Indiana Stories
(quotes from linked articles in italics)
How social media played part in 1/3 of youth gun homicides in Indianapolis
Over several months, reporters from Axios Indianapolis and Chalkbeat Indiana reviewed hundreds of pages of court documents and interviewed key stakeholders to better understand what is driving youth gun violence in the city.
Since 2020, nearly 200 kids have been shot and killed in Indianapolis.
Since 2018, over one-third of the gun homicides involving Indianapolis youth for which prosecutors have brought charges have involved social media use, according to Marion County court documents.
Platforms like Instagram can expose vulnerable youth to a false reality where violence is typical, students and experts say.
It can also amplify pre-existing drama between students before an audience of their peers both during and outside of school hours.
And investigators say it can make communication between teenagers meeting up to trade a gun or buy [drugs] instantaneous and discreet.
There are effective strategies to combat the youth violence problem that social media is exacerbating… however, they often come with a fairly significant upfront investment that communities may not always want to make — despite cost-effectiveness studies that show a positive return
Research has shown that school-based social-emotional learning can be effective in improving student well-being and reducing violence.
Yes, but: Indiana has moved away from social-emotional learning in schools.
"Teachers should focus on academic rigor, math, science, reading, and writing, technical skills, instead of this emotional regulation, empathy, and et cetera," Sen. Gary Byrne (R-Byrneville) said of the rationale for the legislative change at the time.
Another possible solution: School counselors. Studies conducted in school settings have found that cognitive behavioral therapy-based anger management interventions are effective.
Reality check: Indiana has just one counselor for every 351 students, higher than the recommended ratio of 1-to-250.
Ratios for other school-based mental health care providers are even worse, with 2,700 students assigned to a school psychologist and 1,829 students assigned to a social worker, according to Indiana University.
For years, gun safety advocates have tried — and failed — to pass safe storage legislation to limit youth access to firearms. Bills to establish criminal penalties for gun owners who fail to secure firearms that get used by children — and to incentivize storage through tax credits for gun safes, locks and similar devices — haven't even received a hearing at the Indiana General Assembly in recent years.
Ratepayer advocate recommends denying AES increase
The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor on Wednesday recommended that state regulators deny AES Indiana’s request for a $193 million base rate increase — instead proposing a $21 million reduction in current rates.
The agency’s conclusions come after a three-month legal and technical review of testimony and exhibits in the pending case, which is before the powerful Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
Freshly appointed Counselor Abby Gray said AES “has not demonstrated sufficient evidence” for a hike, noting that the utility filed its ask less than 14 months after nabbing approval in a previous rate case.
Waiver requests from diversity requirements
The Indiana Department of Transportation wants the federal government to waive its requirements on federally assisted contracts for women and minority-owned businesses.
The state said it's the first to request a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program waiver from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The DBE program requires 10 percent of federal highway construction funds to be paid out to small businesses owned by "socially and economically disadvantaged" people.
Virtual school finds new partner
The online schools that partner with a small, rural Indiana district targeted for closure by lawmakers have found a new district partner.
The Indiana Digital Learning School and the Indiana Digital Alternative School will add Beech Grove City Schools as their second district partner while the Union School Corporation continues a legal battle against the state and Gov. Mike Braun to stop the forced closure of the district in 2027.
The provision to close Union schools was added last minute to a sweeping property tax reform bill during the 2025 session.
If Union Schools loses its legal fight, it will close its brick and mortar campuses that serve around 292 students as of 2025. But it’s been unclear until now what would happen to the 7,500 or so students statewide who take classes through the two online schools, which are operated by the for-profit company Stride/K12 in partnership with the district.
Background on Stride
Tony Bennett, the former Indiana schools superintendent, is now president of schools at Stride. In 2013, Bennett resigned as Florida’s top K-12 official in connection with questions about how he handled an Indiana charter school’s rating on the state’s accountability system.
During the 2023 budget session—the last time Indiana lawmakers attempted to raise funding for virtual students—Indiana Capital Chronicle reported that Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston consulted for Stride.
Huston also previously served as Tony Bennett’s chief of staff when he was Indiana’s state superintendent.
One possibility is that they will transfer to Beech Grove, said Liz Slinger, executive director for the two virtual schools.
But for now, the company’s contract with Union is active and it will continue to serve those students, Slinger said. New virtual students from around the state will be enrolled in Beech Grove schools for the foreseeable future, unless they express a preference for Union.
Indiana Public Safety Secretary Jennifer-Ruth Green resigns
Jennifer-Ruth Green has stepped down as Indiana’s Secretary of Public Safety, Gov. Mike Braun announced Saturday, marking the first major shakeup in his cabinet since taking office.
Braun said Indiana State Police Superintendent Anthony Scott will take on an expanded role as the new secretary of public safety.
“Many thanks to Governor Braun for the honor of serving as Indiana’s inaugural Secretary of Public Safety. I’m honored to have worked alongside so many great leaders around the state,” she said. “Secretary Scott will do an amazing job in this position, and I look forward to watching his successes. I’m off to military duty — always a privilege to wear the uniform, and I’m excited for the future.”
The military service Green referenced is not a deployment but routine National Guard duty, expected to last only a week or two.
Green has been a rising figure in state Republican politics since her 2022 run for U.S. Congress in Indiana’s 1st District, where she mounted a competitive challenge to Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan.
Despite losing that race, Green came within 5 percentage points in a traditionally Democratic stronghold.
Tim Edson, who served as Green’s consultant on her 2022 congressional race, told the Indiana Capital Chronicle that Green “is seriously weighing another run for Congress in northwest Indiana and Republican leaders in Indiana and nationally are encouraging her to enter the race.”
Oh, so she left to run for Congress again, right? Not so fast!
A remediation agreement signed in July shows Jennifer-Ruth Green was already the subject of an inspector general investigation into alleged misuse of state resources and workplace misconduct before her sudden resignation as Indiana’s public safety secretary last week.
The document, obtained by the Indiana Capital Chronicle, shows Gov. Mike Braun’s office agreed to allow her to remain in her position “pending the results of the Office of Inspector General investigation with appropriate safeguards in place to prevent additional ethics violations, including additional ethics training.”
The governor’s office confirmed Indiana’s inspector general made a confidential referral of personnel related findings that were outside the scope of their jurisdiction on Sept. 4. The governor reviewed that report Friday morning, Sept. 5, and instructed his staff to discuss the findings with Green immediately. During that meeting, Green resigned.
Among the allegations against Green are claims that she used state vehicles and travel cards for personal and political purposes, and that she directed state employees to assist with those activities during work hours.
Additional accusations center around inappropriate workplace conduct, ranging from “conversations with employees about personal relationships, intimate subjects, or sexual activities,” to “uninvited touching of employees” and retaliation.
