The assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk last week prompted comedian and TV host W. Kamau Bell to repeat his call for gun reform — something, ironically, Kirk would have hated, Bell said.
W. Kamau Bell says he has no compassion for far right activist Charlie Kirk’s death, adding that “Kirk would be fine with my lack of empathy for him, not that I needed his permission.”
The East Bay comedian and television host publicly shared his feelings Saturday, Sept. 13, in a column posted to Substack titled “Charlie Kirk Said, ‘I Can’t Stand Empathy.’ Well, if he insists.”
“Deep breath, everybody. We are now in deeper s— than we already were as a country,” Bell warned, later adding, “I certainly won’t be gaslit into performatively pretending that Charlie Kirk was some sort of saint in death when he was actually just a truly awful person in life.”
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Conservative pundit Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the youth organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot Wednesday, Sept. 10, while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Kirk, founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot in the neck Wednesday, Sept. 10, while speaking at an event on the Utah Valley University campus. The suspect, 22-year-old Utah resident Tyler Robinson, was arrested Thursday, Sept. 11. The motive isn’t clear.
Bell noted that as the host of CNN’s “United Shades of America,” in which he explores racial inequality, he too has faced threats of violence while making appearances on college campuses. He specifically cited an incident at the University of Arkansas in 2017 in which he was escorted from the airport to his gig by Fayetteville police for his own safety.
“I know what it is like to feel like you are personally in danger for what you have said or done,” Bell wrote. “I know what it is to be targeted by the people you disagree with. I also know what it is like when being surrounded by hostility is a part of your job.
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“When I see Charlie Kirk getting shot and killed, presumably for his beliefs, I am reminded that I’ve imagined myself in that same position many times.”
Oakland comedian W. Kamau Bell publicly shared his feelings about the killing of a conservative influencer in a column posted to Substack titled “Charlie Kirk Said, ‘I Can’t Stand Empathy.’ Well, if he insists.”
Bell said that while his own mission was to promote understanding and unity, Kirk openly peddled hate, white supremacy and prejudice against races, religions and sexual orientation — and was doing so up until the moment he was shot.
“Charlie Kirk was like a used car salesman at the end of the fiscal year,” Bell went on. “He was literally giving the hatred away! His slogan might as well have been, ‘Come through! I’ve got a hatred for YOU! ’
“Charlie Kirk was a bad faith actor who spent all his time coming up with new ways to create more bad faith. He did it for money, for clicks, for s— and giggles, for clout, and, worst of all, he did it for his Dear Leader Donald Trump.”
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Bell said Kirk’s death drove home yet again that while America might always be divided, it needs “common sense gun reform.” The best way to honor Kirk, according to Bell, is for politicians to enact such legislation.
“Ironically, Charlie Kirk would hate that,” Bell added.
The comedian finished by postulating that if he dies as Kirk did — “at the hands of gun violence … by the hand of someone who hated my politics” — he has one request: “Don’t call it political violence. It is gun violence.”
“Don’t express empathy without action,” Bell concluded. “Do try to work hard to make sure I’m the last person to die that way.”
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