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Professor Pride on Charlie Kirk, the Reichstag Framing, and Why LGBTQ People Should Arm Themselves Now
Professor Pride, an LGBTQ journalist and content creator with over thirteen million viewers, addresses Charlie Kirk's assassination the following day, condemning the killing while being clear that he feels no personal grief over a man who, he says, called for his death on multiple occasions. He expresses sympathy for Kirk's wife and child, who were present at the event, while stating the killing does not rewrite Kirk's record. The video covers the DNC headquarters being attacked the same day as the assassination, thousands of messages calling for civil war, and Republicans framing the moment as a Reichstag event, a reference to the 1933 Nazi burning of the German parliament building subsequently used to justify a crackdown on communists. He states that whoever hired the sniper wanted this to function as exactly that kind of manufactured crisis, and that Trump is using it to start a war against the country.
What He Will and Will Not Say
Professor Pride opens by naming what many of his viewers are apparently struggling with — how to condemn political violence while feeling nothing in particular about the person who was killed. He says he cannot resolve that tension for anyone else but can describe where he lands. Kirk called for his death on multiple occasions. They disagreed on nearly everything. He does not feel grief. But he does not celebrate, either, and says it is never okay to do so. What he can say plainly: it is okay to feel nothing at all.
He also addresses Kirk's wife and child, who were present at the event when Kirk was shot. He says his heart goes out to them. No family deserves that kind of loss. But none of that changes who Charlie Kirk was while he was alive, and his death does not rewrite that history.
Two Episodes on Hold
Before Kirk was killed, Professor Pride was editing two upcoming episodes of his show. One, ready to air the following week, covers Rainbow Crosswalks being painted over. The second, prepared for the current week, covers the NRA's support for transgender rights and the far right's pattern of blaming trans people for mass shooting violence — a pattern that intensified the same day Kirk was shot, when far-right voices blamed trans people for the assassination itself within hours. Both episodes are complete. He is holding both because of the rhetoric now circulating online, which he describes as thousands if not millions of messages calling for a civil war.
The DNC Attack and the Reichstag Framing
The same day Kirk was killed, the DNC headquarters was attacked. Professor Pride identifies a term he says Republicans have been widely using to describe the moment: the Reichstag moment. For viewers unfamiliar with the reference, he explains it: in 1933, the Nazis set fire to the German parliament building, the Reichstag, and then used that fire as the pretext to declare war on communists and seize expanded emergency powers. He argues the current situation is being constructed the same way — as a manufactured crisis to justify escalation against political enemies.
He says he personally believes he knows who hired the sniper — without naming them directly — and that regardless of who was behind the killing, the video Trump released within hours made his intent clear: he is using Kirk's death to start a war against the country. Professor Pride describes this as horrifying.
Trump, the Medal, and Selective Outrage
He notes that Trump awarded Kirk a Presidential Medal of Freedom the same day he was killed. He then lists other acts of political violence that did not receive the same response from Trump or the broader Republican apparatus: Nancy Pelosi's husband was severely injured; two Minnesota state representatives were killed; a school shooting wounded students at Evergreen High School in Colorado less than an hour after Kirk was shot. None of these drew the same presidential condemnation or ceremony. Kirk's death did. The pattern, he argues, is not outrage over violence. It is selective outrage used to target political opponents.
Unedited Footage and What He Calls a KGB Tactic
He flags the decision to allow unedited footage of Kirk's death to circulate online without censorship or content warnings, and calls it a classic tactic — one associated historically with the KGB. Letting raw, emotionally activating footage spread without filter is, in his framing, a deliberate choice to stoke public rage rather than an oversight of moderation.
A Decade Without Consequences
He places the current moment in a longer historical arc. There were no meaningful consequences for Confederate leaders after the Civil War. There were no meaningful consequences for Nazis living in the United States after World War II. There were no meaningful consequences for the participants in the January 6, 2021 insurrection. He argues these failures of accountability are the conditions that made the present possible. He cites over five thousand mass shootings in the past decade and more than 173,000 deaths from mass shooting violence over the same period — a number he says lawmakers have responded to with partisan rage rather than action.
