
Bruce Forsyth: Kevin Payne, I’ve thought long and hard about what I want to say to you. I’ve taken a few days to cool off a bit, which is probably a good thing. I wrote a long response to you, which I’m happy to share with you if you want, but it’s probably pointless. I will leave you with this: how should Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow, explain to her children why Daddy can’t ever come home again? How about, “Why can’t Daddy come to my birthday party for just a few minutes?” or (particularly from her youngest child) “Did I ever meet Daddy?” Should she tell them the world is a better place because there is one less “fascist” in it? Maybe their 3-year-old girl will have faint memories of her father, but their 1-year-old son won’t have any memories. You don’t have to sing Kirk’s praises, but show some basic human decency. What the hell is wrong with you?! P.s. Stephen King ended up deleting this post:
Kevin Payne: you were ok with every other death that day, why not ok with this one? Somehow this asshole is worth more? explain that.
Bruce Forsyth: Kevin Payne, unlike you, I will actually answer the question asked. No, I’m not happy that there was yet another school shooting, this time at Evergreen High School. Happy now? Get off your sanctimonious high horse. As for Charlie Kirk, his life is not worth more. Why did his death hit me so hard? Should others have hit me just as hard? Yes, but right or wrong, his death was particularly triggering for me. You want to hear it, well here it is (Spoiler alert: it’s not because he’s a white, conservative, Christian male):
I was a police officer for 21 years and for over a decade, I silently suffered from undiagnosed PTSD. Numerous times I thought of putting my service pistol in my mouth, or driving my scout car into a solid object. I drank every day before work, after work and sometimes even at work. I couldn’t sleep, so I resorted to taking an increasing amount of prescription sleeping pills, anti-anxiety pills and anti-depressant pills, washed down by those alcoholic beverages. I found out the hard way that when it says on the prescription bottle “Do not consume alcohol with this medication,” it’s not a suggestion. Even at my darkest times, the thing that kept me fighting to live was my daughter. Despite the pain in my head, it sickened me to think of leaving my daughter behind. I couldn’t bare the thought of her growing up without the Daddy she loves so dearly.
Not long after I finally got help, which unfortunately led to the end of my career, I was at a police memorial ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio. I listened to an address by Grace Leon, widow of Cleveland Police Officer Wayne Leon, who was shot to death during a “routine traffic stop” 16-years earlier. He was only 32-years-old and besides his wife, he left behind 3 children, ages 5, 4 and 2. During her address, Grace not only described how she had to explain to her children that Daddy would never come home again, she also had to answer questions like, “Why can’t Daddy come to my birthday party for just a few minutes?” or (from her youngest child) “Did I ever meet Daddy?” I started crying because I realized that I almost put my daughter through that. Even with my will to live for her, I’m very lucky that I didn’t die from my alcohol and prescription drug abuse. I’m now 9.5 years sober and will be watching my daughter graduate high school in the next year or two (if she decides to stay for a 5th year). Hopefully she grows up to be a world-famous artist. She surprised my mother recently with a portrait she painted of my mother and my late father (my profile picture), displaying a natural talent that she certainly didn’t inherit from me (my art is photography). Unfortunately, Charlie won’t be around to see his kids graduate from anything, get married, have kids, find a great job, and they won’t get to share those milestones with their father either.
I don’t agree with everything Charlie believed, including calling gay/lesbians abominations, but at least he hosted and respectfully debated his opponents on his program and in his public forums, including those from the LGBT community. Your refusal to acknowledge how horrific, despicable and disgusting it was that a man was publicly executed for speaking his mind and asking others, challenging them in fact, to debate him and “Prove me wrong,” shows your true colours. He didn’t deserve that. Maybe you can explain to me exactly why you believe he was a fascist and a Nazi? Remember, I can very easily look up the definition of both in my Webster’s Dictionary. Otherwise, cut out the usual leftist B.S. tropes of calling anyone with whom you disagree fascists, Nazis and racists. Try coming up with a decent argument.
Kevin Payne: i dont care about this shooting. one of 18000 or so the US has had this year so far. You dont care either, unless you’re advocating for gun control. If not, you’re part of the problem same as Kirk was.
Bruce Forsyth: Kevin Payne, Wow! I hope some day that God comes into your black heart. I’ve seen numerous video clips of Charlie Kirk‘s opponents, who while they strongly disagreed with everything he stood for, saying Charlie didn’t deserve to die for his opinions and expressing sympathy for his wife and children. You could at least do that, but you refuse. I do indeed care about the lawful and responsible use of firearms and jailing those who use them for criminal activities, including murdering a man in front is wife and children. Well, you certainly have given me a lot of material for my next column. Maybe you’ll get to read it in your favorite magazine or newspaper. Don’t worry, I’ll quote you accurately. Here is a video of Bernie Sanders – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUPgz8Q05o4
Sources: Conservative activist Charlie Kirk assassinated in Utah | Toronto Sun, Ukrainian refugee on Charlotte transit stabbed to death by homeless convict, Charlotte light rail stabbing suspect comes from family with criminal records | Fox News, Teen charged in case of stray bullet that killed 8-year-old boy in Toronto home | Globalnews.ca.
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Conservative activist Charlie Kirk assassinated at Utah university
By Hannah Schoenbaum, Alanna Durkin Richer, Mark Sherman and Eric Tucker
OREM, Utah — Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in what the governor called a political assassination carried out from a rooftop.
“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,“ said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. ”I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”
No one was in custody late Wednesday, though authorities were searching for a new person of interest, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the situation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Authorities had earlier provided evolving information on the status of the search, with FBI Director Kash Patel initially saying on social media that a “subject” had been taken into custody, only to later say the person had been released after being questioned.
Authorities did not immediately identify the person who had been in custody, a motive or any criminal charge.
But the circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to an escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The Associated Press was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” the person asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”
The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.
Then a single shot rang out. The shooter, who Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a roof on campus some distance away.
The death was announced on social media by Trump, who praised the 31-year-old Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, as “Great, and even Legendary.” Later Wednesday, he released a recorded video from the White House in which he called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom” and blamed the rhetoric of the “radical left” for the killing.
Utah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated and remained closed. Classes were canceled until further notice. Those still on campus were asked to stay in place until police officers could safely escort them off campus. Armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for information on the shooter.
Officers were seen looking at a photo on their phones and showing it to people to see if they recognized a person of interest.
The event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
The shooting drew swift condemnation across the political aisle as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last March hosted Kirk on his podcast, posted on X.
“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.
The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major parties. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year.
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at Wednesday’s event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.
“It seemed like it was a close shot,” Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.
He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.
“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”
Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.
But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.
Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.
— Richer and Sherman reported from Was
