by: Bella Ciao

A young man is in custody for an assassination and a hurricane of speculation, conspiracy theories, false flag accusations, and propaganda spinners on both sides are hard at work. The right pushing for a pretext for crackdowns that were already happening, and the left put on the defensive as usual, trying desperately to disavow the assassin in a terrified attempt to keep the noose from slipping higher on its neck. Now have I just described the recent Charlie Kirk assassination at the (alleged) hands of Tyler Robinson, or the assassination of two Israeli diplomats by Elias Rodriguez? Trick question. I’m actually describing a secret third option, the assassination of President William McKinley by the anarchist Leon Czolgosz. And the acts of the Weather Underground. And the Irish Republican Army and the Angry Brigade and the Earth Liberation Front and many others. Meanwhile, Ken Klippenstein’s recent leaks of Tyler Robinson’s discord reveal that most of the speculation on both sides of the public sphere has been false. Robinson is not a trans radical leftist terrorist (a designation which means nothing these days). Nor is he a niche far right Groyper, but a secret third option none of the talking heads or terminally online attention seekers ever considered: a gamer. Robinson just enjoys playing video games, camping, shooting guns, and dating his trans girlfriend. Are we so cowardly that we can only support people when it’s popular and safe to do so? I implore you dear reader, and all of us, to do better. To be courageous, to stand by our convictions when it stops being easy, and to stop publicly posting every detail of our lives to feed to Palantir. Some things are best saved for real life.