Is the Charlie Kirk assassination a Gladio-type 'useful tragedy' ?." (9/15/25.)
American writer Thomas Karat noted that the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was used to suppress political opposition and legitimize authoritarian measures. Karat stated that the incident was immediately overthrown by leftists and the coordinated narrative in the media to the Gladio-type "false flag" operations during the Cold War period, and that it was turned into a weapon as a "useful tragedy". In the article, attention was drawn to abnormalities such as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's release of a condolence message just 20 minutes after the assassination.
American writer Thomas Karat, in his special article on his personal Substack blog page, noted that the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was used as a tool to suppress political opposition and advance an authoritarian agenda in the United States.
According to Karat's analysis, the killing of Kirk fits “a historic pattern of political violence based on extreme right or secret networks that is rapidly thrown on the left and used to legitimize repression against the opposition.”
The article stated that the first shock caused by the death of Kirk, who was killed by a long-rance sniper in the neck while giving a speech on a forum at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025, gave way to a more planned process within hours.
Karat stated that a wide range of events, from news channels to government agencies, are framed as the work of “radical leftist terrorists” and Kirk is blessed as a “fallen hero”.
The author emphasized that the unreliable speed and consistency of this narrative brings to mind the cases of "thriller strategy" in the Cold War era, when extremist violence was manipulated to produce consent for authoritarian measures.
“The assassination of Kirk, whether it is part of a single action or part of a conspiracy, is being turned into a weapon as a 'useful tragedy'. It prepares the ground for calls to silence the voices of opposition, tighten state surveillance and gather behind a regime under siege of a populist base," he said.
Netanyahu's early condolence message raised suspicion
One of the strangest developments that Karat drew attention to in his article was the reaction of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu immediately after the assassination.
Just 20 minutes after gunshots were heard in Utah and no US official had yet confirmed Kirk's condition, it was stated that Netanyahu published a carefully prepared condolence message for Kirk on the X (formerly Twitter) platform.
In his message, it was reported that Netanyahu praised Kirk as "a lion-hearted friend of Israel" and said, "I invited him to Israel... Unfortunately, this visit will not take place."
Emphasizing that this timing is “strangely early”, the article pointed out that no American news outlet, not even former President Donald Trump, has announced Kirk's death when Netanyahu's message came to the air.
Karat wrote that this situation raised the question of "whether it was out of excessive attention of an ally, or indicate privileged early access to information, even if he did not have prior knowledge". It was stated that many users on social media described this timing difference as "very strange".
The article included information that Kirk's relationship with Israel's interests was also "warm", and even drew the reaction of some wealthy pro-Israel donors after Jeffrey Epstein discussed the network's connections with Mossad weeks ago.
According to the report, Kirk turned down the invitation from Netanyahu to visit Israel and told his friends that he was "afraid of retaliation" if he criticized Israel's policies.
For this reason, Netanyahu's enthusiastic message of condolence describing Kirk as "an incoming in a generation" and an advocate of "common Jewish-Christian civilization" was considered politically motivated.
Media and politics found the criminal 'instantly'
Immediately after the assassination, Karat stated that the influential voices and broadcasters on the American right began to target "radical leftists" and everyone the MAGA (Great America Again) movement saw as an enemy.
Just a few hours after the incident, it was reported that Fox News published a column titled "Progressive Madness Killed Charlie Kirk" and that the liberals allegedly "dehumanized speech" that lasted for years caused this murder.
On the same night, President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House after the 2024 elections, told a television speech that he held the "radical left" responsible for Kirk's death and attributed the murder to left-wing critics who compared Kirk to the Nazis, saying, "This kind of discourse is directly responsible for what we see."
According to Karat, the speed and coordination of this message, from social media trolls to the President's desk, shows that “a pre-existing narrative scenario waiting for a trigger event” has come into play.
Bullets with writing on them
In the article, it was pointed out that the first evidence obtained from the crime scene was also used to strengthen this narrative. It was stated that the authorities found the sniper's .30-06 caliber sliding rifle abandoned in the forest area near the campus.
According to an internal security release leaked to The Wall Street Journal, slogans expressing "transsexual and anti-fascist ideology" were engraved on the ammunition in the rifle's magazine.
It was reported that this "explosive detail" was instantly adopted by the right-wing media and presented as proof that Kirk's killer was an extreme leftist extremist.
However, Karat wrote that the FBI "never mentioned bullet carvings" in public statements and that a senior law enforcement official told The New York Times that these articles were "not verified and may have been misinterpreted."
When these suspicions emerged, it was emphasized that the "transgender assassin" narrative in the media was already settled in the public consciousness.
Historical parallels: The ghost of Gladio
Thomas Karat devoted a significant part of his article to the parallels between the Kirk assassination and the famous "thriller strategy" in 20th century Europe.
During this period, it was recalled that a series of "false flag" terrorist attacks, often secretly organized by right-right far-wing networks with NATO or intelligence support, were deliberately thrown at leftist extremists to shift public opinion to the right and legitimize authoritarian measures.
