Following the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025, a wave of grief and outrage swept through conservative circles, and rightly so. Kirk, a tireless voice for young conservatives, was gunned down while speaking in Utah, a stark reminder that political discourse has veered dangerously close to the edge. What followed was predictable: a chorus of Leftist commentators either pinning the blame squarely on the Right for "inciting" violence or issuing mealy-mouthed pleas for both sides to "tone it down." This selective amnesia ignores a troubling pattern of aggression from the far Left, one that's left conservatives feeling not just defensive, but existentially threatened. Yet, amid the valid concerns, there's room for a moderate path forward: one that demands accountability without descending into despair or division.

As a conservative who's long advocated for principled governance over performative outrage, I see these incidents not as harbingers of inevitable doom, but as urgent wake-up calls. The recent guillotine stunt by Antifa in Portland and the resurfaced death-wish texts from Virginia AG candidate Jay Jones aren't isolated fever dreams; they're symptoms of a deeper malaise where radical rhetoric normalises violence.

The Guillotine as Theatre of Terror: Portland's Ongoing Siege

Picture this: It's early September 2025, day 86 of a relentless anti-ICE occupation in Portland, Oregon. Amid shields, protective gear, and chants of defiance, a group of Antifa activists wheels out a full-scale guillotine prop right outside a federal immigration facility. They don't just display it, they cheer, "We got the guillotine!" as if the symbolism isn't chilling enough. This wasn't some spontaneous prank; it was a deliberate escalation in a summer-long campaign of arson, vehicle rammings, and gunfire at detention centres.

For conservatives, the guillotine isn't abstract history, it's a visceral echo of revolutionary fervour turned tyrannical. Born in the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, where it claimed thousands of lives in the name of "equality," the device now serves as a blunt threat: Submit, or face the blade. Bringing it to a modern protest against border enforcement? That's not advocacy; that's intimidation, designed to cow ICE agents, local law enforcement, and anyone defending rule-of-law immigration policies.

And it's not hyperbole to say this mindset terrifies. Portland's ICE facility has been under near-constant assault since the Trump administration ramped up deportations, with federal officers reporting doxing, Molotov cocktails, and coordinated attacks. President Trump's decision to deploy troops there underscores the crisis, but it also highlights a failure of local leadership to rein in the chaos. Conservatives aren't wrong to feel besieged, when symbols of beheading become protest props, it erodes the shared civility that holds democracy together.

From Texts to Threats: The Jay Jones Scandal and the Poison of Personal Vendettas

If Portland's spectacle is street-level extremism, the Jay Jones affair reveals how deeply this toxicity has seeped into elite politics. Jones, the Democratic nominee for Virginia Attorney General, was caught in 2022 texts fantasising about executing Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert: "Gilbert gets two bullets to the head," he wrote, comparing him to Hitler and Pol Pot. It gets worse, in a follow-up call, Jones doubled down, arguing that "only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy," even musing that Gilbert's wife should watch their child die from gun violence to shift his views on the issue. When pressed, he didn't backpedal; he escalated, labelling Gilbert's family as "breeding little fascists."

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/08/jones-fallout-00596731

This isn't locker-room talk; it's a candidate for the state's top law enforcement role openly endorsing vigilante justice against political rivals and innocents. For conservatives in Virginia, and beyond, it's a gut punch. Here's a man who could wield prosecutorial power, yet he trafficked in murder fantasies. The fact that the scandal resurfaced just weeks before the November election, with minimal national media scrutiny (NBC clocked in at a paltry 63 seconds), only amplifies the sense of a double standard.

What's remarkable, and deeply concerning, is the muted response from Democratic leaders. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine issued tepid condemnations, but stopped short of demanding Jones withdraw. Gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger, whose own campaign manager celebrated Kirk's death, called the texts "inexcusable," but hasn't cut ties. Even as polls show Jones's support cratering in the wake of the leak, the party's reluctance to disavow speaks volumes: When does "both sides" rhetoric give way to real accountability?

A Moderate Reckoning: Beyond Blame, Toward Renewal

These stories, Portland's blade-wielding radicals and Jones's venomous missives, aren't fringe anomalies; they're threads in a tapestry of Left-wing violence that's overshadowed the past five years. From the 2020 BLM/Antifa riots that torched cities and claimed lives, to the two assassination attempts on Donald Trump, the imbalance is stark. Conservatives have our own hotheads, to be sure, but the data on political violence tilts heavily Leftward in recent memory. That said, fixating on "who's worse" only entrenches the trenches. The real crisis is how such acts poison the well of trust, making compromise feel like capitulation.

As moderates in the conservative movement, we must reject the siren's call of escalation. No "national divorces" or doomsday prophecies; those play into the hands of the extremists who thrive on rupture. Instead, let's lean into what works:

Enforce the Law Evenly: Federal intervention in Portland is a start, but pair it with bipartisan reforms to protect free speech while prosecuting threats. No more sanctuary cities for rioters, hold leaders like Portland's mayor accountable for enabling chaos.

Demand Ethical Standards in Politics: Virginia voters have a chance next month to reject Jones, sending a message that bloodlust has no place in public service. National party chairs should follow suit, expelling candidates who cross into incitement.

Foster Dialogue, Not Demonisation: Conservatives can lead by example, host town halls on immigration that invite civil debate, not just echo chambers. Civic education in schools, emphasising America's founding principles, could inoculate the next generation against revolutionary fever.

Amplify Moderate Voices: Shout out figures like Joe Scarborough, who bucked the script to call for Jones's resignation. More of that: Cross-aisle condemnations build bridges, while media blackouts widen chasms.

The assassination of Charlie Kirk wasn't just a loss for the Right; it was a fracture in the American soul. But fractures can heal if we choose sutures over shrapnel. Conservatives, let's honour Kirk not with vengeance, but with vigilance, defending our values through ballots, courts, and conversation. The Left's radicals may chant for guillotines and whisper of bullets, but we hold the line with something stronger: the enduring idea of a united, just republic.