Neighbor turned on neighbor after Charlie Kirk's killing.
asserted
Neighbor → turn → killing
Is the divide here to stay?
asserted
divide → stay → ?
Neighbor turned on neighbor after Charlie Kirk's killing.
asserted
Neighbor → turn → killing
Is the divide here to stay?
asserted
divide → stay → ?
A week into fall semester at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, the campus's grassy, terraced courtyard bakes under the heat of full late August sunlight.
asserted
courtyard → bake → sunlight
The sound of trickling water from a fountain that meanders through the space beckons students to stop, chat and unwind.
asserted
that → trickle → students
But Collin Grannis, who graduated over the summer, said the space hasn't had much activity since Charlie Kirk was assassinated there last year.
asserted
Kirk → graduate → activity
"It used to be very lively.
asserted
It → use → ?
I remember people taking naps on the grass, like right in that area," Grannis recalled.
asserted
Grannis → remember → area
"And it's been fully cleared out because people have that association with it."
asserted
people → clear → it
The quiet of the courtyard belies the violence that took place in it a year ago, and the deepened social rupture that followed.
asserted
that → belie → it
The hard-right activist was killed in front of an audience of thousands while he was debating a student with progressive political views.
asserted
he → kill → views
, Kirk was arguably the most influential conservative youth movement leader in a generation – and his death set off an unprecedented frenzy of intimidation, harassment and threats that seemingly reached into every corner of the country.
asserted
that → set → country
As the country has seen an accelerated erosion of political norms over the last decade, violence and personal attacks have become a persistent dynamic.
asserted
violence → see → decade
A wide array of civic actors - from elected officials and judges, to teachers and librarians – have found themselves at the receiving end of abuse and intimidation over political differences and culture war rifts.
asserted
array → elect → differences
Despite this, everyday Americans could largely avoid the mob's ire as long as they weren't singled out by high-profile social media accounts like LibsOfTikTok.
uncertain
they → avoid → LibsOfTikTok
But Kirk's death changed this, according to several security experts who help prevent and mitigate online abuse.
uncertain
who → change → abuse
"After Charlie [Kirk was assassinated].
asserted
Kirk → assassinate → ?
you didn't need to be [targeted by] one of the big [social media] accounts, obviously, for anyone to find you," said Shauna Dillavou, CEO of Brightlines, a doxing prevention service.
asserted
Dillavou → need → Brightlines
"Your neighbor found you or your friends found you.
asserted
friends → find → you
A comment in a closed group chat that would get screenshotted and passed up the chain.
asserted
that → screenshotte → chain
Doxing, the public release of someone's personal identifying information without their consent, is a tool that has been used by the political right and left.
asserted
that → identify → right
Dillavou said that in the U.S., its use has evolved and shifted – first largely seen within gaming subculture, then among violent extremist groups and actors, and later deployed by high-reach social media accounts.
asserted
use → say → accounts
Kirk's death, Dillavou and other experts said, removed the final guardrails – democratizing the practice of doxing at a speed and scale they never had imagined.
asserted
they → say → speed
"That creates terrible impacts for people," Dillavou said.
asserted
Dillavou → create → people
People have to move.
asserted
People → have → ?
They get death threats, and lawsuits.
asserted
They → get → threats
And … those impacts are lasting."
asserted
impacts → last → ?
Just hours after Kirk was gunned down, a website devoted to exposing "anyone celebrating Charlie's death" invited the public to submit leads.
asserted
website → gun → leads
Titled "Expose Charlie's Murderers," the website billed itself as "the largest firing operation in history," and suggested that individuals posting speech unsympathetic to Kirk or his death were "supporting political violence online."
uncertain
individuals → title → violence
According to Kat Green, founder of the doxing mitigation nonprofit Endora, it was one of several websites attempting to "out" Kirk detractors.
uncertain
it → accord → detractors
Together, Green says these sites listed names, pictures, employers, social media handles and other information about scores of people who likely never imagined that their social media posts would be dangled in front of an angry mob.
asserted
posts → say → mob
She said she and others in her line of work had never before been so busy.
asserted
she → say → work
"It's a limited pool of people who help with that right now, and everybody was slammed," said Green.
asserted
Green → help → that
"So we all started working together to see what we could learn about the sites and who was behind them."
uncertain
who → start → them
The phenomenon of using technology to corral negative attention to crowdsourced targets was not new.
asserted
phenomenon → use → targets
In fact, for many years Kirk's own organization, TPUSA, featured a "Professor Watchlist" that encouraged college students to report professors teaching "leftist propaganda."
asserted
that → feature → propaganda
But Green and others said this felt different because the call to participate came from the highest levels of leadership.
asserted
call → say → leadership
On the Monday after Kirk was killed, Vice President Vance sat in the host chair of Kirk's podcast and implored listeners to "get involved."
asserted
Vance → kill → listeners
"So when you see someone celebrating Charlie's murder, call them out – and, hell, call their employer," Vance said.
asserted
Vance → see → employer
…and 32 more, not listed.