The agreement alleged Green used state vehicles and travel cards for personal events. She also allegedly directed state employees to generate and post content on her personal social media pages and asked them to staff personal or political events.
The agreement further suggests that Green promoted her book and brand, “Battle-Proven Leadership,” during state time or with state employees and resources. She was also accused of asking staff to perform personal errands, including driving family members and completing tasks at her residence.
State officials, in the remediation agreement, imposed a series of requirements for Green’s continued employment within Indiana’s government.
Green was instructed to reimburse the state for mileage and gas costs associated with personal and political use of her state vehicle.
She was specifically barred from using a state vehicle for any other political purposes, such as traveling to and from campaign events, and from asking subordinates to staff political appearances.
Green was also tasked with “a mandatory ethics training refresher” hosted jointly by OIG, and ethics counsel from the governor’s office.
The agreement additionally emphasized promotion of an “appropriate workplace” and prohibited Green from any “uninvited touching,” making comments about an employee’s appearance, or discussing “personal relationships, intimate subjects or sexual activities” with staff.
In addition, Green was forbidden from retaliating against any employee who participated in ongoing investigations.
Voter suppression in Indiana
Senate Republicans meet as redistricting speculation swirls
Senate Republicans met for more than two hours behind closed doors at the Statehouse early Wednesday afternoon. Such private meetings, called caucus meetings, are routine for both parties when the legislature is in session but rare outside of session. Senators on their way to the meeting refused to answer where they stood on changing the maps or where they believed the caucus as a whole is on the matter.
Voting rights groups are escalating pressure on state lawmakers to leave the maps as they are. Billboard ads have begun popping up around the state lobbying against a special session and voting groups turned in 8,900 petition signatures on Tuesday calling on Gov. Mike Braun, House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President pro tempore Rod Bray to ignore pressure from the Trump administration to change the maps. A poll of more than 1,600 voters conducted in August by the left-leaning research firm Change Research found 52% of respondents either strongly or somewhat opposed redrawing the maps. Another 15% said they weren’t sure. Just 34% said they strongly or somewhat supported any changes.
House Republicans stay tight-lipped on closed-door discussion
Friday, Indiana Republican representatives held a private meeting just days after Senate Republicans did.
Indiana Capital Chronicle editor Niki Kelly said her sources are telling her, so far, the votes haven't been there to redraw the state's Congressional maps.
"My understanding in some of these caucuses and we've had several, each side has had several now, is that many are still against that, perhaps even a majority, but they keep meeting to try and see if they can get some people to flip and move to the camp that they would support it. So, it's really just a wait-and-see right now," Kelly said.
Lucas flips from ‘hard no’ to ‘hell yes’
Seymour Rep. Jim Lucas announced his reversal on Facebook and X just two weeks after he and his colleagues met with President Donald Trump’s administration on redistricting — and within hours of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Lucas’ endorsement prompted criticism from Kokomo Rep. Heath VanNatter, a fellow member of the Indiana House’s GOP caucus.
“I knew you would fold,” VanNatter wrote. “Maybe you should keep your powder dry next time.”
Lucas didn’t respond. Instead, on Thursday morning, he posted a lengthy explanation of his reasoning to Facebook.
It wasn’t the killings of Kirk in Utah or a Ukrainian refugee in North Carolina, he wrote. Instead, it was his own back surgery.
Lucas lauded the Indiana Spine Hospital for being physician-owned and patient-focused at lower prices: “THIS is the way healthcare should be.”
If Democrats take control of the House, he wrote, “places like this might go under” and the rest of Trump’s reforms “will be dead in the water.”
“We owe it to ourselves and future generations to give Trump this reform possibility, because the status quo from both parties is destroying America,” Lucas concluded. “THAT is why I’m a hell yes on redistricting.”
DOJ is sharing state voter roll lists with Homeland Security
The U.S. Department of Justice is sharing state voter roll information with the Department of Homeland Security in a search for noncitizens, the Trump administration confirmed.
The data sharing comes after Justice Department attorneys this summer demanded that election officials in nearly two dozen states turn over their voter lists, alarming some Democratic state secretaries of state and election experts. They have voiced fears about how the Trump administration planned to use the data. Even some Republican secretaries of state have declined to provide their full voter lists.
Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales said his office provided the personal information of the state's registered voters — nearly 5 million Hoosiers — to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Morales said he's complying with a letter from the Trump administration sent in recent weeks.
While the administration didn’t describe how Homeland Security will use the voter rolls to search for noncitizens, the agency operates a powerful program, Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, that can identify the immigration or citizenship status of an individual.
SAVE was originally intended to help state and local officials verify the immigration status of individual noncitizens seeking government benefits. But U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is part of Homeland Security, this spring refashioned it into a platform that can scan states’ voter rolls if officials upload the data.
HEA1264-2024, requires the state to compare voter registration to Bureau of Motor Vehicles data on credentials given to noncitizens. People flagged by that comparison have to show proof of citizenship to their county election officials within 30 days of receiving a notice — or have their voter registration canceled.
Secretary of State Diego Morales said that system flagged 1,611 people who need to provide that citizenship proof.
Counties are responsible for canceling people's voter registration if they don't respond to the notice with proof of citizenship within 30 days.
That could mean U.S. citizens, with valid voter registration, could have their registration canceled.
Morales said Vigo County found one man who submitted a Mexican passport as his proof of citizenship and allegedly confirmed to local officials that he is not a U.S. citizen.
This Week in the War on Higher Education
Canceled federal grants cost Indiana institutions millions in disrupted projects
The nation’s largest scientific research funder abruptly canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in grants earlier this year, specifically targeting projects that addressed diversity, inclusion or vaccines.
Combined, the 21 grants across four Indiana higher education institutions total $24.5 million in federal dollars from the National Institutes of Health, as detailed by Grant Witness, an independent tracking effort. The project partly relies on self-submitted cancellations, meaning the losses could be higher.
More than half of the canceled project dollars from the NIH, or $14.3 million, were dedicated to projects at Indiana University in Indianapolis, specifically the School of Medicine.
Purdue University lost nearly $6.2 million,
followed by Notre Dame University’s $3.2 million.
Indiana University’s main campus in Bloomington had just three projects for a combined $641,000 — but two of those projects may be restored following legal battles.
An additional $15.5 million in grants to Indiana schools under the National Science Foundation was canceled. Under that program:
Indiana University’s Bloomington campus lost $6.2 million
Ivy Tech Community College lost $238,000
Purdue University lost $8.3 million and
Notre Dame University lost $642,000
Some of the canceled projects:
These studies include a $2 million award to University of Notre Dame chemistry professor Juan Del Valle, who is studying a type of molecule bonding common in certain Alzheimer’s patients and finding ways to selectively disrupt it.
Del Valle’s research was flagged by the NIH for the words “trans” and “diverse,” according to Grant Witness. The project’s abstract refers to cellular transmission at various points and “diverse modes of b-sheet packing.”