9/11 and the North Tower
He shifts to a personal story. Twenty-four years ago the same day — September 10th, 2001 — his husband was on the observation deck of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, less than twenty-four hours before the towers collapsed. He took the following day off to enjoy the city and, with the help of friends, managed to escape after the attacks began. When he got home and returned to his job at a cable company, people were calling to ask why their channels were down. When his team explained that the servers for the entire East Coast had been housed in the North Tower, people did not respond with shock or sympathy. They just wanted to watch TV.
Professor Pride uses this story to make a broader argument: the idea that Americans came together after 9/11 is a comforting myth. He says ten years of covering international news and hearing how people in other countries view the United States has given him a different picture. Both Democrats and Republicans mourn when their own side loses and celebrate when fellow Americans suffer. That dynamic, he argues, predates any foreign interference. China and Russia may have accelerated it, but they did not create it. Americans have been at war with each other for a long time.
Security, the Show, and the Advice to Arm Yourselves
Professor Pride says he is a target. He is taking several weeks off from the show, and his family is implementing major security upgrades immediately. He encourages all LGBTQ people to legally obtain a weapon for their homes before that right is restricted — while acknowledging he hopes it never needs to be used.
He closes by framing the moment as a choice. Whoever hired the sniper wanted Kirk's death to function as a Reichstag moment — a pretext for a much larger conflict. Trump's video made clear which way he intends to push. But the public has not yet made that choice. "We have the option right now to either use Charlie Kirk's death as a springboard for war or for unity," he says. "Now it's our choice if we let it happen."
Video Transcript
[00:00] Hi, I'm Professor Pride. Yesterday, a
[00:03] professional sniper killed a neo-Nazi
[00:05] Charlie Kirk. He and I disagreed on many
[00:08] things, and he even called for my death
[00:10] on multiple occasions. But like many of
[00:13] you this week, I've struggled figuring
[00:15] out how to both condemn political
[00:16] violence of any kind, while at the same
[00:19] time not feeling anything for Charlie.
[00:22] Let me be clear, his wife and child were
[00:24] at the event yesterday, too, and our
[00:27] hearts go out to them. No family
[00:29] deserves this sort of tragedy. But what
[00:32] happened doesn't suddenly make Charlie a
[00:34] good person. It doesn't rewrite history.
[00:37] It's never okay to celebrate, but it is
[00:40] okay to not feel anything at all. Before
[00:43] this, I was editing two episodes of our
[00:45] show. One to air next week on Rainbow
[00:48] Crosswalks being painted over. The other
[00:50] was meant to air this week on the NRA
[00:52] supporting transgender rights and the
[00:54] far right blaming trans people on all of
[00:56] the violence in America. Today, the far
[01:00] right even blamed trans people for the
[01:01] killing of Charlie Kirk, which is just
[01:04] ridiculous.
[01:05] Both of those episodes are ready to air,
[01:07] but we're going to hold on to both of
[01:09] them because of the rhetoric this week.
[01:11] There have been thousands, if not
[01:13] millions of messages calling for the
[01:15] start of a civil war. Today, even the
[01:18] DNC headquarters was attacked.
[01:21] Republicans have been widely calling
[01:22] this the rich tag moment. If you're not
[01:25] familiar, that phrase comes from when
[01:27] the Nazis set fire to their own building
[01:29] in 1933 and then used that fire to rage
[01:33] war against communist. While I
[01:35] personally feel this was you know who,
[01:38] no matter who hired the sniper, one
[01:40] thing is clear from the video he
[01:42] released hours later, Donald Trump is
[01:44] using this to start a war against
[01:46] America. It's horrifying that we've had
[01:48] over 5,000 mass shootings in the past
[01:51] decade. Nancy Pelosy's husband severely
[01:53] injured, two Minnesota state
[01:55] representatives killed, another school
[01:57] shooting yesterday at the same time, and
[02:00] an insurrection on our capital. But all
[02:02] Trump condemns is the killing of Charlie
[02:04] Kirk, even giving him a presidential
[02:07] medal of freedom today. Like many of you
[02:09] might be feeling right now, I'm tired of
[02:11] the United States and living under
[02:14] fascism. I'm tired of our country not
[02:16] caring when children die. But I'm tired
[02:19] of one man doing a fantastic job making
[02:22] all of us fight each other. Even letting
[02:25] unedited video of Charlie's passing
[02:27] circulate online without any censorship
[02:31] to stoke the flames even more. It's a
[02:34] classic sign of the KGB.
