By Steven Symes 
The assassination of Charlie Kirk yesterday has left me as an automotive journalist shaken, upset, and reflecting on my own public actions. After all, as a member of the media, I have received a fair number of threats on my life, career, and personal freedom. I’ve also been called many words I can’t publish.
Some might argue I’m not like Charlie and they’re right, but also they’re wrong.
While I don’t cover all the same topics as Charlie Kirk, and I’m not addressing big crowds out in public, I am saying things certain people want to silence forever. That can’t be tolerated by everyone else. Using violence to silence opinions a small group finds offensive is morally wrong. In that way, anyone who dares dissent from the current authoritarian push in the West isl Charlie Kirk.
While I didn’t agree with everything the man said (there’s nobody I agree with on everything) I supported his right to say what he thought, especially if it offended some people. That right is enshrined in the Constitution and was enumerated first, showing how important the Founders believed it was. I, too, believe the right to speak one’s mind is God-given.
I exercise that right every day. And I’ve angered quite a few people by saying what I believe to be true. Sure, I’m “just” an automotive journalist, but with the EV mandates, robotaxis, attacks on Teslas, street takeovers, car theft epidemic, and push to control where people can go and when, just to name a few of the hot button issues, what I touch on can be controversial.
I used to blow off the death threats as just people not knowing how to express their disagreement in constructive ways. But Charlie Kirk being shot in front of thousands has changed everything.
I’m not the only one who sees it this way. Jeremy Clarkson got on X yesterday to say, “For the first time in my life, I’m genuinely frightened about being a newspaper columnist.”
For the first time in my life, I’m genuinely frightened about being a newspaper columnist.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) September 10, 2025
It seems there’s a section of society, one I would like to think that’s small, that feels if you say something they find offensive, they get to inflict physical harm on you, if not compel the state to do so and/or remove various freedoms.
Then there are those who cheer such activities on, the cowards who stand behind the totalitarians and drink in the chaos.
I’m not cut of the same cloth. I cannot stay silent and stand idly by while things I don’t believe are right unfold.
Image via charliekirk11/X