In the article, Swiss historian Dr. Examples from Operation Gladio, which Daniele Ganser examined in his doctoral thesis, were given:
— Piazza Fontana, 1969 (Italy): The bomb that exploded in a bank in Milan killed 16 people. The incident was “immediately thrown on the Communists” and an anarchist suspect died mysteriously in custody. Years later, in the words of an intelligence general, it turned out that the bombing was actually carried out by neo-fascists working within Gladio and was “part of a US plan to prevent the Communists from coming to power.”
— Peteano bombing, 1972 (Italy): A trap bomb that killed three policemen was initially attributed to the Red Brigades. However, it was later stated that neo-fascist Vincenzo Vinciguerra admitted that he organized the attack to blame leftist groups with the help of Italian secret service agents.
— Bologna railway station massacre, 1980 (Italy): The government's first statement for the huge bombing that killed 85 people was again to blame the communists. However, it was later understood that this was an "anti-communist false flag" operation organized by neo-fascist militants.
— Turkey's “Counter-Guerrilla” operations, 1970s: The article stated that similar tactics were used in Turkey by the secret unit associated with Gladio and the Nationalist militia. It was reminded that the Maraş massacre in December 1978 was a "fake flag" operation initiated by fascist militias by bombing a cinema of their own and blaming it on socialists and the Alevi minority.
Karat wrote that these examples laid out a consistent plan such as “the extreme right or government officials carrying out dramatic acts of violence, blaming leftist 'extremists' in the public, the media fueling this narrative, and then the state taking harsh measures against the left while the public is in panic.”
The author raised a disturbing question such as "whether the Kirk assassination was designed by someone as a Gladio-style catalyst".
Digital Gladio and narrative war
In the article, it was pointed out how quickly and flawlessly the post-assassination of Kirk's narrative was shaped in the algorithm-oriented information environment.
"We are witnessing the merger of old-fashioned psychological operations with the next-generation social media virality; essentially a Gladio of the digital age, where Twitter bots and cable newsletters play the role of brochures distributed in the past and bribed newspapers," Karat said.
Minutes after the attack, it was stated that an influential network of accounts, some of which were suspected of being a bot, spread the same incriminatory rhetoric at the same time, resembling a propaganda playbook.
Referring to the Forbes report that operators linked to the Israeli government had previously used “hundreds of fake accounts that look like real Americans” to influence US public opinion.
'Martyrdom' narrative
According to Karat, the deliberate and planned declaration of "martyrdom" after Kirk's death serves as the emotional basis of a series of authoritarian and oppressive impulses.
This process, which began with President Trump declaring Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom,” turned into a campaign by right-wing media and politicians that raised Kirk to almost a saint.
The following examples of how this "martyrdom syndrome" was armed to silence opposition and legitimize oppression:
— Censorship on Technology Platforms: Kirk's death is used to pressure social media companies to ban leftist voices.
— Legal Pressure Against Opposition: Republican officials are preparing proposals to expand the definition of “internal terror” to include loosely organized left groups. It was reported that Trump's advisor Stephen Miller described the Democratic Party as an "internal extremist organization".
— Mobilization of the Republican Party Base: Kirk's death has become a powerful tool for mobilizing the Republican base, especially the most radical elements.
— Expansion of the Surveillance State: Assassination facilitates the adoption of mass surveillance and police powers, which had previously been controversial. It was stated that a new "Kirk Task Force" focusing on leftist extremism has been established within the FBI.
Karat wrote that this process was similar to the Nazis using the Reichstag Fire in 1933 as an excuse to crush communists and establish their dictatorship.
Cui bono or for whose benefit?
In the last part of the article, Karat analyzed the actors who benefited from this event by asking the question "cui bono" (for whose benefit). According to him, the winners are:
— Donald Trump and close circle: Kirk's death was a “political blessing” for Trump to consolidate his power and take the position of “wartime president” against his political rivals.
— Republican Party's harsh and far right: While moderate voices within the Party were silenced, the most radical ideas became mainstream.
— Internal security agencies: Institutions such as the FBI and DHS have seized an opportunity to expand their budgets and authorities.
— Zionist geopolitical actors: The Netanyahu government strengthened its ties with the Evangelicals and MAGA conservatives in the US and created a narrative against common enemies (radical leftists).
— Technology monopolies and artificial intelligence surveillance complex: The crisis paved the way for closer cooperation between technology platforms and government and the spread of new surveillance technologies.
Karat ended his article with this warning:
“This democracy is on the edge of a cliff. Charlie Kirk's name will either go down in history as a tragic footnote misused by demagogues, or remain as a final warning sign that we do not consider.”
The author stressed that Kirk's death was a striking example of how history's worst lessons could be repackaged for modern use, and that the real danger might be the authoritarian reaction that his action released, rather than an armed shooter.