Statement of Atlas Society CEO on Charlie Kirk’s Assassination

Today an evil assassin robbed America and the world of a visionary founder, a fearless patriot, and the most articulate voice of his generation. In murdering Charlie Kirk, the killer also robbed a wife of her husband, and two children of their father -- and robbed the powerhouse organization Charlie built in Turning Point of its guiding light.

As a member of their Advisory Council, I was proud to see them grow from a couple hundred students to crowds of several thousand students. As anyone who works in the liberty space knows, the task of organizing high school and college students is the most challenging, and yet under Charlie’s leadership Turning Point has managed to successfully execute on this challenge at exponential scale.

As an Objectivist organization, The Atlas Society certainly diverged from the more populist conservatism embraced by Turning Point, and yet we remained partners over the years on projects like our campus Atlas Shrugged Trilogy screenings or co-hosting a Young Latinos Leadership Conference at Freedom Fest. Charlie described himself as a “huge fan of Ayn Rand,” and shared our mission of introducing young people to the literature and philosophy that promotes the moral foundations of the free market.

Today’s horrific events remind us, in the words of Ayn Rand, "When men abandon reason, physical force becomes their only means of dealing with one another and of settling disagreements." Let us recommit to the work of advocating on behalf of reason, individualism and liberty and let us no longer tolerate evil, hatred and violence in our midst.

-- Jennifer A. Grossman