Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has said he’s scared to be a newspaper columnist after right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed in Utah yesterday
Jeremy Clarkson has said he is “genuinely frightened” to be a newspaper columnist after right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed in Utah yesterday (10 September).
While speaking to a group of students in Utah about his far right politics, Kirk was shot. After his death was confirmed, Clarkson wrote on X: “For the first time in my life, I’m genuinely frightened about being a newspaper columnist.”
Clarkson, who writes regularly for The Sunday Times News Review, was told by one user that he should stick to writing about cars. He responded by suggesting that too could be a risk.
“But what if someone disagrees with my view that, say, the new M5 is a bit dull. Everyone is so angry all the time these days,” he said.
Many users also highlighted that Clarkson is not innocent of using violent imagery in his writing and interviews. In fact, Clarkson himself has expressed regret for using violent language and has previously apologised for some incidents, including one in 2011 when he said he would have public sector workers on strike executed “in front of their families”.
Clarkson is not the only British broadcaster to speak about Kirk’s death. Piers Morgan said the attack was an “appalling assault on free speech and democracy” and that it was “disgusting and heartbreaking”.
Kirk made a name for himself by travelling to different universities in the United States to talk about right-wing politics and Prove Me Wrong events where he would debate students. A close ally of Donald Trump, Kirk’s politics centred on topics such as a pro-life attitude to women’s reproductive health, anti-trans rhetoric and the right of American citizens to carry guns freely.
A few months ago, he said: “It’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment.” Trump announced Kirk’s death on Truth Social and said he was “loved and admired by all”.
The shooting is currently being treated as an assassination, though the shooter and their motivations are as of yet unknown.
This event has followed several other incidents of political violence in the US. In June, a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband were assassinated in Minnesota and there have been two attempted assassinations targeting Trump in 2024.
Source: Mirror
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