The use of the word “barrier” might have sunk a $5.7-million Indiana University School of Medicine glaucoma study. Professor Jason Meyer, a molecular geneticist, sought to identify ways to replace certain cells within the eye’s nerve that are damaged by glaucoma, which is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world.
His project’s title? “Overcoming barriers to retinal ganglion cell replacement in experimental glaucoma.”
Indiana University ranked as U.S.'s worst public college for free speech
In Tuesday's rankings, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression tanked IU's score largely because leadership cancelled a speaker in response to the anti-DEI movement and placed a sniper atop the student union during 2024's pro-Palestine encampment.
FIRE, a nonpartisan organization that defends First Amendment rights across the political spectrum, and survey company College Pulse rank the campus speech environment of 257 public and private universities each year. It uses student surveys, policy wording and university decisions to calculate each college's score.
Purdue sits on the opposite end of FIRE's free speech rankings as the country's top public university for its First Amendment environment — though the group notes that could change next year.
For years, FIRE has criticized the university for actions it says violate the First Amendment and damage the free-speech climate. Like last year, FIRE highlighted IU in its report, pointing to the school's response to pro-Palestine advocacy and the cancellation of multiple speaking events and an art exhibit, among other examples.
In June, a district court judge ruled IU likely violated the campus community's First Amendment rights when it made an abrupt change to its "expressive activities" policy in reaction to the encampment. The university later revised its policy.
Purdue's No. 2 ranking was the best ranking out of any public university. Only California's private Claremont McKenna College scored better. Still, FIRE gave Purdue a C grade.
Also, FIRE said Purdue's top score may drop next year after it used its institutional neutrality commitment to distance itself from the student newspaper ahead of this school year. The decision took place after FIRE's data collection period for this year.
US/World News
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International News
Bolsonaro sentenced for plotting Brazil coup
`The former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison after being found guilty of plotting a military coup.
A panel of five Supreme Court justices handed down the sentence just hours after they had convicted the former leader.
They ruled he was guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro was found guilty of five charges, all relating to his attempt to cling to power after he was beaten in the 2022 election.
But prosecutors said he had started to plot to stay in power long before, proposing a coup to military commanders and sowing unfounded doubts about the electoral system.
The justices found he had led a conspiracy and also convicted seven of his co-conspirators, including senior military officers. Among them are two former defence ministers, a former spy chief and former security minister.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Brazil's Supreme Court had "unjustly ruled to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro" and threatened to "respond accordingly to this witch hunt".
Brazil's foreign ministry reacted swiftly, posting on X that "threats like the one made today by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement that attacks a Brazilian authority and ignores the facts and the compelling evidence on record, will not intimidate our democracy".
Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday, which also killed a Qatari officer, marked an unprecedented moment for the Gulf kingdom. The attack undercut the assumption that has underpinned Qatari foreign policy for three decades and reverberated across the Arab region: be useful to the United States, and it will protect you.
Israel’s attack on Qatar, a major non-NATO ally of the US, targeted Hamas leaders who had gathered to discuss a new ceasefire proposal in the war on Gaza put forth by the US. The leadership survived, but six people were killed, including a Qatari security officer.
For decades the arrangement has held. The US supplied arms, parked its aircraft carrier in the Gulf and provided political cover internationally. The support has helped spare Gulf nations from the unrest that has consumed much of the Middle East, despite the rivalry with Iran.
That changed when the US failed to stop the strike on Qatar this week, despite Israel being one of its closest allies. Donald Trump said he tried to give warning, but Qatar said it was only notified after the strike.
The message taken from the strike was not that Washington cannot control Israel, which it arms and equips to the tune of tens of billions of dollars, but it does not want to rein it in. Trump’s ability to call back Israeli jets on their way to bomb Tehran showed he has leverage when he chooses to.
“The perception in the Gulf is that at worst is that the US didn’t want to stop Israel and gave it a green light, or at best, that it doesn’t care about the sovereignty of its Gulf allies,” said Yasmine Farouk, project director at the International Crisis Group.
Rubio lands in Israel to discuss war on Gaza after Israeli strike on Qatar
Rubio’s trip, which began on Sunday, comes after US President Donald Trump criticised Israel over the brazen and failed attack on Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital.
[Al Jazeera’s Hamdah] Salhut noted that the allies’ messaging was not fully aligned. “Netanyahu is still vowing that this perhaps won’t be an isolated incident, despite US promises that it won’t happen again,” she said.
Asia
The protests, fanned by dissatisfaction over the government’s ban on several popular social media platforms, soon snowballed into a wider discourse on corruption and unemployment as the Generation Z – people in their teens and 20s – took to the streets with banners and slogans. At least 51 people were killed and more than 1,300 were injured in the nationwide protests that erupted after the government tried to shut down social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, causing deep anger to boil over.
The protests turned violent as security forces used live bullets, tear gas, and batons while demonstrators toppled barricades, looted businesses, and set fire to government offices and politicians’ residences.
The prime minister and four of his ministers resigned last week, and the military took over the capital, immediately enforcing a nationwide curfew. The military relaxed the curfew for a few hours to allow people to buy supplies.
After Mr Oli’s resignation and the exodus of senior political figures left a power vacuum in Nepal, activists took to [Discord] to plan their next steps, according to NDTV.
The outlet reported that one server with more than 145,000 members hosted a debate about who could be an interim leader. Over the week, multiple polls were held by representatives of the protest movement on the social media platform Discord to nominate possible leaders. Ms Karki emerged as a favourite, widely praised for her integrity.
The country is set to hold elections on 5 March 2026 to determine its next full-time prime minister. Till elections are held, 73-year-old Sushila Karki, a former chief justice, would be the first woman to lead the country.
The House of Representatives, the Senate and [President Ferdinand] Marcos [Jr’s] administration have been investigating alleged substandard and non-existent flood control projects in separate televised inquiries. Dozens of legislators, senators, construction companies and public works engineers were identified and accused of pocketing huge kickbacks that financed lavish lifestyles and high-stakes casino gambling.
The corruption scandal has been especially sensitive in a poverty-stricken Southeast [Asian] country that is prone to deadly typhoons and floodings that devastate entire towns and villages multiple times each year.
The Philippines has spent an estimated 545 billion pesos ($9.6 billion) for thousands of flood mitigation projects in the last three years. The projects were under government review to determine which ones are substandard or non-existent as Marcos said he has found during recent inspections he led in some flood-prone provinces, including in Bulacan, a densely populated province north of Manila.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. and military chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. issued a joint statement late Friday expressing their rejection of “all attempts to patronize the Armed Forces of the Philippines by certain groups that insinuate or suggest unconstitutional, unilateral interventions.”
