Exploring the aftermath of political violence and its potential implications.
We’re more than a week out from the assassination of Charlie Kirk and all but the most die hard online leftists have come around to the fact that his shooter was on the left and seems to have been motivated by left-wing political concerns. Frankly, it’s not clear if the truth has penetrated to the party’s base. As of last weekend, many of them were still convinced the shooter was right-wing. Given the partisan bubble they live in, many of them may still believe that even now.
To say that reality isn’t going down well on the left is putting it mildly. It has been a tough 10 days for many of these folks, not just because of the assassination but the reaction to their celebratory responses to it as well. People are being expelled from schools and losing jobs. The most prominent example is Jimmy Kimmel who was pulled off the air this week. That prompted a small protest at an ABC affiliate in Sacramento:
On Thursday, about 15 people had joined the protest outside the ABC 10 offices after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show. “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was taken off-air, following pressure from the Trump administration after remarks Kimmel made related to the slaying of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last week in Utah.
The following day, Friday, someone fired three bullets through a window at the same station. This happened in the early afternoon while there were people working inside the building, but fortunately no one was hurt. A 64-year-old man named Anibal Hernandez-Santana was arrested and Variety dug into his background.
Hernandez-Santana is a former health policy analyst for the California Rural Indian Health Board. In 2019, he sued the non-profit group for discrimination and retaliation, alleging that he was terminated after being denied time off to care for his disabled son.
A LinkedIn account matching that name indicates he previously was a legislative director for the California Federation of Teachers, and is now retired and engaged in “full time parenting.”
An X account matching that profile contains a steady stream of anti-Trump commentary.
