Colleges Condemn Students Mocking Kirk Assassination Anniversary

Colleges Condemn Students Mocking Kirk Assassination Anniversary

Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA founder, at a podium with one fist raised mid-speech
Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA founder, at a podium one year after his assassination.Illustration: The Frank

The News

Universities are publicly condemning students who marked the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk's assassination by mocking it — with look-alike contests, celebratory flyers and viral videos.

The Washington Times reported that several major universities are pushing back on Charlie Kirk look-alike contests run by their students on the one-year mark of the Turning Point USA founder's killing.

Legal Insurrection reported that the University of Tennessee condemned flyers on campus that appeared to celebrate the assassination, carrying the line: "WE WILL CELEBRATE THE FIRST NEW YEAR AK (AFTER KIRK)."

Twitchy noted the first anniversary of the assassination fell on Thursday.

Timeline

Thursday

The first anniversary of Charlie Kirk's assassination, according to Twitchy, which reported on the wave of posts marking the date.

Sept. 12, 2026

The Washington Times reports that several major universities are condemning Charlie Kirk look-alike contests among their students.

Sept. 12, 2026

Legal Insurrection reports the University of Tennessee has condemned flyers on campus that appear to celebrate the assassination.

Sept. 12, 2026

The New York Post reports students and influencer Naima Troutt are mocking Kirk's death with viral TikTok dance trends tied to the anniversary.

Sept. 12, 2026

Mother Jones reports from the site of Kirk's death, where it says conspiracists and supporters collided a year later.

Sept. 13, 2026

The Daily Mail reports students posted videos appearing to reenact Kirk's assassination in school hallways and classrooms, captioned "Happy Kirkaversary."

Reactions

The University of Tennessee condemned the flyers found on its campus, Legal Insurrection reported, and the Washington Times reported that several major universities issued their own pushback against the look-alike contests.

USA Today drew heavy criticism from the right for a piece framing Gen Z's "odd" posts about Kirk as humor used to cope with a harsh reality and to distance themselves from it. Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit and BizPac Review all attacked the framing — The Gateway Pundit accused the paper of "bending over backwards" to excuse leftists mocking the assassination, and BizPac Review summarized the argument as claiming the mockery is "actually a 'good' thing for GenZ."

The man who debated Kirk immediately before he was killed told KXAN Austin he has endured a "year of harassment," saying: "It happens daily."

Mother Jones, which visited the site of the killing on the anniversary, described conspiracists and Kirk's supporters colliding there.

The Other Side of the Backlash

The BBC reported on people who lost their jobs after posting about Kirk in the weeks after the assassination. Some have won big settlements from their employers, the BBC found, while others had to start over from scratch — and some said they have no regrets about what they posted.

What's Next

The universities named in the reporting have condemned the contests and flyers but have not announced disciplinary outcomes, leaving open whether any student faces punishment.

The employment fights described by the BBC are still working through settlements and job searches, meaning more payouts — and more firings — remain possible as posts keep surfacing.

More

Kirk founded Turning Point USA and was killed a year ago while appearing in public, immediately after debating an audience member who has since described a year of harassment. The anniversary has split coverage sharply: right-leaning outlets have focused on the mockery and on media attempts to explain it, while left-leaning and mainstream outlets have focused on the scene at the memorial site and on the people who lost jobs over their own reactions.

Poll

Should colleges discipline students who mock Charlie Kirk's assassination?

Yes — expel or suspend them
0.0%
Condemn it, but no punishment
0.0%
No — it's protected speech
0.0%

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