by Scott Dreyer
As our region and nation reel from the senseless violence that recently stole the life of conservative icon and free-speech advocate Charlie Kirk, there is also a sense among many that a kind of invisible line has been crossed: not only how has political violence struck America again, but how can some publicly take a ghoulish delight in the cold-blooded murder of a 31-year-old, leaving his wife a widow and his two children, ages 3 and 6, fatherless and now too young to ever hold any memories of their dad?
Among those posting to social media expressing opinions that can be interpreted as condoning, excusing, or even celebrating Kirk’s assassination are a nurse at LewisGale, an employee of the Roanoke City Police Department, and professors at both Roanoke College and Virginia Tech.
The Roanoke Star has reached out to those entities for statements; these stories are developing.
Not only are some celebrating the bloodshed, but others seem to now be threatening other conservatives with violence, apparently in hopes of silencing them.
For example, leftwing talker Keith Olbermann seemed to threaten CNN commentator Scott Jennings with a tweet on X, “You’re next, (expletive),” a tweet Olbermann later deleted but which Jennings flagged for FBI Director Kash Patel to investigate.
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