The Assassination of Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk was murdered on stage in Utah. His death proves what I feared: the U.S. has entered a culture of assassination

In November 2020, I made the decision to leave not only Portland, Ore. — my home where my parents settled as refugees in 1980 — but the United States altogether. I had survived an Antifa mob beating in 2019, but the following 17 months brought a flood of death threats that escalated in frequency and severity.

Most of the death threats were vague. But some were chillingly specific, from people who claimed to be local, who knew where I lived (Antifa had posted my parents’ address online), and who sent photos of the guns they intended to kill me with. I reported dozens of these threats to Portland Police. Not one led to an arrest.

At the time, Portland was still crippled by nightly BLM-Antifa riots related to George Floyd. Police were overwhelmed, struggling even to respond to life-and-death 911 calls. And so, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, I left. I said goodbye to my ill father and declining mother. I knew that most of the violent threats were meant only to frighten me, but I’ve also seen face-to-face how psychopathic and sociopathic some of my enemies were. It would only take one instance — one bullet, or one surprise swing to the head — for me to be dead.

On Wednesday afternoon in Orem, Utah, conservative activist Charlie Kirk stood before hundreds of students at Utah Valley University. He had done this dozens of times across the U.S., admired and hated alike for his “Prove Me Wrong” debates. Then, shortly after noon, as he answered a question about mass shooters and mentioned the emerging phenomenon of trans mass shooters, a loud sound echoed through the arena. Kirk slumped over instantly. He was shot in the neck with what appeared to be a large caliber round.

Gruesome videos show blood pouring from his wound as the crowd screamed and panicked. Hours later, President Trump announced that Charlie Kirk had died. He was 31 years old; he leaves behind a wife and two young children.

I didn’t know Kirk’s security situation. In this line of work, those of us who gain notoriety or infamy for publicly speaking against left-wing orthodoxy rarely discuss our security matters, even with one another. But we all know the reality: once routinely branded a “Nazi,” “fascist,” or a “Proud Boy,” radicalized leftists see you as a fair target for death. Kirk, relentlessly smeared with such labels, was no different.

In January 2022, an event I was scheduled to speak live at Dartmouth College was shut down by the administration at the last minute due to violent threats. In 2023, another speaking event I was invited to headline in Richmond, Va. was the target of a bomb threat.

Those in this space continue the work that needs to be done, with security if we are fortunate enough to afford it, and hope that today is not the day that a threat is successfully acted upon.

As of this writing, no suspect has been apprehended. Two persons of interest were arrested, then quickly released.

Since 2018, I’ve documented the rise of left-wing violent extremism — first through the street violence of Antifa, which sometimes turned deadly, then in tacit support from Democrat officials and sympathetic liberal media. The mainstream left might disavow the tactics, but they share at least some of the goals, and that is why the culture of violence has metastasized into a culture of assassination.

Last year made it clear. The two attempted assassinations of then-candidate Donald Trump were met with wide celebration on social media. On BlueSky and Reddit, hundreds of ultra-viral posts openly urged for Trump to be finished off. When Luigi Mangione allegedly murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024, he became an instant left-wing celebrity folk hero.

But of course, political violence that is normalized can cut both ways. In April 2025, the home of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, was set on fire in a devastating arson attack. In June, Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman, also a Democrat, and her husband were killed inside their home by a suspect whose motives are still unclear.

I briefly considered moving back to the U.S. in 2021 when riots slowed and the threats somewhat faded. Then in August 2021, a West Linn-Wilsonville School District teacher showed up at my parents’ home in an Antifa shirt, intent on killing me with weapons.

From the Portland Police report:

On 08/31/21 at 1130 hours, I viewed Washington County Sheriff's report ##21-12417 that identified [redacted] as the person who visited Independent Reporter Andy Ngo's residence on three different occasions between the dates of 08/23/21 & 08/24/21 with the stated intent to kill him (See PPB Report #21-234406). A mental health counselor from the Cedar Hills Mental Health Center, where Mrs. [redacted] was regularly receiving intensive outpatient treatment, reported Mrs. [redacted] homicidal and suicidal ideation to law enforcement out of concern for public safety … The Counselor also confirmed that Mrs. [redacted] had bragged about searching for bomb making chemicals on the internet and that she knew how to make an explosive device for the purpose of killing "Proud Boys." She claimed to be a member of ANTIFA and was hyper focused on Andy Ngo.

She was never charged. That also ended any thought of moving back. I contacted The Oregonian newspaper about what happened, and they passed on reporting about it, concerned about how their reputation could be impacted if I was presented in a sympathetic light. I never mentioned the incident until now out of fear it could inspire copycat attacks.

I only had the chance to meet Charlie Kirk twice, but both encounters left a lasting impression.

In 2019, just weeks after I suffered a brain hemorrhage from the Antifa assault, he invited me to a Turning Point USA conference in Washington, D.C. I was too shy to speak, but he brought me briefly on stage to be recognized for my reporting. That act of kindness stuck with me.

TPUSA’s 2022 AmericaFest in Phoenix

Three years later, in December 2022, I was invited to speak at TPUSA’s “AmericaFest” in Phoenix, Ariz. I was not a typical speaker for the event, which featured big names in Republican politics, and mega-popular conservative YouTubers and influencers. Many of the speakers traveled with security, an entourage and had fans who wanted to meet them. Charlie was busier than anyone, yet when I slipped quietly into a crowded backstage area, he noticed me in the dark. In the middle of all the commotion, he paused, made eye contact, smiled, and waved.

That gesture captured who he was — gracious and grounded. It is my last memory with him.