A nation divided, unified by hate
By NEVAEH KARRAKER — nakarraker@ucdavis.edu
Political violence is taking hold of our nation.
On June 14, 2025, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman was assassinated in her own home, along with her husband Mark and their golden retriever Gilbert. Three months later, on Sept. 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was assassinated during a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) debate at Utah Valley University.
Kirk, the founding activist of TPUSA, is known for boldly debating confrontational topics rooted in Christian and conservative ideals. His death sparked both celebration and deep grief, highlighting a stark divide across the nation.
The question of whether or not he deserved it is at the center of a common quarrel, yet that exact train of thought is what keeps our nation so divided. When we become too focused on who’s more right — the “us or them” mindset, Democrat or Republican — we end up forgoing the life of another human being and even cheering for their demise.
This is exactly what our system craves.
By “the system,” I mean the government principles and political agenda subtly instituted within our country. It is independent of political parties, yet takes advantage of their polarization to play them as pawns in its diplomatic game.
This isn’t about Liberals vs. Conservatives, Black vs. white or rich vs. poor: this is the system against the people. It thrives on division. By deliberately tearing the nation in half, it clears the path for brutality, racism and violence. Being ignorant of this division keeps us conquered — it keeps us manipulated, and it keeps us controlled.
That is the agenda of the system: control.
The people in power manage the system and will use this current dispute to its advantage to further separate the chasm. Because the larger the gap between us, the more we fight each other instead of working collectively to dismantle their illusions of power and order.
By no means am I suggesting that we disregard the horrific tragedies that constantly occur in the United States or foreign countries, such as the Evergreen High School shooting that occurred the same day as Kirk’s assassination or the murder of Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska. But, if we become preoccupied by whether one man deserved death or not, we miss the larger point altogether.
It’s no coincidence that in the past year, Donald Trump, Kirk and even Brian Thompson were shot by young, educated males — Thomas Crooks, Tyler Robinson and Luigi Mangoine, respectively. For Kirk, several reported shooters, as well as accusations of AI-generated images of Tyler Robinson and false identification of his father’s occupation as a sheriff, thicken the complex web. Furthermore, a witness was ignored after claiming the shooter was located close to Charlie’s tent rather than a distant roof across the campus.
Whether Robinson is the actual culprit or not is beside the point. Something isn’t adding up, and something is being swept under the rug — but the specifics are unknown. If Kirk was assassinated in broad daylight, what else is going on behind the scenes? What else is currently being staged, and who else is blackmailed? All of this indicates some clearly dark things about the future.
This isn’t about Kirk or any other victims claimed by the system. This is about you — the people of America. Our Constitutional rights and our freedom of speech are endangered: an opposing opinion is now a justification for violence.
We can clearly see that youth are the primary targets time and time again — they are the system’s unfortunate scapegoats. And, either the education system has failed students — teaching that hostility is an appropriate default response — or the covert plays of our government are much deeper than we know.
By confusing the masses and flooding the media with fragments of the truth, officials delay the real story until everyone forgets. It’s a classic ploy to divert attention away from the mistakes of those in power.
Yet now, more than ever, the people cannot forget; We cannot forget.
The only thing that unifies this country is hatred. It’s time we changed that.
Written by: Nevaeh Karraker—nakarraker@ucdavis.edu
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions held by The California Aggie.