Europe
A day of anti-government action across France on Wednesday saw streets choked with smoke, barricades in flames and volleys of tear gas as protesters denounced budget cuts and political turmoil.
The nationwide “Block Everything” campaign presented a challenge to President Emmanuel Macron and turned Sébastien Lecornu ’s first day as prime minister into a baptism of fire.
Although falling short of its self-declared intention of total disruption, the protests still managed to paralyze parts of daily life and ignite hundreds of hot spots across the country.
The “Bloquons Tout,” or “Block Everything,” protests did not match the scale of France’s 2018 yellow vest revolt, but still underscored the cycle of unrest that has dogged Macron’s presidency: mass deployments, bursts of violence, and repeated clashes between the government and the streets.
Still, demonstrations and sporadic clashes with riot police in Paris and elsewhere Wednesday added to a sense of crisis that has again gripped France following its latest government collapse on Monday, when Prime Minister François Bayrou lost a parliamentary confidence vote.
“One prime minister has just been ousted and straight away we get another from the right,” said student Baptiste Sagot, 21. “They’re trying to make working people, young students, retirees — all people in difficulty — bear all the effort instead of taxing wealth.”
Thousands gathered at the Slovak capital [in Bratislava] on Thursday to protest a meeting between populist Prime Minister Robert Fico and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an escalation of previous protests against Fico’s pro-Russia stance. The government’s planned austerity measures also drew condemnation from protesters.
The latest wave of protests was fueled by a trip by Fico to China where he again met Putin, along with other authoritarian leaders. Fico traveled to Beijing for a military parade hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Fico was the only head of a European Union country to attend the event, where he discussed bilateral relations with Putin in their third meeting since the Russian all-out invasion of Ukraine.
A recent plan for austerity measures presented by government — that the parliament is set to debate on Friday — was another target of protesters’ ire, as well as various scandals, including the misuse of European Union funds.
Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. He returned to power for the fourth time after his [nominally] leftist Smer, or Direction, party won the 2023 parliamentary election after campaigning on a pro-Russia and anti-American message.
He has openly challenged the European Union’s policies over Ukraine while his critics have charged that Slovakia under Fico is following the direction of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is regarded by many as an autocrat.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is escalating his crackdown on protests that have shaken his populist rule in recent months. What began as a small, student-led campaign against corruption has snowballed into one of the most turbulent protest waves in the Balkan country in a quarter of a century.
Last week, tanks rolled through the capital, Belgrade, in preparation for a military parade on Sept. 20. If the parade becomes a flashpoint for unrest, protesters fear the military could remain on the streets.
Vucic has ruled Serbia for more than a decade, reshaping its politics while drawing accusations of corruption and authoritarianism.
He began his political career in the 1990s as a hardline nationalist in the Serbian Radical Party, becoming information minister under the late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic. He was notorious for his calls to punish independent media and his wartime rhetoric against Serbia's neighbors which he maintains to this day.
On Nov. 1, 2024, a canopy collapsed at the railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing at least 16 people. The tragedy, tied to a Chinese-backed renovation project, sparked outrage over alleged state-run corruption and negligence.
Protesters now demand accountability, transparency, and early elections.
EU officials have warned Vucic that progress toward EU membership depends on meeting certain standards, including reforms in the judiciary, media freedoms and fight against corruption.
At a time when Europe is dealing with the repercussions of Russia's war in Ukraine, the EU has so far shown little willingness to confront Vucic and his government.
In the early hours of Wednesday, three Russian drones were shot down after crossing into Polish airspace.
Polish officials previously said that there were 19 intrusions of the country’s airspace, and that a large proportion of the drones entered from Belarus. A total of 16 drones were found throughout the country, Poland’s interior minister said on Wednesday. The locations where the debris was found span an area of hundreds of square miles.
Although Russian drones and missiles have trespassed into some Nato member countries before, this was the most serious incident of its kind since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Adding to the anxiety felt in some quarters of eastern Europe are major joint military exercises between Belarus and Russia, dubbed Zapad 2025, due to start on Friday.
NATO on Friday launched operation “Eastern Sentry”
Among the equipment dedicated to the operation are two F-16 fighter jets and an anti-air warfare frigate from Denmark, three Rafale jets from France, and four Eurofighters from Germany, according to a press release from the alliance.
Poland, Romania scramble jets as NATO ally records new Russian drone violation
The Polish military said no airspace violations were recorded on Saturday after jets were deployed in the airspace along the border with Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Donad Tusk reported in a post to X that defenses "reached the highest state of readiness" in response to "the threat posed by Russian drones operating over Ukraine near the border with Poland."
But, farther south along NATO’s eastern flank, a Russian drone did violate Romanian airspace, according to a statement published by the Defense Ministry in Bucharest.
Saturday’s violation of Romanian airspace by a Russian drone was the eleventh such incident since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to data provided to ABC News by the Defense Ministry in Bucharest.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post to X that the Russian drone that violated Romanian airspace on Saturday flew around six miles into the country, operating in NATO airspace for around 50 minutes.
How the Fatal Stabbing of a Ukrainian Refugee Became a US Political Flashpoint
On Aug. 22, Iryna Zarutska was sitting quietly on a Charlotte New Light Rail train when a man attacked her from behind, according to security footage. The attack was unprovoked.
The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Decarlos Brown, had multiple prior convictions, including eight years in prison for armed robbery, and early reports indicate he has a history of mental illness. Brown has been charged with first-degree murder.
The murder received limited national attention initially, but it recently surged in visibility after Republican lawmakers and far-right influencers promoted CCTV footage of the attack.
Trump has used Zarutska’s death to justify expanding his National Guard deployments to other cities, arguing that Democratic leaders cannot manage crime effectively.
He repeatedly referenced the Charlotte attack on social media, calling the suspect a “career criminal” and blaming Democrats for failing to enforce the law.
“The blood of this innocent woman can literally be seen dripping from the killer’s knife, and now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail, including Former Disgraced Governor and ‘Wannabe Senator’ Roy Cooper. North Carolina, and every State, needs LAW AND ORDER, and only Republicans will deliver it!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
Trump-National Guard Takeovers
Trump backs off Chicago National Guard threats
Chicago leaders are doing a victory lap on Friday after standing up to President Trump, who announced he's sending federal troops to fight crime in Memphis instead.
"Because of the unified opposition from community leaders and elected officials in Chicago and throughout the state, the Trump administration backed down from its threats of sending in the National Guard to Chicago," Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement. "We continue to call on the federal government to send additional resources, but we reject any military occupation of our city."
Flashback: Trump first floated the idea of deploying the National Guard to Chicago in late August and continued to bash the city over crime, calling it a "disaster" and a "hellhole."
Reality check: Chicago has seen a nearly 30% reduction in homicides and a 38% reduction in shootings since last year, according to Chicago police data.
