S'porean political commentators weigh in on fatal shooting of US political activist Charlie Kirk

The fatal shooting of conservative U.S. political activist Charlie Kirk has sparked an outpouring of reactions on social media.

The founder of the influential political group Turning Point USA (TPUSA) died after being shot at an outdoor speaking event at Utah Valley University near Salt Lake City.

Singaporean commentators reacted to the event, sharing their own thoughts.

Unresolved conflicts

Locals have expressed shock and hope that such violent incidents would never take place in Singapore.

Academic and political commentator Cherian George said in a Facebook post:

"The killing of Charlie Kirk is a kind of Salman Rushdie moment in the West's internal debates about free speech — a shocking event that (aside from spotlighting the ever-present role of political violence in US history) will symbolise unresolved conflicts about words that wound."

He added that from the 1980s till the 2010s, the main global dispute was over the abuse of free speech to insult Islam. Since the late 2010s, it has been between the Right and the cultural Left.

George also shared a link to an earlier piece of his exploring the "complex issue" of free speech.

Hope this type of political violence never comes to Singapore

Others said there was no need for such extreme violence in the face of political disagreements.

Former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Calvin Cheng expressed his hope that "this type of political violence never comes to Singapore".

Cheng gave past examples such as Members of Parliament Seng Han Thong who was set on fire, and Tan Wu Meng who was violently assaulted.

"Society is getting polarised by emotional issues,", adding, "But learn to agree to disagree!"

"No need to get angry and hate on people and even worse, resort to violence."

Former Straits Times editor Bertha Henson called the shooting "political polarisation at its most extreme".

Two others mentioned the Second Amendment, the Constitutional right of Americans to own guns and arms, in connection with the incident.

Lawyer Yeoh Lian Chuan said: "Mr Charlie Kirk paid the price for the trade-off in favour of gun rights which he wanted.

"Personally, our view in Singapore would be radically different from those of Americans who support the 2nd Amendment."

Economist, academic and political commentator Donald Low shared a 2023 video where Kirk said, "I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights," and commented, "Karma's a b*tch."

Former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bilahari Kausikan shared an article about the incident but did not add a comment of his own.

Shot after gun violence question

Just seconds before being shot, Kirk was being questioned by an audience member about gun violence, according to multiple videos of the event shared online.

The audience member asked: “Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?”

Kirk replied: “Too many.”

The same audience member said that the number was five.

Kirk was then asked if he knew how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years.

He responded: "Counting or not counting gang violence?"

Moments after, he was shot dead.

Top photos via X