MILWAUKEE, Wis. — College students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are expressing shock and concern following the killing of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, emphasizing that political disagreements should never lead to violence.
Kirk dedicated his career to engaging young people in political discussions on college campuses across the country.
"It's just very sad that people can't voice their opinions without something like this happening," student Carter Kraangk said.
Kirk's death has sparked outrage across the political spectrum, but students said their response transcends partisan lines.
Watch: UWM students condemn Charlie Kirk killing, call for peaceful political debate
"Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean you can shoot them or do bad things to them," student Audrey Stern said.
UWM Student, Kendra Johnson, echoed that sentiment, saying she may not have agreed with Kirk's views, but that was no reason to take his life.
"Regardless of someone's political views or whatever, that's no reason to lose their life," Johnson said.
The incident has raised concerns among students about safety during political discussions on campus.
"It worries me that, like, if there's any sort of political debate even around here, I wonder if people are gonna be able to handle themselves," Kraangk added.
Fayth Gutierrez, another student we talked to on Thursday, said the killing demonstrates that violence can happen anywhere.
"This could happen to us one day, like, it's not just in certain areas. It doesn't matter where you are, it's kinda scary to think about," Gutierrez explained.
Students also expressed concern about the normalization of violence, particularly after a video of Kirk's death circulated on social media.
"I think it's sad being a college student and that being so normalized to just have someone get shot," Stern said.
Johnson called the boldness of the act disturbing.
"That is crazy, like people are getting so bold now, I don't understand it, I really don't, it's sad. It's really sad," Johnson said.
Despite their different political viewpoints, students agreed that violence is never an acceptable response to disagreement.
"Just because you don't see eye to eye with somebody like that person doesn't have to die, like that's it," Gutierrez said.
This story was reported on-air by Jenna Rae and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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