Zoom out: It's been less than a week since Trump posted "Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR" on social media.
By midweek, he had balked on his threats against Illinois' biggest city, saying instead he wanted to fight crime in a city that wanted his help.
The big picture: The Department of Homeland Security just launched "Operation Midway Blitz" in Chicago, ramping up U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
Trump says he’s targeting Memphis in crime crackdown
Calling the city “deeply troubled,” Trump suggested the mayor and Tennessee governor were happy with the action, which could include the “National Guard and anybody else we need.”
But Memphis Mayor Paul Young said at a Friday afternoon news conference that it was not done at his request, asserting that he learned in the morning “that the President and Governor are looking to bring Federal resources to our city which include the National Guard, which they have the authority to do.”
“I want to be clear I did not ask for the National Guard and I don’t think it is the way to drive down crime,” he said. “However, that decision has already been made.”
“I am focused on the resources. FBI, DEA, ATF, those are the things that I believe will truly help us be able to support law enforcement and reduce violent crime. I do not support the National Guard,” Young said.
In Memphis, a blue city in a state that is governed by a Republican, Trump found state officials, at least, were more receptive to his efforts. The city had the highest violent crime rate last year among US cities with a population over 250,000, according to a CNN review of FBI data.
Trump will send 1,000 troops to Louisiana
The Pentagon has drafted a proposal for the Louisiana National Guard troops to deploy to cities including New Orleans and Baton Rouge to support local law enforcement, according to The Washington Post.
The plan is the latest sign of Mr Trump’s plan to roll out his law-and-order plan to Republican states, whose governors are supportive of the president’s plans to mobilise troops.
The documents described the plan as having a “unique advantage” of working with the state’s Republican Governor Jeff Landry, whose support could allow the federal government to invoke Title 32 of the U.S. Code, allowing the National Guard to operate under state control with federal funds, avoiding running afoul of a bedrock federal law [Posse Comitatus] stopping the military from being involved in domestic law enforcement.
Supreme Court lifts restrictions on ‘roving’ ICE raids in Los Angeles
The Supreme Court has lifted restrictions that barred the Trump administration from carrying out immigration-related raids in the Los Angeles area based on broad criteria such as speaking Spanish or gathering at locations day laborers often congregate.
The justices, who apparently divided 6-3 along ideological lines, put on hold a federal district judge’s order that reined in what critics called “roving” raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That judge had found the tactics were likely unconstitutional because agents were detaining people without probable cause at car washes, bus stops and Home Depot parking lots based on stereotypes.
The high court’s majority offered no explanation for its decision to grant the Trump administration’s emergency appeal to block the district judge’s order. However, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote separately in support of the decision, saying it was reasonable to briefly question people who meet multiple “common sense” criteria for possible illegal presence — including employment in day labor or construction, and limited English proficiency.
“We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. “Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.”
“The Government, and now the concurrence, has all but declared that all Latinos, U. S. citizens or not, who work low wage jobs are fair game to be seized at any time, taken away from work, and held until they provide proof of their legal status to the agents’ satisfaction,” she wrote.
Tariff-fueled price hikes have arrived — and hitting these items first
For much of 2025, the Trump administration's wide-ranging tariffs defied forecasts that the import duties would drive up inflation. But that reprieve appears to be over, with economic data this week showing the tariffs are now pushing prices higher.
The Consumer Price Index in August rose at a rate of 2.9% from a year ago, accelerating from the previous month as President Trump's tariffs filtered through the economy. Heavily imported goods saw some of the steepest price hikes last month, the data show. The increase represents the fastest rate of inflation since January, when Mr. Trump was inaugurated for his second term.
Although the tariffs were first announced in April on what Mr. Trump called "Liberation Day," their implementation was largely delayed as the administration negotiated new trade deals with multiple nations over the ensuing months. That gave U.S. companies time to prepare for the new import duties, which are paid by U.S. businesses directly to the federal government.
Facing the prospect of sharply higher tariffs, some American companies scrambled to stock up on the imported goods and parts they use in their business, postponing the need to raise customer prices. Others absorbed the levies instead of passing them along to consumers.
But many companies are now pulling back from those strategies, economic data shows.
Many types of goods that rely heavily on imports saw significant price hikes last month, the latest CPI report shows.
Coffee, for instance, is largely imported because there are only a handful of places in the U.S. where the beans can be grown, such as Hawaii and Puerto Rico. About 80% of unroasted coffee imports are sourced from Latin America, primarily from Brazil, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Products from Brazil that are shipped to the U.S. now face a 50% tariff, according to the White House. Once those import taxes kicked in, U.S. consumers in August shelled out 21% more for beans than a year earlier, according to CPI data.
Other products that are heavily imported and that, as of August, are seeing large price increases compared with a year ago include:
Audio equipment: +12%
Household furniture: +10%
Bananas: +6.6%
Women's dresses: +6.2%
Watches: +5.6%
Motor vehicle parts: +3.4%
This Week in Epstein
The House Oversight Committee released more records from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's estate late Monday, including hundreds of pages from a book compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for his 50th birthday in 2003.
Hours earlier, Democrats on the panel had released a letter in the book allegedly signed by Mr. Trump. The president has denied penning the message, which is typed within what appears to be the outline of a woman's body.
Bill Clinton [also] appeared to write short note to Epstein
Leaked Emails Reveal Epstein Wanted Trump Deleted From Mysterious Power List
Billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein told Ghislaine Maxwell to “remove” Donald Trump from a mysterious power list, according to a new cache of intriguing emails released Thursday.
The removal of Trump’s name from whatever the list was came two months after Epstein was charged in Florida with solicitation of prostitution, and as federal scrutiny was snowballing.
A year later, Epstein would sign a secretive 2007 non-prosecution deal that spared him federal charges.
The emails also show Trump surfacing again on Aug. 23, 2007, as Epstein and Maxwell war-gamed the intense press and prosecutorial scrutiny around Epstein’s Florida case.
The trove—more than 18,000 messages from Epstein’s Yahoo account published by Bloomberg—depicts Maxwell as closely involved in money movements, reputational pushback, and intimate logistics.”
Starmer sacks US ambassador over Jeffrey Epstein ties
[UK PM] Keir Starmer has sacked Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US over his association with Jeffrey Epstein.
The Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told MPs that Lord Mandelson had not disclosed the extent and depth of his friendship with Epstein, a convicted child sex offender, when he was appointed as the ambassador.
He said No 10 had not known about emails from Mandelson to Epstein suggesting his 2008 conviction for soliciting a child for prostitution was wrongful and should be challenged.
The friendship between the two men came under a renewed spotlight earlier this week after Democratic members of the US House oversight committee released Epstein’s 50th “birthday book”, in which Mandelson called him “my best pal” in a handwritten note.
