Speaking on the assassination of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, former Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall issued a warning Saturday that similar instances of violence would continue so long as public figures continue to push “hate-fueled speech.”
“This murder is not about Charlie Kirk,” Hall said, speaking on CNN with anchor Victor Blackwell.
“This is what happens when divisiveness and hate is left unchecked, and so what we in law enforcement [are] working to do in communities – especially in communities of color where we see that Kirk really spoke against on a number of occasions – is that we're trying to speak to our communities.”
Kirk was killed Wednesday at Utah Valley University, with the killing drawing international media coverage and bi-partisan condemnation. However, discussions around Kirk’s killing have also included mentions of the right-wing influencer’s past controversial statements, some of which were played by Blackwell amid their discussions.
“If I see a Black pilot, I'm going to be like 'boy, I hope he's qualified,’” Kirk said in a clip played on CNN.
“Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people – that's a fact!” Kirk said in another clip. “It's happening more and more!”
In the context of discussing Kirk’s past controversial remarks, Hall said that “tough conversations” needed to be held in communities about “hate-fueled violence,” while at the same time, warned that there existed “consequences for hate speech.”
“We also need to understand that there are consequences to hate speech, there's consequences for individuals to continue to push a narrative that promotes violence in this country,” she said.
Blackwell pushed Hall to clarify her comments, asking that she be specific in what she meant when referring to “consequences for hate speech.”
“People are going to hear you say that 'there are consequences to hate speech,' [so] I want to give you an opportunity to separate those consequences from what happened to Charlie Kirk last week,” Blackwell said. “You're not drawing a connection between those two?”
Hall clarified that she wasn’t drawing a direct parallel between Kirk’s killing and her remarks on there being “consequences for hate speech,” but stressed that, regardless of her opinion on the matter, violence would continue so long as “hate-fueled speech” does as well.
“No one should lose their life because of this, but when we continue as a country to push this hate-fueled speech and this rhetoric, we're seeing the violence happen regardless of whether you're red [or] blue, and what are we going to do about it?” Hall said.
“In Black communities, we recognize that. Historically, church bombings, the assassination of our political leaders in Black communities, that should not be a blueprint, it should be a warning that we need to do something different in this country.”
