OUR PICKS LAST WEEKCharlie Kirk Assassination Raises Fear of Surging Political Violence | We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself | The ICE Raid at Hyundai Was a Massive Own Goal | The New Math of Quantum Cryptography, and more
EXTREMISM
· What If This Is a Turning Point?
· Trump Escalates Attacks on Political Opponents After Charlie Kirk’s Killing
· Leading Democrats Are Condemning Charlie Kirks Murder
· Extremist Groups Hated Charlie Kirk. They’re Using His Death to Radicalize Others
· Right-Wing Activists Are Targeting People for Allegedly Celebrating Charlie Kirk’s Death
· Charlie Kirk Assassination Raises Fear of Surging Political Violence
· The Tragedy of Charlie Kirk’s Killing
· America Enters a New Age of Political Violence
· “War Is Here”: The Far-Right Responds to Charlie Kirk Shooting with Calls for Violence
· Charlie Kirk, Charismatic Right-Wing Activist, Fatally Shot in Utah
· The Horrifying Assassination of Charlie Kirk
· Man Accused of Printing 236-page Screed on Killing a Federal Judge
· Beyond Hawala: Emerging Online Financing Trends Among South Asian Violent Extremist Groups in 2025
· Can Gaming Support Disengagement? Exploring Opportunities and Challenges for Innovative Disengagement Approaches
THE LONG VIEW
· We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself
· Something Is Very Wrong Online
· How the United States Is Undoing the Post-9/11 Security Architecture That Has Kept It Safe
· Perpetual War and International Law: Enduring Legacies of the War on Terror
· Federal Funding Cuts Threaten US Biosafety
DEMOCRACY WATCH
· Brazil Just Succeeded Where America Failed
· Pentagon Plan Envisions 1,000 Troops for Louisiana Policing Mission
· FBI Director Draws Criticism from the Right Over Handling of Kirk Shooting
· The Sinister Brilliance of Donald Trump’s Security Theatre
· National Guard Documents Show Public “Fear,” Veterans’ “Shame” Over D.C. Presence
· White House Exerts Enormous Influence Over F.B.I., Lawsuit Says
· FBI Leaders Allege in Lawsuit They Were Unlawfully Fired Over Political Loyalty
· America’s Perón
MORE PICKS
· The ICE Raid at Hyundai Was a Massive Own Goal
· Trump’s Hyundai Raid Drains U.S. Battery Brains
· Federal Judge Curbs DHS Force Against Journalists in L.A.
· US Investment in Spyware Is Skyrocketing
· When the Vibes Are Off: The Security Risks of AI-Generated Code
· You Might Have Already Fallen for MAHA’s Conspiracy Theories
· Boat Suspected of Smuggling Drugs Is Said to Have Turned Before U.S. Attacked It
· The New Math of Quantum Cryptography
· The Deeper Crime Problem that the National Guard Can’t Solve
· The US Government Has No Idea How Many Cybersecurity Pros It Employs
EXTREMISM
What If This Is a Turning Point? (Elaine Godfrey and Russell Berman, The Atlantic)
Charlie Kirk’s closest allies will help determine whether the next few weeks bring confrontation, de-escalation, or something in between.
Trump Escalates Attacks on Political Opponents After Charlie Kirk’s Killing (Tyler Pager and Nick Corasaniti, New York Times)
President Trump has promised to bring the killer to justice while using the moment to blame the left —and only the left —more broadly.
Leading Democrats Are Condemning Charlie Kirks Murder (Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic)
Why is the online right having such a hard time recognizing that?
Extremist Groups Hated Charlie Kirk. They’re Using His Death to Radicalize Others (David Gilbert, Wired)
The Oath Keepers are apparently restarting, and extremist groups like the Proud Boys are calling for “state violence” in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death.
Right-Wing Activists Are Targeting People for Allegedly Celebrating Charlie Kirk’s Death (David Gilbert, Wired)
Extremists and an anonymously run website are posting identifying details about people accused of celebrating Charlie Kirk’s murder online. Some of those targeted are now getting death threats.
Charlie Kirk Assassination Raises Fear of Surging Political Violence (Richard FaussetKen Bensinger and Alan Feuer, New York Times)
Initial expressions of grief and shock were overtaken by open calls for reckoning and vengeance, as some proclaimed the country was on the brink of civil war.
“We’re basically a tinderbox of a country,” said Robert Pape, a political science professor at the University of Chicago who has been conducting regular polls to measure attitudes toward political violence since supporters of President Trump attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “We are seeing more radicalized politics and more support for violence than at any point since we’ve been doing these studies in the past four years.”
Ruth Braunstein, an associate professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University who studies political violence and polarization, said she was concerned that the slaying of someone she described as a “pivotal figure” on the American right could mobilize groups that have been waiting for just such a catalyst.
“The right, she said, “has well-organized and trained groups, including militia organizations, that are basically waiting for a moment to be called into action in defense of what they view as the nation.” (Cont.)
