A large part of me feels filthy comparing the two because Charlie Kirk doesn’t deserve for anyone to lump him into the same category as George Floyd. Even if we accept the central thesis of the Black Lives Matter movement — that George Floyd was murdered in a senseless act of police violence — the circumstances between the two were extraordinarily different, and no one should lose sight of why:
George Floyd was convicted of eight separate crimes between 1997 and 2005 alone. (It’s unclear how many times he was arrested.) In 2007, he was sentenced to four years in prison for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. On May 25, 2020 — the day he lost his life while police officer Derek Chauvin handcuffed him — he was in the process of being arrested (yet again) for ripping off a convenience store with counterfeit money.
Chauvin was found guilty of three murder and manslaughter charges on April 20, 2021. He was sentenced to over 22 years in prison.
In stark contrast, Charlie Kirk didn’t have a criminal record or a violent past. He dedicated himself to promoting his political beliefs and testifying about his faith in Christ, traveling throughout the U.S. heartland, having civil, peaceful discussions with Americans of every walk of life. Conservative or liberal, Christian or atheist, straight or gay, white or black, he was willing to speak with anyone and everyone.
On Sept. 10, 2025, an assassin ended Charlie Kirk’s life with a single bullet. Three unfired rounds were engraved with the words: “Hey fascist! Catch!”
So, no — the two were not the same — and shame on anyone who suggests otherwise.
Instead, I’m focusing exclusively on the reactions between the left and the right. This is a story about the followers, not the protagonists.
And it’s revealing an awful lot about both sides.
Remember, both sides believed that “one of their own” was murdered by “the other.” Both men died in broad daylight, in the age of social media, with the cameras of bystanders recording every last gruesome detail.
On the left, George Floyd was “honored” with protests and/or riots in over 2,000 U.S. cities and over 60 countries. Sadly, not all of them were peaceful.
In some cities, groups ransacked businesses, set buildings ablaze. Flames tore through a police precinct in Minneapolis. Flames enveloped police squad cars. Flames raced through the basement of a 200-year-old church.
It was the most expensive violent protest in U.S. history, Axios reported:
The vandalism and looting following the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police will cost the insurance industry more than any other violent demonstrations in recent history, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The protests that took place in 140 U.S. cities this spring were mostly peaceful, but the arson, vandalism and looting that did occur will result in at least $1 billion to $2 billion of paid insurance claims — eclipsing the record set in Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of the police officers who brutalized Rodney King.
If you recall, this was when the phrase “mostly peaceful” — which Axios and other outlets used — entered our public discourse. A think tank called ACLED claimed the following:
The vast majority of demonstration events associated with the BLM movement are non-violent. In more than 93% of all demonstrations connected to the movement, demonstrators have not engaged in violence or destructive activity. Peaceful protests are reported in over 2,400 distinct locations around the country. Violent demonstrations,7meanwhile, have been limited to fewer than 220 locations — under 10% of the areas that experienced peaceful protests.
“Mostly peaceful” is a very curious standard. Charlie Kirk was murdered, after all, in a “mostly peaceful” event, where just one person fired a weapon.
Of course, if 93% of the protests were peaceful, that means that hundreds upon hundreds were not. By their own numbers, there were approximately 220 violent riots!
When ACLED broke down the stats more comprehensively, the number of violent protests jumped to about 570:
While the US has long been home to a vibrant protest environment, demonstrations surged to new levels in 2020. Between 24 May and 22 August, ACLED records more than 10,600 demonstration events across the country. Over 10,100 of these — or nearly 95% — involve peaceful protesters. Fewer than 570 — or approximately 5% — involve demonstrators engaging in violence.
The BLM riots weren’t just the most expensive in U.S. history; they also got a whole lot of people killed. In the first 14 days, 19 people died. Wikipedia placed the final death toll at 36.
So let’s recap: After George Floyd was “martyred,” the radical left and the mainstream media cheerleaded a national BLM uprising that directly led to hundreds upon hundreds of violent riots, dozens of dead Americans, and the costliest, most destructive acts of mayhem and anarchy in U.S. history.
Furthermore, liberal politicians didn’t call for law and order or peace and civility. There were no demands to “lower the rhetoric” whatsoever!
Instead, they doubled down and explicitly blamed the police:
Calls for defunding police departments nationwide have increased in volume this week, and Cory Booker, the Democratic senator and former presidential candidate, told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that “we are over-policed as a society”.
Investing in police, he said, “is not solving problems, but making them worse”.
Others urged the “unrest” to continue:
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus since 2018, declared in August 2020: “You know, there needs to be unrest in the streets for as long as there’s unrest in our lives.”
Meanwhile, since Charlie Kirk’s tragic murder, conservatives haven’t been rioting in the streets. Not a single person has been killed in retaliation. No businesses were ransacked; no property was destroyed.
Yet somehow, the media is STILL blaming President Donald Trump:
The Atlantic: Trump’s Dangerous Response to the Kirk Assassination
Al Jazeera: Charlie Kirk and the danger of selective empathy
CNN: Trump ramps up rhetoric against ‘radical left’ in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing
Bloomberg: Charlie Kirk’s Killing Requires Trump to Soothe, Not Inflame
Dan Pfeiffer (Pod Save America): Donald Trump Pours Gas on a Dangerous Fire
The Guardian: Charlie Kirk’s death raises fears of ‘beginning of a darker chapter’ for US violence
USA Today: Charlie Kirk shooting suspect doesn’t fit MAGA’s reckless political narrative
Yahoo News: Gov. Josh Shapiro Puts Trump on Blast for ‘Dangerous’ Response to Charlie Kirk’s Killing
The Daily Beast: Trump’s Niece Blames the President for Charlie Kirk’s Murder
Mother Jones: Stephen Miller Pours Fuel on the Fire, Again
The Fulcrum: Donald Trump and the Rise of Political Violence
LGBTQ Nation: Charlie Kirk died in a red state on Trump’s watch. He needs to tone down his violent rhetoric.
Imagine that: The left keeps blaming Trump for inciting a “dangerous” conservative reaction after Charlie Kirk’s death, when there still hasn’t been ANY violence at all!
Instead, conservatives went to church and prayed. And then they implored others to pray, too:
This Sunday, we want to encourage you to go to church and save a seat for Charlie.
— TPUSA Faith (@tpusafaith) September 14, 2025
Charlie Kirk loved the local church. He believed that one of the greatest ways we can honor God, and honor his legacy, is by showing up, worshiping Jesus, and standing with a Bible-believing… pic.twitter.com/WgIiwWRCxK
It’s an astonishing contrast: One side rioted, killed dozens of people, and torched, looted, and destroyed their cities.
The other side went to church and prayed to God.
Conservatives and liberals? The two are not the same.
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