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Researchers are sounding the alarm about a rise in “assassination culture” — the same thing Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk warned of months before a sniper’s bullet took his life as he spoke in front of a crowd of students on a Utah college campus last week.
The Network Contagion Research Institute and the Rutgers University Social Perception Lab teamed up in a recent intelligence report on the issue, warning that arsons targeting Tesla cars and the idea of “killing billionaires” has become a “meme aesthetic for political violence” — especially among the far-left.
“Political violence targeting Donald Trump and Elon Musk is becoming increasingly normalized,” researchers warned, citing the attempt on Trump’s life during a campaign rally last year. “Following the July 13, 2024, attempted assassination of President Trump, tolerance — and even advocacy — for political violence appears to have surged, especially among politically left-leaning segments of the population.”
JUDGE DROPS TERROR CHARGE AGAINST LUIGI MANGIONE AS POLICE WARN BUSINESS LEADERS OF RISING ASSASSINATION RISKS
Separately, federal prosecutors warned late last month that the accused assassin Luigi Mangione could inspire more political killings.
“Simply put, the defendant hoped to normalize the use of violence to achieve ideological or political objectives,” federal prosecutors wrote in a memo to the court dated Aug. 27.
Two weeks later, a sniper shot and killed Turning Point USA founder and conservative speaker Charlie Kirk as he held the mic at an event in the courtyard of Utah Valley University, some 2,200 miles away from where Mangione is accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the streets of New York City.
‘GRADUALLY AND THEN SUDDENLY’: REAGAN SPEECHWRITER TALKS POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN AFTERMATH OF KIRK’S DEATH
At the Manhattan crime scene, police found bullet casings with words written on them in an apparent reference to a book critical of the health insurance industry. In Orem, Utah, police recovered the suspected murder weapon —a Mauser .30-06 — with etchings on the bullets loaded inside.
The NCRI-Rutgers study found alarming support for assassinations in a survey, identified psychological red flags and warned that online platforms help spread “radical ideation.”
“The findings underscore the erosion of democratic norms and the growing acceptability of political violence in American discourse, particularly among ideologically extreme communities online,” researchers wrote.
Recent episodes of targeted violence:
- Sept. 10, 2025: A sniper fired a single shot at Charlie Kirk during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday around noon. The bullet fatally struck him in the neck as he was speaking with a spectator in the campus courtyard in front of thousands of people. Authorities arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson 33 hours later.
- July 28, 2025: Just 44 days before Kirk’s assassination, a gunman from Nevada stormed into the Blackstone building on Park Avenue in Manhattan, apparently outraged at the NFL, and killed four people. They were off-duty NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, 36, whose pregnant wife was expecting their third child at the time; Wesley LePatner, 43, an executive at Blackstone and a mother of two; Aland Etienne, 46, a security guard and father of two; and Julia Hyman, 27, an employee of the Rudin Management Company. A fifth victim was also injured. Police said they found the perpetrator, 27-year-old Shane Tamura, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the 33rd floor.
- Dec. 4, 2024: UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot in the back by a masked gunman on surveillance video outside a New York City hotel where his company was supposed to hold an investor conference later that morning. Police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, arrested suspect Luigi Mangione five days later, allegedly in possession of the murder weapon and writings critical of the health insurance industry.
- July 13, 2024: A sniper fired multiple shots at a campaign rally for then-candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. Firefighter Corey Comperatore died. He was a father of two girls. Two other spectators survived gunshot wounds. And Trump narrowly escaped serious injury when a bullet grazed his ear. Counter-snipers shot and killed the gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Crooks. Trump was separately targeted in a second failed attempt. Suspect Ryan Routh is currently on trial.
CHARLIE KIRK’S ASSASSINATION LATEST CASE OF CONSERVATIVES BEING TARGETED FOR MURDER
The NCRI report was published in April — months before Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at a Turning Point USA-sponsored event at Utah Valley University in Orem.
According to survey data highlighted in the report, more than 30% of respondents said it would be “at least somewhat justified to murder” prominent billionaires. The number rose to 50% for people who self-identified as “left of center.”
It also looked into another high-profile recent assassination — the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson late last year.
Surveillance video shows a masked gunman approach Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, from behind outside a Manhattan hotel and fire a silenced handgun repeatedly.
Authorities later arrested Mangione, a 26-year-old former Ivy Leaguer from a wealthy Maryland family.
CHARLIE KIRK WARNED ‘ASSASSINATION CULTURE IS SPREADING ON THE LEFT’ IN EERIE ONLINE POST MONTHS BEFORE MURDER
WATCH: Luigi Mangione supporters cheer dropped terror charge
“References to Luigi Mangione now function as coded endorsements of political violence, cloaked in irony, memeification, and plausible deniability,” the new report reads.
Mangione has also attracted fervent supporters online and in person at his court proceedings. On Tuesday, a group of them carrying “jury nullification” and “Free Luigi” signs, many dressed up like Nintendo’s Luigi character, cheered aloud after learning that a judge had thrown out terrorism charges against him, which carried a potential punishment of life without parole.
In New York state, he now faces a top charge of second-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life with the possibility of parole. He is also facing federal charges and another case in Pennsylvania, where police arrested him — allegedly in possession of the murder weapon, a silencer and a fake ID.
CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION: TIMELINE OF UTAH CAMPUS SHOOTING DETAILS ATTACK, MANHUNT FOR SUSPECT
At the scene of Thompson’s murder, outside a hotel where he was supposed to attend an investor conference later that morning, police said they found bullet casings with messages written on them that are believed to have been critical of the health insurance industry.
WATCH: Supporters of Luigi Mangione Leave Court
Before Utah police captured 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, the suspected assassin behind the shooting of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk last week, police recovered the suspected murder weapon, loaded with rounds with more etchings on their casings — including online memes and references to fighting fascism.
Robinson is accused of firing a single shot, which struck Kirk in the neck in front of a courtyard packed with UVU students and other spectators. He was arrested 33 hours after the slaying, when authorities said his father persuaded him to turn himself in.
Kirk, like Thompson, was also a father of two. He was speaking at Utah Valley University Wednesday at an event sponsored by the campus chapter of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth group he founded.
Authorities have ramped up security measures in the wake of Kirk’s murder. The NYPD reportedly issued a threat assessment warning that business leaders, political figures and other public personalities may be at increased risk for assassination, and the Trump administration asked Congress Monday for nearly $60 million in additional executive and judicial branch security funding.
Researchers urged “political and cultural leadership” to condemn the violence. They also called for continued monitoring of the apparent trend.
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