Schumer warns of a shutdown if Republicans don’t accept Democrats’ health care demands
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer weathered backlash from Democrats earlier this year when he voted with Republicans to keep the government open. But he’s now willing to risk a shutdown at the end of the month if Republicans don’t accede to Democratic demand.
Schumer says he and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries are united in opposing any legislation that doesn’t include key health care provisions and a commitment not to roll them back.
A shutdown, Schumer said, wouldn’t necessarily worsen an environment in which Trump is already challenging the authority of Congress. “It will get worse with or without it, because Trump is lawless,” Schumer said.
It also comes amid worsening partisan tensions in the Senate, where negotiations between the two parties over the confirmation process broke down for a second time on Thursday and Republicans are changing Senate rules to get around Democratic objections to almost all of Trump’s nominees. Democrats are also fuming over the Trump administration’s decision to unilaterally claw back $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid just as negotiations over the spending deadline were getting underway in late August.
Farm Aid 40 to Move Forward in Minneapolis Following Labor Strike Agreement
Organizers of Farm Aid 40 have confirmed that this year’s festival will proceed as planned at the University of Minnesota, following a resolution between the university’s administration and striking workers.
On Saturday (Sept. 13), Farm Aid organizers announced on social media that the annual event will be held at Minneapolis’ Huntington Bank Stadium on Sept. 20, after the university and Teamsters Local 320 reached a labor agreement.
The 2025 edition of Farm Aid — marking the festival’s 40th anniversary — will feature headliners Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Kenny Chesney, Margo Price and Billy Strings, among others. The event is expected to draw a crowd of approximately 50,000 fans.
Since being founded in 1985, Farm Aid has raised more than $85 million “to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture,” according to its website.
Meanwhile: Farmers’ loyalty to Trump is about to be tested
Farmers across the country are looking at record yields during their fall harvest. They may have nowhere to sell them.
As a result of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, crop farmers have lost a significant export market, driving down the price of top U.S. crops like soybeans and corn, even as Trump’s tariffs drive up the cost of farm equipment and fertilizer.
In 2024, for example, China purchased $12.64 billion in soybeans. But China has not yet made any orders for soybeans since May, according to the American Soybean Association, as it shifts more purchases to Brazil and other countries.
Now, as they approach the end of growing season, those farmers, farm groups and Republican lawmakers from agriculture-heavy states are warning of a looming crisis: crops piling up with nowhere to put them and farmers ending the year deep in the red.
In Trump’s first term, the White House paid out $28 billion in financial relief for farmers hurt by his trade policies. Officials at the Agriculture Department have privately started to prepare for a similar bailout fund for this term but are unlikely to roll out any tariff relief payments this fall.
The Emergency Commodity Assistance Program that provides $10 billion in direct assistance to producers came from a short-term spending bill passed in December and was a patchwork attempt to help farmers amid stalled negotiations on the massive legislative package known as the farm bill. Republicans also cut into Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding in order to give farmers a $60 billion boost in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but that won’t take effect until the next crop year.
One Big Thing - Charlie Kirk & Political Violence
(quotes from linked articles in italics)
Noon: Kirk kicks off his event in the Fountain Courtyard of Utah Valley University’s Orem Campus.
Approximately 12:20 p.m.: As the “debate” portion of Kirk’s event began, one gunshot rang out, Utah Valley University spokeswoman Ellen Treanor told the AP. Authorities believe the gunshot came from the Losee Center, about 200 yards (183 meters) away from where Kirk was speaking.
12:23 p.m. A Utah Valley University police officer states, “Alpha 34, we have shots fired. Charlie Kirk is down,” according to a broadcast recording from the department’s dispatch line made available by OpenMHz. Shortly after, a different officer notes that there was gunfire and that Kirk is “on his way to the ambulance. He’s on his way to the hospital.”
12:39 p.m. FBI agents arrive on the scene at Utah Valley University, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.
Around this time, videos begin to appear on social media that show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans ”The American Comeback” and ”Prove Me Wrong.” A single shot rings out, and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away.
12:47 p.m.: Utah Valley University issues an alert that says a “single shot” was fired. It also says that the suspect is in custody.
2:40 p.m.: President Donald Trump announces on social media that Kirk has died.
Charlie Kirk was one of the highest profile conservative activists and media personalities in the US, and a trusted ally of President Donald Trump.
The son of an architect who grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights, Kirk attended an Illinois community college before dropping out to devote himself to political activism.
He was an avid public speaker, touring the country addressing Republican events, many of which were popular with members of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement, and his daily talk radio show had millions of followers on social media.
Turning Point, which he started at age 18, aimed to spread conservative ideals at liberal-leaning US colleges.
The non-profit Kirk founded, Turning Point USA - a large part of his legacy - began after President Barack Obama was re-elected in 2012.
Its mission, aimed at young people, is to organise students to "promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government". It now has chapters at more than 850 colleges.
Some of Kirk’s most provocative statements:
Black people
“Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more.”
Black pilots
“If I see a Black pilot, I’m gonna be like, ’Boy, I hope he’s qualified.’”
Black women
“They're coming out, and they're saying, 'I'm only here because of affirmative action.' Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person's slot to go be taken somewhat seriously."
Civil rights
“We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the mid-1960s.”
The death penalty
"[The death penalty] should be public, should be quick, should be televised… I think at a certain age, it’s an initiation… At what age should you start to see public executions?"
Democrats
“The Democrat Party supports everything that God hates.”
Empathy
"I can't stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made up new age term that does a lot of damage."
Feminism
“Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You're not in charge."
Gay people
“You might want to crack open that Bible of yours. In a lesser referenced part of the same part of scripture, is in Leviticus 18 is that, ‘thou shalt lay with another man shall be stoned to death.’ Just sayin’! So Miss Rachel, you quote Leviticus 19… the chapter before affirms God’s perfect law when it comes to sexual matters.”
George Floyd
“This guy was a scumbag.”
Great Replacement Theory
“It's not a Great Replacement Theory, it's a Great Replacement Reality. Just this year, 3.6 million foreigners will invade America. 10-15 million will enter by the end of Joe Biden's term. Each will probably have 3-5 kids on average while native born Americans have 1.5 per couple. You are being replaced, by design.”
Guns
“It’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment.”
Jews
“Jewish donors have been the number one funding mechanism of radical open-border, neoliberal, quasi-Marxist policies, cultural institutions and nonprofits. This is a beast created by secular Jews and now it’s coming for Jews, and they're like, ‘What on Earth happened?’ And it's not just the colleges. It's the nonprofits, it's the movies, it's Hollywood, it's all of it.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“MLK was awful. He's not a good person. He said one good thing he actually didn't believe.”
Muslims
“They aren’t even hiding their intentions. Muslims plan to conquer Europe by demographic replacement. Will Europe wake up in time?”
Palestine
“I don’t think the place exists.”
