Reactions to Charlie Kirk’s Death Spark Controversy

Ashley Nicole Moss, a CBS Sports reporter, expressed her frustration over the disproportionate sympathy shown for Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, compared to feelings toward Black individuals killed by police violence. She made it clear that she felt no sympathy for Kirk following his assassination and instead highlighted the ongoing issue of police violence against Black men.

Moss criticized the NFL and the Green Bay Packers for holding a moment of silence for Kirk, questioning the separation of sports from politics. “But politics doesn’t belong to sports, right?” she remarked, pointing to a tension between public grieving and political discourse.

She lamented that Americans do not seem to exhibit the same compassion for Black victims of police shootings. “When Black people were shot every other week by law enforcement, and people say, ‘They didn’t listen, so they deserved it,’ it would be nice if everyone showed the same level of compassion for human life,” Moss noted.

In comparison, she observed that unlike the unrest that followed George Floyd’s death, the mourners for Kirk have engaged in peaceful assembly across the country. Statistical data indicates that in 2024, 445 white individuals and 227 Black individuals were killed by police.

Some individuals on the left, including Charles HF Davis, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, described Kirk’s death as a “solution” to what they called his violent rhetoric, although specific instances of that rhetoric were not provided. Additionally, Laura Sosh Litesy, an assistant dean at Middle Tennessee State University, was dismissed for stating on Facebook that she felt “zero sympathy” for Kirk.