Conservatives Blame ‘South Park’ for Charlie Kirk Shooting

Last month, South Park parodied right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk in the Season 27 episode “Got a Nut.” Following a violent attack on the Turning Point USA founder earlier today, some Kirk’s followers are calling for Paramount to permanently pull the South Park episode from cable and streaming — along with the entire series.

At the time of writing, right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk is in the hospital after suffering a gunshot wound during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University. President Donald Trump has asked his followers to pray for Kirk, and many political figures and media members from both sides of the aisle have condemned what is being labeled an act of political violence. Utah Police have reportedly apprehended a suspect in the shooting, a yet-unidentified elderly white man whom many witnesses saw in handcuffs on the scene, and the story is still developing as more details emerge.

But mere seconds after news and videos of the shooting hit social media, hundreds of conservative users called for South Park and its creators to be held accountable for the crime, alleging that South Park's parody of Kirk, which Kirk himself publicly embraced both before and after “Got a Nut” first aired, must have motivated the attack.

Crucially, Kirk did not consider South Park's portrayal of him to be an attack, nor did he seem to believe that “Got a Nut” was putting a target on his back, as many of his supporters now claim. When South Park first released the teaser video for “Got a Nut,” Kirk changed his profile picture on Twitter to match the image of Eric Cartman styled with Kirk's haircut while debating college students. 

Then, after “Got a Nut” aired and made numerous off-color jokes at Kirk’s expense, Kirk praised the episode and the South Park writers responsible for the parody. During a live stream, Kirk complimented the show for doing its due diligence by repeating many of his pro-life talking points word-for-word during Cartman’s own debates.

Nevertheless, the microscope is now on South Park and its creators as the world wonders how the show will respond to the attempt on Kirk’s life.