Transgender people
“You’re an abomination to God.”
In an address about Kirk’s death, Trump claimed that “radical left” rhetoric of comparing “wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals” is “directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today.”
Trump didn’t just pin Kirk’s death on the political left—he also blamed the left for the attempt on his own life in July 2024, the killing of a healthcare CEO in New York in December, and the 2017 shooting at a congressional baseball practice that injured Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. “Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives,” Trump said.
Katie Miller, the wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, posted on X, “It’s a real treat to see all these Liberals condemn political violence now. You called us Hitler. You called us Nazis. You called us Racists. You have blood on your hands.”
“The Left is the party of murder,” Elon Musk, the billionaire tech mogul who has frequently espoused right-wing views, posted on his social media platform X.
Venture capitalist and political activist Shaun Maguire, who said: “The Left lectured us for the last decade about the dangers of violence from the Right … The danger was actually on the Left.”
“The Left are terrorists,” posted far-right political activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer. Loomer added that Kirk’s death only portends “more targeted” assassinations. “You could be next,” she warned. “We must shut these lunatic leftists down. Once and for all. The Left is a national security threat,” she said in another post.
Sean Davis, the CEO and co-founder of right-wing media outlet the Federalist, focused blame on the Democratic Party, which he called “a domestic terrorist organization whose most fanatics will not hesitate to murder their political opponents.”
“The Democrat Party must be classified as a domestic terror organization and their members & leaders treated accordingly,” posted conservative political strategist Joey Mannarino. “Enough is enough.”
Actor James Woods, a vocal Trump supporter, said the left “murdered” Kirk. “The left says they want ‘national conversations,’” Woods posted on X. “Charlie Kirk actually did just that. In the lion’s den, no less, at left leaning venues, hoping facts and common sense would prevail. And they murdered him for it.” Woods had posted hours earlier, “It’s not gun violence. It’s Democrat violence.”
“The left and their policies are leading America into a civil war. And they want it. Just like the democrat party wanted our 1st civil war. The gloves are off,” Wisconsin Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden posted on X. “May the mighty wrath of vengeance fall upon the Brown Shirts who are responsible for this,” Van Orden said in another post. “The democratic Party has been fostering, a 21st century Civil War. I would encourage them if you look at the results of the last one that they started,” he said in another.
Far-right radio show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was ordered in 2022 to pay more than $1 billion to the families of Sandy Hook over his claim that the 2012 school shooting that killed 26 people, including 20 children, was fake, said in a livestream on his InfoWars channel: “This is a war, this is a war, this is a war.”
“The left’s coming with their violence. They’re coming with more attacks. And we can imagine the hell it’ll be if we let them win and if we submit to them.
Chaya Raichik, who runs the pro-Trump, anti-left account “Libs of TikTok,” posted, “THIS IS WAR.”
Ian Miles Cheong, a conservative commentator from Malaysia, posted, “Charlie Kirk wasn’t the first victim in this war. He was the second. The first victim was Iryna Zarutska,” referring to a Ukrainian woman who was killed in a stabbing in North Carolina on Aug. 22 and has become the face of anti-crime rhetoric largely from the right. “This is war,” he added.
Far-right influencer Andrew Tate, a self-described “misogynist,” posted on X: “Civil war.”
Kristan Hawkins, founder of anti-abortion group Students for Life of America, posted: “This is a new civil war.”
“I’m ready for civil war,” Brian Eastwood, another conservative influencer, posted. “You want a fight and you’re going to get it.”
“They’ve declared war,” conservative political commentator David Freeman, who goes by the social media handle Gunther Eagleman, posted.
Fox News host Jesse Watters said, “Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us. And what are we going to do about it? How much political violence are we going to tolerate?”
“I don’t want the National Guard sent to Democrat cities anymore. I want the Air Force sent,” posted anonymous right-wing X account Oilfield Rando to its 220 thousand followers.
“Charlie Kirk being assassinated is the American Reichstag fire,” Matt Forney, a right-wing journalist and influencer, posted, referring to an arson attack on the German parliament in 1933 that the Nazis blamed on communists and used as a pretext to suspend a swath of civil liberties. “It is time for a complete crackdown on the left. Every Democratic politician must be arrested and the party banned under RICO [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act]. Every libtard commentator must be shut down. Stochastic terrorism. They caused this.”
In another post, Forney said: “The left must pay. Ban the Democratic Party. Shut down CNN and MSNBC. Military tribunals. If you are to the left of Lindsay Graham, you belong in prison. YOU CAUSED THIS.”
Conservative influencer Christopher Rufo invoked former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s crackdown on leftist groups and the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, urging, “It is time, within the confines of the law, to infiltrate, disrupt, arrest, and incarcerate all of those who are responsible for this chaos.”
“They shot the voice of reason through the throat,” Auron MacIntyre, a host at right-wing media company the Blaze, posted. “So now it’s time to become unreasonable.”
"We don't yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy," Obama said. "Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie's family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children."
Former President Bill Clinton said in a social media post that he was "saddened and angered" by the shooting.
"I hope we all go through some serious introspection and redouble our efforts to engage in debate passionately, yet peacefully," he said.
Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman, who was wounded, along with his wife, in the targeted shootings in June in which former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed, released a statement Wednesday which read, "America is broken, and political violence endangers our lives and democracy."
"The assassination of Charlie Kirk today is only the latest act that our country cannot continue to accept," the statement went on. "Our leaders of both parties must not only tone down their own rhetoric, but they must begin to call out extreme, aggressive and violent dialog that foments these attacks on our republic and freedom. We also call on leaders of both parties to take immediate action to prevent gun violence. Our prayers are with the Kirk family, our state and our country."
Gabby Giffords, a former U.S. congresswoman from Arizona who suffered a serious brain injury when she was shot in 2011, said in a post on X, "I'm horrified to hear that Charlie Kirk was shot at an event in Utah. Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence."
House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, condemned the shooting in a post on X, calling it "reprehensible."
"Political violence has absolutely no place in our nation," she said, adding Americans should "hold the entire UVU community in our hearts as they endure the trauma of this gun violence."
Pelosi, whose husband Paul Pelosi was bludgeoned with a hammer by a man who broke into Pelosi's San Francisco home in 2022, has frequently condemned political violence.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who hosted Kirk on his podcast earlier this year, wrote on social media that Kirk's killing is "a reminder of how important it is for all of us, across the political spectrum, to foster genuine discourse on issues that deeply affect us all without resorting to political violence."
"The best way to honor Charlie's memory is to continue his work: engage with each other, across ideology, through spirited discourse. In a democracy, ideas are tested through words and good-faith debate — never through violence," Newsom said. "Honest disagreement makes us stronger; violence only drives us further apart and corrodes the values at the heart of this nation."
Fellow Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker wrote on the same platform that political violence, "should never become the norm."
