Utah Governor Spencer Cox on Friday blamed social media, which he called a “cancer,” for the climate of political violence in the United States that he said led to the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
At a press conference to announce the arrest of Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, Cox said he believes “strongly” that Wednesday’s episode at Utah Valley University “is a turning point in American history” and questioned whether it is the “end of a dark chapter” or the “beginning of an even darker one.”
Cox: Social networks are a social cancer
Cox said that what happened reminds him of the 1960s, an era marked by the assassinations of political figures such as John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
He stressed that in recent days, in addition to the images of the murder of Charlie Kirk, videos of the murder of a Ukrainian refugee woman in Charlotte (North Carolina) on a train have been circulating on social networks.
“This is not good for us. It’s not good to consume social media; it’s a cancer on our society right now,” said the Republican governor.
“I encourage people to unplug, turn off the light, stop spending time online, get out and do good in your community,” he added.
Calls for unity after arrest of murderer
Cox encouraged Americans to make efforts to understand one another. “It’s a choice, and each of us can make it,” he concluded.
At that press conference, the arrest of Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer, a 22-year-old male identified as Tyler Robinson, was announced.
A family member turned him in to authorities after he admitted to the crime committed last Wednesday.
State and federal authorities are expected to formally charge Robinson with aggravated murder, a crime punishable by the death penalty, EFE reported.
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