Michael Knowles Testifies on Left-Wing Political Violence Following Charlie Kirk Assassination at Congressional Hearing
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Michael Knowles Testifies on Left-Wing Political Violence Following Charlie Kirk Assassination at Congressional Hearing
Michael Knowles delivers testimony before Congress addressing what he describes as a consistent pattern of left-wing terrorism in America. Speaking in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's assassination by a leftist assassin, Knowles challenges the narrative around political violence, citing The Atlantic's reporting that the left is more violent today than the right. He recounts a harrowing 2023 incident at the University of Pittsburgh where Antifa members threw explosives at police officers during his debate on transgenderism, injuring several officers. Knowles argues that official records systematically undercount left-wing violence and calls for federal action to address what he characterizes as escalating leftist terrorism.
Michael Knowles, a commentator from the American Conservative magazine and holder of an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Ave Maria University, testified before a congressional committee addressing the issue of political violence in America. The Yale graduate opened his remarks by thanking Chairman Schmidt and Ranking Member Welsh before addressing a fundamental disagreement about how to approach the problem of political violence.
Knowles took issue with the ranking member's suggestion to condemn political violence without identifying its source. "This seems to me confusing and misbegotten as one cannot solve a problem if one does not know where the problem lies," he stated. His testimony came in the wake of what he described as the murder of his friend Charlie Kirk by a leftist assassin, an event that he said finally prompted some federal legislators to confront "the consistent and escalating pattern of left-wing terrorism in the country."
The Atlantic's Admission on Left-Wing Violence
To support his argument, Knowles cited a September 23rd article from The Atlantic magazine, which he described as "no less an emblem of American liberalism." The article referenced a study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies that admitted "the left is more violent today than the right." Despite this acknowledgment from a mainstream liberal publication, Knowles noted that many liberals, including members of Congress, continue to deny this reality.
He specifically called out Democrat Congressman Seth Moulton, who reacted to Charlie Kirk's assassination by blaming the right. According to Knowles, Congressman Moulton claimed that three-quarters of political violence in the United States comes from the right while only 4% comes from the left. Knowles found this claim "suspect" and decided to investigate recent examples of what he considers prominent left-wing violence.
Examples of Uncounted Left-Wing Violence
Knowles provided several examples of incidents he believes demonstrate left-wing political violence that goes unrecognized in official statistics. He cited the Covenant school massacre in Nashville, where a trans-identifying shooter murdered Christian school children after outlining ideological motivations. Despite this, according to Knowles, authorities claimed there was no ideological motive.
He also referenced the Black Lives Matter riots, which he described as "overtly leftist demonstrations that left dozens of people dead and over a billion dollars worth of property damage." These incidents, he noted, failed to show up on registers of left-wing political violence. Even an attack by Antifa that targeted him personally along with conservative college students appeared in official records merely as "obstructing law enforcement."
"It turns out the left commits relatively little political violence when you don't count the political violence that the left commits," Knowles stated sardonically.
The University of Pittsburgh Incident
The bulk of Knowles's testimony focused on a specific incident that occurred on April 18th, 2023, at the University of Pittsburgh. He had been invited to participate in a debate on the topic of transgenderism. Before the debate could proceed, several hundred left-wing protesters gathered outside the student center. Many were dressed uniformly in black with face coverings.
The protesters lit the street on fire while burning Knowles in effigy with "a little Hitler mustache painted on my face," he recounted. "All because I hold the view, as most Americans do, that men cannot become women." Buildings in the area were placed on a soft lockdown while the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire extinguished the burning effigy.
Explosive Attack on Police Officers
As the situation escalated, an Antifa operative named Brian DiPippa, "hiding behind his wife Crystal," rolled two smoke bombs under police barricades. Attendees scattered while demonstrators chanted, "Fascists go home." DiPippa then threw a lit firework into a group of police officers protecting the building.
The explosion injured several officers, with Knowles noting that one female officer sustained "severe and life-altering injuries." The debate was forced to end early after campus police determined that the protests outside were becoming even more destructive, prompting the campus to issue a safety emergency notification.
Organized Extremism, Not Spontaneous Protest
Knowles emphasized that Brian and Crystal DiPippa were not simply "two citizens protesting a speaker with whom they disagreed" where "things just got a little out of hand." Instead, he characterized them as "members of an extremist cell" that meets at an anarchist bookshop, "the sort of venue that operates as training grounds for left-wing terror attacks."
He noted that Brian DiPippa "repeatedly set off TSA screeners for explosive material on his body." The Torch Antifa Network claimed the DiPippas as members and raised money for them through a tax-exempt nonprofit organization—a detail Knowles found particularly troubling.
Justice System Failures
Despite the severity of the attack, Knowles expressed frustration with the legal consequences. Thanks to "a courageous FBI agent who happened to be on the scene," the Department of Justice brought charges. However, he believes the justice system gave the perpetrators "only a slap on the wrist."
"I think we should all be able to agree that throwing an explosive at a group of people is no mere minor indiscretion. That is a very serious crime. That's attempted murder. The kind of crime that merits life in prison," Knowles argued. Instead, Brian DiPippa received minimal jail time for obstructing law enforcement, while his wife Crystal received probation.
Call for Federal Action
Knowles concluded his testimony with a stark warning and call to action. "The federal government must act now to stop the consistent and accelerating trend of leftist terrorism," he declared. He reserved his harshest words for legislators who deny the threat: "For a legislator to deny the threat and neglect the remedy might once have been chalked up to ignorance, today it is nothing less than complicity."
