Source: Expression
by Greg Lukianoff
“When news broke of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the reaction of thousands of young Americans online was one of delight. One TikTok user chuckled: ‘Live by the sword, die by the sword. He did say that gun deaths were an acceptable side effect of gun rights.’ On X, someone wrote: ‘He is a fascist. Spreads hate, racism, bigotry, misinformation, gets shot. Reap what you sow.’ In the minds of these gleeful posters, Kirk deserved to die because of his words — words that allegedly promoted policies resulting in hate, violence, and even death. They think this way because they have forgotten — or have been trained to unlearn — a crucial distinction: Words are not bullets.” (09/17/25)
https://expression.fire.org/p/bury-the-words-are-violence-cliche