Following Charlie Kirk’s death, there have been a lot of vigils for him taking place all over the country. How people received these vigils differed from place to another. While some of those against Kirk avoided his mourners, others had a different idea. One example is that of a bold Seattle protester who didn’t particularly like the fact that people in the city were hosting a vigil for Kirk. Instead of walking away and minding his business, the guy decided to show them how he felt. He made sure to walk through the crowd gathered while flipping them off with both hands. Some people there decided to ignore him, which is good for them, but that wasn’t the case with everyone.
You can see two men talking to the Seattle protester and probably telling him to leave. That is when a third man holding a candle came and stood right in front of the anti-Kirk guy. He started pushing him backward and away from the crowd. During this, the guy was still flipping people off as he had his hands up in the air. When the mourner had had enough, he punched the protester. Honestly, though, the punch looked pretty weak. There is no way that it caused any harm. Despite this, the protester ran away. According to the cameraman, the protester made a report to the police officers who were at the vigil. He also made sure to give the guy the video in case it would be helpful. The man who punched him didn’t stay long though. This whole situation could have been easily avoided.
People Reacting to the Bold Seattle Protester Getting Punched
You would think that most people would blame the Seattle protester because of how he behaved. This wasn’t the case as most comments blamed the attacker instead. Despite the punch being weak, one person wrote, “Looks like assault to me.” Another person found it ironic that Kirk’s supporters keep saying that freedom of expression shouldn’t be met with violence when this is exactly what happened in the video. “‘HOLD A VIGIL FOR HIM BECAUSE EXPRESSION SHOULD NEVER LEAD TO VIOLENCE.’ Punches someone for their expression. Classic,” they said. Someone else shared the same opinion as they wrote, “Supposed free speech lovers (the puncher) when someone else uses free speech to disagree with them.” This was when a third person replied by saying, “Free for me but not for thee.”
Others kept defending the Seattle guy and coming after Kirk and his supporters. One person made sure to say that the puncher was the one at fault here. “As far as I can tell, we are all free to go about flipping each other off, however tasteless and provocative it may be. The guy who throws the punch is the one legally at fault, as he laid hands on someone violently. The fault is with the dude throwing hands,” they wrote. Another person believed that Kirk would have loved this attack as they said, “At least he died doing what he loved. Spreading hate and division.” There is one comment that I completely agree with which is when someone wrote, “I wish I could change the channel on reality so bad…” Seriously, though, it would have been great if there were an alternative and more peaceful reality.