[02:36] If we really wanted to continue being a
[02:38] country, there would have been
[02:40] punishments after the first Civil War
[02:42] for Confederates. There would have been
[02:44] consequences for Nazis living in America
[02:47] after the Second World War. There would
[02:49] have been consequences for the
[02:51] insurrectionist on our capital in 2021.
[02:54] But for 10 years now, I've actually been
[02:56] lucky. Covering news for 10 years with
[02:59] over 13 million viewers has allowed me
[03:01] to see how people in other countries
[03:04] view the United States. I've heard from
[03:06] those on the outside how Americans mourn
[03:08] when their own side has a loss and
[03:11] celebrate when fellow Americans suffer.
[03:14] Democrats and Republicans both do the
[03:16] same thing. Thanks to their perspective
[03:19] living outside of the US, I've been able
[03:21] to see that we've been at war with each
[03:23] other for a long time now. Sure, China
[03:26] and Russia might have helped both sides
[03:28] fight more, but we've never been united.
[03:31] 24 years ago today, my husband was in
[03:34] New York City. On September 10th, 2001,
[03:37] he was actually on top of the North
[03:39] Tower of the World Trade Center less
[03:41] than 24 hours before they fell. He took
[03:44] the next day off work to enjoy the city
[03:46] when tragedy struck. This was his
[03:48] perspective. With the help of some
[03:51] friends, he escaped the city. But when
[03:53] he got home, he was working a customer
[03:55] service job at the time for a cable
[03:57] company. While everyone likes to think
[04:00] Americans came together and united for a
[04:02] common goal, the truth is people called
[04:05] their cable company wondering why their
[04:07] channels were offline. When teams of
[04:09] people explained the servers for the
[04:11] entire East Coast were on top of the
[04:13] North Tower, people didn't care. They
[04:16] just wanted to watch TV. So, you might
[04:18] ask where we go from here. I don't know.
[04:21] I realize that I'm a massive target for
[04:24] the far right and they might want some
[04:26] revenge for Charlie. So, we're taking a
[04:28] few weeks off from the show. In the
[04:30] meantime, our family is implementing
[04:32] massive security upgrades this week, and
[04:35] we encourage all LGBTQ people to get a
[04:38] weapon for their homes before anyone
[04:40] shuts down your right to do so. But
[04:42] please don't ever fool yourself into
[04:45] thinking we've ever been a great
[04:46] country. Even in our darkest hour 24
[04:49] years ago, we've had no compassion for
[04:52] our fellow Americans. We just wanted to
[04:54] watch TV. I'll leave you with this.
[04:57] There have been 173,44
[05:01] deaths in the past decade due to mass
[05:03] shootings in the United States. We need
[05:06] our lawmakers to do something about
[05:08] that. Right now, they just feel rage
[05:10] against Democrats or Republicans. We
[05:13] have the option right now to either use
[05:15] Charlie Kirk's death as a springboard
[05:17] for war or for unity. We all know which
[05:20] way the president sides, and we already
[05:23] know, thanks to his video for us
[05:24] released yesterday, how he wants us all
[05:27] to side, too. But it's our choice. And
[05:30] while I do encourage all LGBTQ people to
[05:33] arm themselves just in case, I hope for
[05:36] once in our 250ear history, we make the
[05:39] right choice. Again, Charlie Kirk and I
[05:42] disagreed on a lot of issues, and my
[05:44] heart goes out to his family. But
[05:46] whoever hired that sniper wanted us to
[05:49] fight and wanted this to be a rich tag
[05:51] moment. Now it's our choice if we let it
[05:54] happen.
[05:57] [Music]
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