By Mandeep Tiwana, CIVICUS Secretary General
The assassination of well-known conservative commentator, Charlie Kirk on September 10 has exposed significant fault-lines in American public life. Three issues are of particular concern. First, political violence in the US is at dangerous levels. Second, the country is awash in guns which is a recipe for disaster. Third, there are too few places in media and politics where reasonable debate is being carried out to bring Americans together.
Ever since losing the presidential election to Joe Biden in November 2020, Trump has been busy ramping up political rhetoric. His refusal to peacefully hand over power in January 2021 led to the storming of the Congress by a violent mob who attacked police officers and threatened to kill members of Congress. One of the first acts of Trump on assuming office in January 2025 was to issue presidential pardons to over 1,500 violent rioters convicted for attacking Congress in 2021.
