Free Speech
Not In Public
'We are committed, of course, to freedom of speech,
But not if you're speaking in public.' 2024
Slipware Plate, 26cm diam
Private Collection
photo: @sylvaindeleuphotographer
Now we know how dangerous it can be to speak your mind in public. Potentially lethal.
Murder on Campus
Even calling the murder, 10 days ago, of socially Conservative speaker and campaigner, Charlie Kirk, (1993-2025,) a 'political' assassination is uncertain. The arrested suspect performed a sort of imitation politics online but his overall political position, if he even has one, remains unclear. What we know of his messages, both written on bullets and online, is wholly incoherent. Kathleen Stock suggests 'puerile' is about as near as it gets.
Political assassination?
Political assassinations are always serious - potentially catastrophic. Fancying political violence for people you hate or disagree with but not for those you love or agree with is not an option. Either reject democracy, the rule law, free speech, and free association or embrace it. You can't have it both ways. I'm thinking about this now, not because I knew who Charlie Kirk was - I hadn't heard of him until the day he died - but because I find so many of the online reactions, particularly among people I thought I knew, so immensely disturbing.
Who Was Charlie Kirk?
A good deal is known about Charlie Kirk because he never stopped talking. At least he did it in public though and you could disagree with him. Debate was his stock in trade. There are countless videos of him debating which you can listen to and which are probably more informative than the Wikipedia entry I've linked to - that provides useful background information but cannot be considered a serious analysis of his activism. He made clear what the socially conservative, Christian right in the US was and what it stood for so his various opponents could develop and defend their arguments if they chose. They didn't do so effectively but they could have done.
The Suspect
The arrested suspect, 22 year old Tyler Robinson, has been charged with aggravated murder plus 4 more offences, all serious and, if found guilty, would probably lead to the death penalty. By contrast, very little is known about him. According to the podcast 'Blocked and Reported,' the bullets used to kill Kirk were engraved with 'memes' from a video game, Helldivers 2. 'Hey Facist, catch!' suggests someone aligned to the left, possibly to Antifa. 'If you read this you are gay, LMAO,' suggests the opposite although homophobia is a highly mobile and pervasive prejudice.
Speculation Continues
To confuse matters further, he is also reported to have been in a relationship with his male, (but transitioning to an imitation woman,) 'roommate.' He clearly had no problem with gun culture and the right to bear arms - the murder was carried out with military style precision. We can infer from this, perhaps, that he approved of capital punishment. He was raised in a conventionally right wing, Christian family. He doesn't appear to have questioned all of those values. To this rich mix, add the layers of irony commonly found among online gamers and it doesn't help us find a motivating factor. Aside from this, he is described as 'very online.'
Aftermath
It is 10 days since Kirk was murdered mid debate, on campus, at Utah Valley University. The US has not burst into flames. For a few days after the murder, I feared that the touch paper had been lit but I didn't know what that would look like in practise. Britain has its own divisions but, so far, there are no militias appearing in the streets kicking down peoples' doors. It doesn't feel like civil war. Or not yet. Nonetheless, it is the kind of murder - live streamed - about as public as it gets, that might appear as a heading in future histories of the US rather than a footnote.
Where does Feminism fit in?
For me, this is about the reactions. It appears to have been a divider drawing a line between those of us who passionately feel that political violence, especially murder, is wrong no matter who the target or victim is and those for whom there is at least some equivocation or even justified reason: 'he brought it on himself, (with is far right, divisive, misogynist/facist beliefs,') or, 'he was hoist on his own petard, (he advocated for the right to bear arms and is said to have believed that school shootings may have to be the price for that freedom.)' Even feminists who have themselves received death threats have been equivocal, at times bordering on celebratory. These are women who have, rightly, railed against the 'no debate,' command of the trans rights activists.
Below is the full text of the jug, (2 views,) posted above, made in 2024, in response to the increasingly stuck - or even non-existent - nature of debate. Having fiercely opposed the #nodebate demand some feminists have decided that some debates, or socio-political positions, might indeed be 'asking for it.' It is a very unusual position for feminists to take.
The Milk Jug of Human Kindness, (#BeKind)
No TERFs No Bigots
No Travellers No Transpohobes
No Gypsies No Tories
No Jews No Woke
No Polish No Racists
No Irish No Zionists
Just Me No Vegans
Not You, No Joke
No Muslims No Fascists
No Catholics No Liberals
No Pagans No Islamophobes
No Greens No Hate
No Goths No Atheists
No Protestants No Apostates
Just People No Ideas
Like Me No Debate.
The Free Speech debate continues
I think that feminist arguments are substantially enabled by free speech even though our opponents may have a great many unmerited and often unearned advantages perhaps enabling them to force their arguments further. Kirk advocated for right to bear arms and is said to have accepted that murder might be the price that must be paid for that freedom - albeit resulting in the severest legal penalty. The cruel irony of his being shot dead in this way is not lost on me but, given the choice, I would far prefer to have seen him be endlessly and robustly challenged, ideally to the point that a critical mass of Americans changed their minds on both guns and the death penalty, than have seen him be murdered and his murderer sentenced to death which may yet happen. Two wasted lives is not better than one and definitely not better than none.
Above plate, 'Reverse Voltaire,' 2024, 28cm diam.
'I agree with all you say, my friend, with the arguments you present, But utter those words in the public? That I'll fight to the death to prevent.'