Nearly 600 nonprofits, labor unions, charitable organizations, and advocacy groups in the United States have issued an open letter directed at the administration of President Donald Trump that calls for an end to the exploitation of Charlie Kirk’s recent murder by saying it is both “un-American and wrong to use this act of violence as a pretext for weaponizing the government to threaten” groups, individuals, or “any class of people” in the wake of a lone crime which they had nothing to do with and have condemned unequivocally.
In the days following Kirk’s assassination in Utah, allegedly carried out by a lone gunman identified as Tyler Robinson, whose exact political ideology and motivations remain murky, Trump himself and many of his top lieutenants in the executive branch—including Vice President JD Vance, White House advisor Stephen Miller, and Attorney General Pam Bondi—have sought to blame what they characterize as the broad “radical left” for the violent attack.
But in their open letter published Thursday evening, the vast coalition of groups—including the ACLU, Public Citizen, Common Cause, Communication Workers of America, the Sunrise Movement, and Veterans for Peace—said Trump’s “perceived enemies” that he and his GOP allies have named or suggested as responsible for Kirk’s killing “did not commit this murder, and the vast powers of the government should not be abused to threaten their constitutionally-protected free speech and other rights.”
“Political violence has targeted those of every political persuasion and of no political persuasion,” the groups said, reiterating.
Under direct threat from FCC chairman Brendan Carr, ABC on Wednesday suspended late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel and took his show off the air for remarks he made about the right-wing reaction to Kirk’s killing. Trump on Thursday doubled down with the attack on free speech by saying broadcasters perhaps should have their licenses pulled if they are too critical of him.
“As we’ve said before, the assassination of Kirk was a tragedy for his family and a danger for the nation,” said Lisa Gilber, co-president of Public Citizen. “It is unconscionable to exploit this dangerous political moment to further divisions and violate rights, when what we desperately need right now is to lower the temperature of our discourse and bring the country together.”
With a broad GOP underway to stifle free speech, the coalition warns of a very dangerous road if the federal government’s powers are turned on people or groups whose only alleged infraction is expressing an opinion that those in power dislike.
“This moment of tragedy does not call for exploiting a horrific act to further deepen our divides and make us less safe,” the letter concludes. “It calls for unity–unity against violence and unity of purpose as Americans.”
