Political activist and public figure Charlie Kirk was assassinated Wednesday, Sept. 10, igniting a flood of reactions from students.
Kirk was shot around 12:30 p.m., during M-A’s lunch period. Videos of the assassination quickly circulated across the nation, sparking discourse across social media and news programs within minutes. Students shared their takeaways, reactions, and opinions on the incident.
“I heard about the incident during lunch, and later that evening, one of my friends sent [the video] to me,” junior Will Kesselman said. “I was terrified. I knew what was going to happen. I didn’t find out through the video, but seeing it happen was crazy,” he said. “Personally, I think that killing someone is not correct, even if it is someone you don’t share an opinion with.”
Freshman Ellie Kriebel said that the video spread rapidly among her friends. “Someone at school showed me it immediately and later again that day,” she said. “I was mostly shocked that a video like that was allowed to be on Instagram for that long. It was so gory. I don’t think anyone should be killed because of their political views or anything like that no matter what,” she added.
While sitting in his Physics class just 30 minutes after the event, senior Parker Guntren was exposed to the video through his classmates. “People were saying it’s really gory, but I didn’t think it was that bad compared to other videos out there. I think there have been way more graphic cases that weren’t covered by the news at all,” he said. “I would say it is very biased media—he was a big political figure, but it completely overlooks the [other shooting] that also happened that day.”
Reflecting on both the video and the attack, freshman Neelabh Panshikar shared his opinion. “I understand, but it is not the right choice—it is definitely a horrible thing. I know it’s because of politics, but a disagreement doesn’t mean killing them,” he said. “When I saw it and heard of it at lunch, I was really confused because I didn’t know it was real. As soon as I heard multiple people talk, I was surprised that this had actually happened.”
When freshman Hayden James heard of the clip immediately after it happened, he had many questions. “I found it myself because I wanted to know if it actually happened. I ended up finding the whole video, and I thought it was AI,” he said. “I don’t think he deserved to die.”
“I thought it was disgusting. It terrified me. The whole situation made me uncomfortable because it was gruesome and caused a lot of tension,” junior Olivia Fong said. Fong accidentally saw the video on another person’s phone on Twitter. “I saw it after lunch, in fifth period, while we were in a lockdown ourselves,” she said.
The assassination and rapid spread of the media left many students shaken, not only by the loss of this public figure–but of the reminder that gun violence is closer than ever. For many on campus, the attack underscored how fragile safety can be and that violence can go beyond a public event, disrupting daily lives and routines.
