'Guilty': Elon Musk accuses prominent nonprofit of 'inciting' Charlie Kirk's killing

Tech billionaire Elon Musk uncorked an eyebrow-raising social media post Thursday, accusing a prominent nonprofit legal advocacy group of inciting the killing of Charlie Kirk.

Kirk was shot dead on Sept. 10 while speaking at a Turning Point USA event on the campus of Utah Valley University. He was shot in the neck by a sniper perched on the roof of a nearby building. Authorities have charged 22-year-old Tyler James Robinson with murder in the killing, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Musk, whose public breakup with President Donald Trump earlier this year made headlines, joined other right-wing influencers in offering up a controversial opinion on Kirk's killing and who should be held responsible. While right-wing conspiracy theorists have posited that Kirk's killing was covered up or a professional hit job, Musk said the Southern Poverty Law Center ought to be held accountable.

"SPLC is guilty of incitement to murder Charlie Kirk," he wrote on his X platform.

He reshared a post from fellow MAGA influencer Jack Posobiec, who noted that Kirk was slain a day after being featured in the organization's "Hatewatch" newsletter.

Kirk and his organization are mentioned at the bottom of a Sept. 9 post titled, "September 2025 Intelligence Project Dispatch: Trends and incidents of the hard right."

"Turning Point USA (TPUSA) continued the hard right’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at an event over the summer where one speaker implied violence was necessary. Vince E. Ellison, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in South Carolina, told a TPUSA audience that DEI supporters are 'inferior,' and, when he encounters them, 'I’m gonna slit your throat.' Ellison is a favorite Black voice on hard-right media. In the past, he teamed up with TPUSA leader Charlie Kirk to call Martin Luther King 'despicable' and 'immoral.'"

He is also mentioned four other times in the "Hatewatch" section this year.

In a May case study, the SPLC said Kirk "proudly embraced a white nationalist conspiracy theory while celebrating then-President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportation."

"Kirk accused Democrats of embracing immigration as part of their plot to secure voters, permit crime and enact the 'great replacement.' He warned his hundreds of thousands of listeners, 'We native born Americans are being replaced by foreigners.' He then promised Trump will 'liberate' the country from 'the enemy occupation of the foreigner hordes,'" the article noted.