"Political violence has no place in America," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X. "This shooting is horrifying, and I’m praying for Charlie Kirk and his family."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries added that his "thoughts and prayers are with Charlie Kirk and his family."
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York, wrote before the announcement of Kirk's death: "The scourge of gun violence and political violence must end. The shooting of Charlie Kirk is the latest incident of this chaos and it must stop. We cannot go down this road."
“Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions,” [MSNBC Analyst Matthew] Dowd said, adding: “You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and then not expect awful actions to take place.”
Tyler James Robinson, 22, of Washington, Utah, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder and other felony offenses. Prosecutors are drawing up formal charges that could be filed early next week, when he will make his first court appearance.
Investigators have spoken to Robinson's relatives and carried out a search warrant at his family's home in Washington, about 240 miles (390 kilometers) southwest of Utah Valley University, where the shooting took place.
Here are things to know about the killing:
Authorities have not provided many details about why they think Robinson carried out the attack on Kirk.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said family members told authorities that Robinson “had become more political in recent years.” They recounted to authorities a dinner table conversation in which he mentioned Kirk's upcoming visit to Utah Valley University and they discussed whether the activist was spreading hate.
State records show Robinson is registered to vote but not affiliated with a political party and is listed as inactive, meaning he did not vote in the two most recent general elections. His parents are registered Republicans.
Robinson became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church, at a young age, church spokesperson Doug Andersen said.
Like many in that part of Utah, they frequently spent time outdoors — boating, fishing, riding ATVs, zip-lining and target shooting. A 2017 post shows the family visiting a military facility and posing with assault rifles. A young Robinson is seen smiling as he grips the handles of a .50-caliber heavy machine gun.
A high school honor roll student who scored in the 99th percentile nationally on standardized tests, he was admitted to Utah State University in 2021 on a prestigious academic scholarship, according to a video of him reading his acceptance letter that was posted to a family member’s social media account.
But he attended for only one semester, according to a university spokesperson. He is currently enrolled as a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St. George.
At a public briefing, FBI director Kash Patel and Utah governor Spencer Cox revealed that the shooter’s bullet casings were allegedly inscribed with bizarre messages: One read “Notices bulges OwO what’s this?” Unfired cartridges in the magazine allegedly read “Hey fascist! Catch!,”followed by five arrow symbols: one up, one right, and three down. Two others read “Oh Bella ciao Bella ciao Bella ciao ciao ciao” and “If you read this, you are gay lmao.” Photographs of the ammunition have not yet been made public, and it’s possible that there are minor discrepancies in punctuation—but none that would make these phrases appear any less nonsensical. That is, unless you have a passing familiarity with gamer and internet-forum culture.
The “OwO” casing, for instance, appears to be referencing a popular meme making fun of furry culture, a niche lifestyle in which people create alter egos styled after anthropomorphic animals. T
he combination of arrows found on another matches the combination of buttons players use to call in a bomb strike in the video game Helldivers 2, a Starship Troopers–style parody of a fascist interstellar empire.
The Italian words are the lyrics to “Bella Ciao,” an antifascist Italian folk song that was prominently featured in the Netflix series Money Heist.
And that last phrase appears to be little more than a joke meant to antagonize or troll the reader.
As of yet, little is known about Robinson’s alleged motivations or ideology. But the few details surrounding the 22-year old point toward a troubling trend: young shooter suspects who communicate primarily via obtuse memes and digitally inflected irony.
Internecine conflict between conservative factions is common, both on social media and at events for young conservatives. The most notable of these are the “Groyper Wars” of 2019. “Groypers” are fans of white nationalist agitator Nick Fuentes who like to hide their racism behind ironic jokes; when Kirk began making an effort to mainstream his ultra-right-wing Turning Point USA movement, Fuentes instructed them to publicly troll Kirk.
A Facebook photo in which Robinson appears to reference a Groyper meme has led to early speculation that Kirk’s killing may have been an outgrowth of these intra-far-right skirmishes.
…or a leftist avenging a trans partner?
Family and friends of the 22-year-old accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk described his politics as veering left in recent years as he spent large amounts of time scrolling the “dark corners of the internet,” Utah Gov. Spencer Spencer Cox said Sunday.
Cox stressed on several Sunday morning news shows that investigators are still trying to pin down a motive for the attack on Kirk.
Cox said the suspect’s partner was transgender, which some politicians have pointed to as a sign Robinson was targeting Kirk, the founder of Turning Points USA, for his anti-trans views. But authorities have not said whether it is relevant as they investigate Robinson’s motive.
“The roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to female,” Cox said. “I can say that he (sic?) has been incredibly cooperative, this partner has been very cooperative, had no idea that this was happening.”
During a question-and-answer session, a church pastor, Angel Barnett, called on the crowd to honor Kirk by carrying on his message.
“The left is nervous,” Barnett said. “And they’re concerned because they’ve lost control. Charlie started that, and we will continue it.”
Added church panelist Brandon Tatum: “These cowards thought that they could end or eliminate the movement. They just made it bigger. They just made it stronger.”
Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of - the already violence-prone far right has a martyr and were looking for blood before we knew ANYTHING.
Right-Wing extremists account for bulk of political violence
From the 1970s through to the early 2000s, mass killings by domestic extremists were relatively uncommon. Over the past 12 years, however, the number has greatly increased. Of the 46 incidents of ideology-driven mass killings (both actual and attempted) since 1970, 26 (57%) have taken place since 2010. Extremists on the political right make up the bulk of the perpetrators; violence by left-wing and Islamist domestic extremists has decreased significantly in recent years.
Who was Horst Wessel, and why are people comparing Charlie Kirk to him?
Within hours of Kirk’s death, people were comparing him to the young Nazi activist whose 1930 murder turned him into a martyr for Adolf Hitler’s movement.
[Wessel] was a charismatic member of the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party who “was interested in talking to the other side,” said Daniel Siemens, a professor of European history at Newcastle University and author of the book The Making of a Nazi Hero: The Murder and Myth of Horst Wessel.
Wessel made a name for himself convincing working class people to join the Nazi Party, Siemens said. “He basically was a good bridge builder between traditional conservative leaders and theoretical Nazis,” said Siemens. “And that’s what made him particularly useful after his death, as someone who could combine and bring people together posthumously.”
The circumstances of his death in 1930 at the age of 22 are not entirely clear, but according to Siemens, he was most likely killed by a group of communists after a dispute related to unpaid rent.
After his murder, Wessel was held up as a martyr of the Nazi cause. The “Horst Wessel Song” became the official anthem of the Nazi Party and later the German co-national anthem.
The concern is that Trump could hold up Kirk as proof that conservative Christians are under attack, just as Hitler used Wessel’s story to galvanize the Nazi base. Already, pastors and politicians have framed Kirk’s assassination as martyrdom.
