How Charlie Kirk’s assassination changed the way conservatives approach hostile opponents

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk built his public persona around confronting political opponents face-to-face, often in settings where disagreement and hostility were expected. Now, one year after his assassination, conservative media personalities and influencers are still wrestling with how to keep themselves safe while also sparking conversations with the other side. Some say Kirk's death has made them more cautious about security, while others feel more determined to keep showing up despite the danger. INSIDE CHARLIE KIRK’S EFFORT TO DEVELOP THE NEXT GENERATION OF CONSERVATIVE VOICES For TPUSA reporter Savanah Hernandez, the answer is both, as she strives to cover important stories while also keeping herself safe. "I do feel myself, as a woman, I was awarded a little bit more ability to go and cover various events or talk to certain people without the threat of violence. But after Charlie's assassination, all of that changed," Hernandez told Fox News Digital. Hernandez recalled that during one of the first events she covered after Kirk's assassination, which was a protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, someone realized she was with TPUSA and proceeded to "light a MAGA hat on fire" and put it in front of her face. Months later, in April 2026, Hernandez was physically assaulted while reporting outside an ICE facility in Minnesota. "As a journalist, I always want to get the story. I always want to get the shot. I always wanted to show my audience exactly what's going on, but, unfortunately, the reality of potentially dying on the street is something that I am very well aware of, as are all of my friends," Hernandez told Fox News Digital. Daily Wire co-founder and host of "The Ben Shapiro Show" Ben Shapiro told Fox News Digital that while he has had round-the-clock security for years, Kirk's assassination changed how he approaches certain events. "What I did say in the aftermath is I would never again do an outdoor event. Outdoor events are inherently riskier, very, very difficult to secure," Shapiro told Fox News Digital. Shapiro said that while his team takes precautions to secure events, such as requiring tickets and using metal detectors, he knows that "you can't bring the risk all the way down to zero." ERIKA KIRK URGES CONSERVATIVE STUDENTS NOT TO BACK DOWN IN FIRST SCHOOL YEAR SINCE CHARLIE'S ASSASSINATION Michael Knowles, host of "The Michael Knowles Show," warned of "two opposite errors" that some could make in the wake of Kirk's assassination. The first, he told Fox News Digital, is to "take security so seriously that you never do anything," thus handing your opponents a victory "because they've shut you up." The second, is to "not take security seriously at all, in which case the left can shut you up by killing you." "I think what Charlie endeavored to do and what we all endeavor to do is to have a prudent middle ground where we take the security seriously, but we don't allow the left to intimidate us into shutting up," Knowles told Fox News Digital. Knowles recalled that he was set to appear alongside Kirk at an event slated to take place at the University of Minnesota 12 days after the TPUSA founder's assassination. In fact, the last message he received from Kirk was about the event. "I remember thinking that morning, 'oh shoot, I owe Charlie a text, ah well, I'll get to it later,' and then he was killed," Knowles said. Shortly after Kirk’s assassination, Knowles said he was asked whether he still planned to attend the event in Minnesota. He told TPUSA that the decision was ultimately up to the organization, and organizers ultimately decided the event should proceed. "They said, ‘We think you should do it,’ which of course was the right answer," Knowles said. Knowles told Fox News Digital that he views the decision as being consistent with Kirk's values. He said that while he was reluctant to speak for the late TPUSA founder, he believed that Kirk would have wanted conservatives to continue to "show up, bring a message of conservatism, a message of Christianity and everything in between to college campuses. I'm quite certain he would say that's the right thing to do." Hernandez echoed a similar sentiment, saying that Kirk's assassination made her more determined to continue reporting from the ground. "Despite the uptick in violence and the increased threats that everybody at Turning Point USA has been experiencing after his assassination, I think we're more emboldened than ever to continue to stay on the ground because Charlie's entire thing was about having conversations with people to reach out to the other side," she said. Shapiro told Fox News Digital that, beyond security concerns, Kirk's assassination also underscored the broader problem with how political debates take place in the age of social media. "I think that the entire value of debate may have declined just as a facet of social media, because so much of debate is not really about free exchange of ideas anymore. Now it's much more about the 15-second dunk," Shapiro said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Shapiro added that social media-driven viral clips of debates have incentivized public figures to provoke opponents, rather than engage with them. "As the attention span decreases… you can score a point simply by getting up in front of a microphone and saying something egregious to somebody else," he said. Shapiro warned that increasingly heated rhetoric had led to what he called "permission structures for violence," which he said "have become commonplace in American public life." Knowles said he came to a sweeping conclusion following Kirk's assassination that differed from many in the conservative world. While some saw it as a moment to "double and triple down" on debating anyone, anywhere, Knowles said he drew the opposite lesson. "My lesson that I drew was that no one debated ideas in the open marketplace with anyone with greater graciousness and openness than Charlie Kirk. And they murdered him for it," Knowles told Fox News Digital, adding that "we need to properly regulate the marketplace." CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP One year after Kirk's assassination, the microphones remain on, and campus events continue, but those who participate in them have a different understanding of what's at stake. Still, many show up to voice their opinions, even when they face opposition.