Charles James Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. His death sparked a nationwide debate on the implications of free speech. Yesterday, Kirk would have turned 32 years old.
Nationally, Kirk’s death quickly became a major topic of conversation. Days later, ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host Jimmy Kimmel for six days after he made controversial remarks about the suspect in Kirk’s assassination. His show would eventually return to air, but not before facing major backlash from actors, other talk show hosts and political figures spanning both ends of the spectrum for his comments.
“The MAGA Gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” said Kimmel on his talk show.
Despite Kimmel’s show returning to air, the backlash highlighted how volatile the discussion around Kirk’s murder had become. The suspension and reinstatement of a national media figure shows how freedom of speech remains contested in the wake of political violence.
At the state level, an Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) worker, Holly DeNeve, was fired after making a post on social media saying that, “Today was a real pain in the neck (winking emoji) but I survived.”
DCS called the comment “in poor taste” and said that state employees are held to a “higher standard of conduct and ethics.” According to DCS, DeNeve was no longer an employee there as of Sept. 12, 2025.
DeNeve’s firing reflects a wider trend across the country where many employees have faced discipline or termination over comments on social media regarding Kirk’s death. Concerns have been raised as to whether these dismissals overstep constitutional boundaries due to public sector employees having their First Amendment rights when speaking in a personal capacity.
Kaylee Holtsclaw is a political science major and the president of College Democrats at IU Indianapolis. For her, DeNeve’s post should not have resulted in her being fired from her job.
“From what it sounds like, she’s not inciting violence. She’s not saying ‘let’s go shoot every MAGA person,’” said Holtsclaw.
“We had Neo-Nazis on the circle a month or two ago. And you want to know why that’s allowed? Because they weren’t threatening anyone,” said Holtsclaw. “They weren’t causing violence. I think their message is horrible— but they are not physically harming anyone, so I don’t think the government should make a ruling [on] that.”
Caleb Manning, the outreach coordinator for the IU Indianapolis chapter of Turning Point USA, shared a similar perspective on the dangers of censorship. Turning Point USA—an organization co-founded by Kirk with chapters at different universities across the country—is set to have an event on Oct. 21 at IU Bloomington featuring conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
“Free speech will only be around as long as we protect it,” said Manning. “The university should remove a significant amount of the current restrictions on free speech to encourage all speech in the public square.”
Locally, Kirk’s death became a catalyst for how students feel about IU Indianapolis and its policies. For students like Holtsclaw, self-expression is a fearful concept now.
“I had two students in particular come up to me and say, ‘I want to be involved in College Democrats, but I’m worried about how it will impact my visa’. And it’s a really frustrating situation because I can’t tell them it’s not going to impact [their] visa—I can’t guarantee it,” said Holtsclaw.
Manning explained that the fear of backlash also exists on the other side.
“One student told me he was afraid to express his views because he didn't want to make a bunch of enemies his first semester,” said Manning.
On both sides of the political spectrum on campus, students are frustrated with funding and potentially biased institutional support. Manning expressed frustration with what seemed to be biased support from the university itself.
“In the past, the university has funded more liberal-oriented programs and movements while making it difficult for conservative organizations,” said Manning.
Holtsclaw disagrees, seeing IU Indianapolis as a fairly moderate environment.
“IU as a whole, I would say, probably leans slightly conservative, especially with what happened in Bloomington after the Palestine encampments,” said Holtsclaw. “But IU Indianapolis—I’d say—is pretty dead center.”
IU Bloomington faced criticism over free speech after students set up a Pro-Palestine encampment at Dunn Meadow in April 2024, prompting the university to change its policies the night before the protest to prohibit “temporary installation of structures and/or mass physical objects at any time” without prior approval. IU called in Indiana State Police to dismantle the protest, leading to 33 arrests and multiple bans from campus. This event contributed to the campus being ranked 255 out of 257 for freedom of speech.
Despite frustrations on both sides, the IU Indianapolis Turning Point chapter held a prayer vigil to honor Kirk after his assassination.
“Our primary focus was to pray for his family and for peace,” said Manning. “We met multiple people who felt isolated and were encouraged by the fellowship of like-minded students and staff.”
Ultimately, both Holtsclaw and Manning agree that open dialogue is necessary for higher education. Manning said, “The college environment should be a place where ideas are freely discussed." At the same time, Holtsclaw showed the same values, saying that, “We will never advance as a society if we can’t even talk about our differences.”
Kirk’s influence on political activism and free speech was formally recognized by President Donald Trump, who posthumously awarded him the Medal of Freedom. Yet students across the political spectrum fear expressing their views, whether those views lean conservative or liberal.
Moumita Islam is a sophomore majoring in supply chain management and international studies with minors in political science and economics, and is a writer for The Campus Citizen. In her free time, she loves spending time with her friends and family and exploring the local coffee scene.
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