JONATHAN TURLEY: Charlie Kirk wouldn't fire people who hated him, he'd win them over
We must not repeat the free-speech hypocrisy seen in the 'Charlie' attack of a different decade
By Jonathan Turley Fox News
September 14, 2025 8:24am EDT
"Stand with Charlie!" That message spontaneously appeared throughout the world after the unspeakable violent attack by an extremist. No, it was not the response to the murder of Charlie Kirk this week. It was 10 years ago, and referred to the killing of staff at the Paris-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. World leaders, including the French, German and Turkish presidents, joined a march for free speech despite their own speech crackdowns, including prior targeting of the magazine and the victims.
The chief editor, Stéphane Charbonnier, had refused to be silenced by the French government and declared, "I would rather die standing than live on my knees." He was the first person the gunmen asked for in their attack on the office, and he was one of the first to be killed.
At the time, I wrote about the breathtaking hypocrisy and noted that one of the few surviving editors of the magazine refused to join the march with those who relentlessly pursued them with criminal investigations. After the march, France, Germany and other Western governments expanded their censorship laws and the prosecution of viewpoints deemed inflammatory or hateful.
In the ultimate dishonoring of the memory of the Charlie Hebdo staff, the French officials then proceeded to use their own murders to justify increased prosecutions of speech.
The assassination of Kirk in the United States Wednesday is clearly different in one critical respect. There will be no "I am Charlie" campaign on the left. Some have even celebrated the killing while others, mouthing regret, attacked Kirk and suggested that he brought this upon himself.
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