After announcing the arrest of the suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) on Friday called social media a “cancer on our society right now” because of the violent imagery it often contains.
The comments come after the governor, in a news conference Friday morning, announced that 22-year-old Tyler Robinson is in custody as the suspected gunman in the shooting.
Cox apparently was referencing the graphic assassination footage that went viral minutes after the conservative campus organizer was murdered as well as the recent images that proliferated in social media of the fatal stabbing of Ukranian refugee Iryna Zarutska in North Carolina.
“We are not wired as human beings — biologically, historically — we have not evolved in a way that we are capable of processing those types of violent imagery,” the governor said. “And by the way, we’ve seen another one with a gruesome stabbing very recently that went viral. This is not good for us. It is not good to consume.”
“Social media is a cancer on our society right now,” he added. “I would encourage people to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community.”
Earlier in the conference, Cox referenced similar remarks about social media made by Kirk himself.
“When things are moving very fast and people are losing their minds, it’s important to stay grounded. Turn off your phone, read scripture, spend time with friends, and remember internet fury is not real life. It’s going to be ok,” Kirk wrote.
Cox said the last time Americans saw such graphic assassination imagery was the killing of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 as he and the first lady rode in an open car through the streets of Dallas.
However, the American public did not see the graphic assassination film shot by Dallas clothier Abraham Zapruder until 1975, though some of its still images were published in Life Magazine, which had bought the 8mm film, shortly after the JFK assassination.
Such powerful images evoke strong emotions and could lead to more hate and violence, the Utah governor implied.
“This is our moment,” the governor said. “Do we escalate? Or do we find an off ramp? It’s a choice. And every one of us gets to make that choice.”
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
