On September 10, 2025, at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Tyler Robinson fatally shot and killed MAGA activist and public speaker Charlie Kirk while he was speaking at a debate. Shortly after, Kirk arrived at Timpanogos Regional Hospital where he eventually succumbed to his injuries. The death of Kirk sparked fury in right-wing Americans, with many calling for the death of Robinson after he surrendered himself to a Utah sheriff on September 16, 2025.
The aftermath of Kirk’s death on the American people left chaos in its wake(PBS.org), being a close ally to President Donald Trump and a pillar of influence within the MAGA movement, many reactions to his death divided the people. Many liberal Americans expressed jubilation at Kirk’s death, much to the dismay of many conservative individuals who mourned and wept for him; furthering America’s partisan divide.
The impact of Charlie Kirk’s assassination on internet culture essentially immortalized the man, with many “trends” emerging from the shadows of the disheartening event. One of which being “Kirkification” where internet personalities could use newly released AI imaging tools to combine the face of Charlie Kirk with that of anybody they choose, leaving Kirk’s face all over social media sites or online forums that allows image upload. Another trend that many(NPR.org) participated in surrounding Kirk and his “fissure” was FallBrawl. Fallbrawl was a TikTok specific phenomenon where younger people would specifically mention controversial political topics, like Charlie Kirk, at the Thanksgiving dinner table in hopes to get a reaction out of their conservative family members.
Charlie Kirk, an incredibly influential man in life, and even more so in death, leaving a long lasting impact on not just America, but the entirety of global pop culture as a whole.
