"Explosion of Charlie Kirk conspiracy theories surface online, sparking controversy from both political spectrums"
In the wake of the tragic assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a series of disturbing developments have unfolded, with various conspiracy theories gaining traction on fringe web platforms and social media.
According to data from PeakMetrics, more than 2 million unique posts about Kirk's killing have been made on X. This volume is roughly double the number of posts using similar terms after the attempted assassination of then-candidate Donald Trump last year in Pennsylvania.
One of the most pervasive conspiracy theories is that Israel was responsible for Kirk's death. However, it's important to note that there is zero public evidence tying Israel to the crime. Nonetheless, Iranian state-run media has been heavily pushing this theory online, as reported by Bret Schafer from the Alliance for Securing Democracy.
Another theory that has emerged is that Trump orchestrated Kirk's murder as a means to distract the public from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. This hypothesis, like many others, lacks substantial evidence.
On the night of the shooting, before the suspect was identified or anything was known about his motive, former President Trump blamed the assassination on 'radical left political violence' and organizations that fund and support it.
The suspect, Tyler Robinson, reportedly told his romantic partner, who is transgender, that he shot Kirk because he 'had enough of his hatred.' Graphic footage of Kirk's death instantly went viral.
In the days following the shooting, various right-wing figures, including Alex Jones, Candace Owens, and Laura Loomer, have been amplifying claims that Kirk was threatened by supporters of Israel. Loomer even suggested Robinson might be part of a 'terror cell,' while others claimed Robinson was a 'patsy' and that the federal government was covering up a far-reaching conspiracy.
Controversy also arose when late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel and other right-wing figures were accused of characterizing Robinson as anything other than a MAGA supporter. As a result, Kimmel's show was indefinitely pulled from the airwaves following threats from Trump administration officials.
Heather Cox Richardson, a historian with a popular politics newsletter on Substack, claimed that Robinson 'appears to have embraced the far right, disliking Kirk for being insufficiently radical.'
Investigations into the assassination have revealed that Robinson started leaning more to the left in the past year, as stated by his mother in court filings. The FBI, too, has been criticised for the mistakes made during the investigation, with FBI Director Kash Patel inadvertently fueling right-wing allegations of a government cover-up by releasing inaccurate information about the investigation.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after the shooting found that 71% of Americans think American society 'is broken,' and 66% are concerned about political violence hitting their community. The assassination of Charlie Kirk has undoubtedly added fuel to the fire of political tensions and conspiracy theories in the United States.
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