Political violence in America is being made worse by social media

Charlie Kirk's murder has underscored how poisonous civil discourse in America has become and exposed the toxic fault lines that run through social media. Reuters

It didn’t take long for internet detectives to identify the person they were convinced had murdered Charlie Kirk. There was just one problem: they were completely wrong.

Hours after the popular conservative commentator was shot while answering a question about gun violence at a Utah university event, keyboard warriors and users of 4Chan - a photo discussion site that users often use to spread conspiracy theories - were convinced they had their suspect: a possibly transgender person who had recently debated with Mr Kirk.

Every scrap of publicly available information about the person was quickly available across social media.

The online sleuths were so sure they had their suspect that some were wondering about getting reward money. Inconveniently for them, police on Friday identified Tyler Robinson, a young Utah man whose father is reportedly a retired sheriff's deputy, as the suspect.

But by then, thousands of accounts on X had already smeared the misidentified suspect, as well as at least one other person, pointing to their perceived liberal leanings as proof that “leftists” are out to slaughter conservatives for daring to speak the truth about key issues including immigration, sexual identity and racism. Elon Musk told his 225 million followers on X that the “Left is the party of murder”.

The day after Mr Musk's comment, President Donald Trump told reporters that “we just have to beat the hell” out of “radical left lunatics”. At the time, no suspect had been caught. No motive has yet been presented.

The President's inflammatory remarks came after social media users, including those on BlueSky, where many liberals now post instead of on Musk-owned X, cheered or laughed about Mr Kirk's death and turned the spotlight some of his more controversial quotes, including his Islamophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Many of the messages were along the lines of: “We don't endorse violence, but Charlie Kirk said some terrible things.”

Mr Kirk was a hugely popular figure among conservatives and many are casting his killing on Wednesday as proof that years of liberal rhetoric likening Republican policies to fascism or Nazism are driving political violence.

Authorities have not released a motive for the killing. Mr Robinson allegedly wrote “Hey fascist! Catch!” on one of the bullet casings found in the hunting rifle authorities said was used in the attack.

On the pro-Trump forum Patriots. Win, many users demanded vengeance. “This is the Reichstag Fire,” an anonymous user wrote, referring to a 1933 arson attack that helped usher in Nazi rule in Germany. “It’s time to end democracy.”

It is, of course, right to be appalled by liberal gloating over the death of a leading conservative commentator. Conservatives also need to take a breath and wait for the facts to emerge.

Both sides must consistently call out political violence no matter who it targets.

Many users on BlueSky pointed out that conservative reaction to the assassination of a Democratic politician and her husband in Minnesota in June was relatively muted.

Other recent examples of political violence include the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol, the hammer attack against Nancy Pelosi's husband, threats against Brett Kavanaugh near the conservative US Supreme Court justice's home, a conspiracy to kidnap Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and of course, last year's failed assassination attempts against Mr Trump.

Mr Kirk's murder has underscored how poisonous civil discourse in America has become and exposed the toxic fault lines that run through social media, with the risk of more political violence now very real.

During a press conference on Friday, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said America finds itself at a crossroads, with further violence a grave risk unless the country comes together to denounce and prevent it.

“Is this the end of a dark chapter in our history, or the beginning of a darker chapter in our history?” he asked.

He blamed social media for driving the divisions in the US. Mr Kirk's killing came after a Ukrainian woman was killed while on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina, last month. Authorities last week released video of the attack on Iryna Zarutska, who was stabbed in the neck.

In the space of less than a week, millions of Americans, many of them children, have now viewed widely-shared videos of two graphic murders. One wonders how desensitised we are becoming and if we are normalising violence.

“This is not good for us,” Mr Cox said. “I would encourage people to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community.”

This mugshot shows Tyler Robinson, the only suspect in the killing of US commentator Charlie Kirk. AP