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The attacks of 9/11, perpetrated 24 years ago today, inspired Americans to defeat Osama Bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorists in part by refusing to be terrified. Let’s hope that this week’s assassination of campus speaker Charlie Kirk inspires college presidents to rise to the occasion with a stouthearted refusal to tolerate assaults on free speech. The ability to advocate ideas, to question and to argue is the foundation of the American experiment and the sine qua non of a healthy society. There can be no innovation or improvement without the ability to propose alternatives, to challenge incumbent notions. Ideally, universities across the country would host vigorous debates on Kirk’s ideas, with both his fans and his critics peacefully but
energetically debating the issues he urged young people to consider. We will learn more about the murder of Charlie Kirk in the days to come, but initial reporting suggests that the shooter’s goal was to silence Kirk’s speech. Sadie Gurman and James Fanelli report for the Journal: Investigators found ammunition engraved with expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology inside the rifle that authorities believe was used in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, according to an internal law-enforcement
bulletin and a person familiar with the investigation. The older-model .30 caliber hunting rifle was discovered in the woods near the scene of Wednesday’s shooting at Utah Valley University, wrapped in a towel with a spent cartridge still in the chamber, the sources said. There were also three unspent rounds in the magazine, all with wording on them. Justice Department officials cautioned that the investigation was still in its preliminary stages, and that investigators were still examining the ammunition. The Journal’s Meridith McGraw reported on Wednesday:
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