Charlie Kirk was fatally wounded by an assassin’s bullet while fielding a question about gun violence. At a university rally in central Utah on Wednesday afternoon, US-time, the youthful conservative firebrand and brilliant MAGA organiser was taking questions. He delighted in being confronted with arguments from the left, which he could then demolish, to the delight of his young and appreciative audience.

Video posted on social media of the moment is a bit hard to hear, but the questioner says: “Do you know how many massacres there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed in Utah on Thursday.Credit: AP

Riposted Kirk: “Counting or not counting gang violence?”

It was a nice feint. Mass murders by mentally disturbed people using pistols and rifles, and worse, are of course a plague in America. Kirk was ignoring the questioner’s point, instead pivoting to what he called “gang violence”. In the parlance of right-wing America, that translates immediately to “violence from black people”. Gang violence is a problem in some cities, but violence in America across the board has been declining for decades and, of course, immense police power has always been wielded against criminals of colour. And we all know that violence and........

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