Since Charlie Kirk’s death, political violence has come under the microscope. It’s not looking good.
Because the FBI is scrambling after a terror group started recruiting on college campuses.
Disturbing Flyers Surface at Georgetown
The tragic assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on September 10 has cast a long shadow, and now Georgetown University is grappling with its aftermath. Flyers from the far-left John Brown Gun Club appeared on campus, chillingly echoing the words allegedly tied to Kirk’s killer, Tyler Robinson: “Hey fascist! Catch!” These red posters, spotted on the school’s activity board, didn’t mince words, boasting, “The only political group that celebrates when N-zis die.”
A QR code linked to a recruitment page urging readers to ditch “ceremonial resistance” for “real change.” Andrew Kolvet, a Turning Point USA spokesman, and Shae McInnis, a sophomore and treasurer of Georgetown’s College Republicans, called out the flyers as a brazen nod to violence. “I read this immediately as a threat, not just to me but to everyone on campus,” McInnis told Fox News Digital, her voice heavy with concern for conservatives who dare to speak up.
A Student’s Fear Amid Rising Tensions
McInnis, a young conservative navigating a campus often dominated by progressive ideals, felt the weight of those words. “Every conservative, everyone who just does not subscribe to the prevailing leftist orthodoxy—this is a direct threat against them,” she said. She noted a shift since the election, but Kirk’s death marked a turning point. “While much of the school was united in condemning this horrible act of political violence, there have been fringe elements on the left on social media that we have seen really defend this, justify this, and that is really unacceptable,” she shared.
For McInnis, universities should be arenas for clashing ideas, not threats. “We’re totally comfortable with the fact that many people disagree with us, and that’s what a university is supposed to do,” she said. “But it’s not until I saw this poster early this morning that I ever felt directly threatened. I mean, this poster is directly calling for the death of conservatives on this campus.”
The John Brown Gun Club’s Troubling History
The John Brown Gun Club, named for the 19th-century abolitionist who led the bloody Pottawatomie Massacre and a failed raid on Harpers Ferry, has a modern legacy no less confrontational. Labeled a “far-left group” by the Center for Counter Extremism, its members often appear armed at protests, claiming to protect left-wing activists but repeatedly linked to violence.
In 2019, member Willem van Spronsen died attacking an ICE facility with Molotov cocktails. More recently, on July 4, a dozen assailants, including alleged club member Benjamin Song, ambushed the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas, firing 20-30 rounds from an AR-15, graffitiing “ICE Pig” on vehicles, and wounding an officer. Eleven face federal charges, including attempted murder.
Song himself was named in a 2023 lawsuit for pepper-spraying conservatives at a Fort Worth event. These aren’t abstract threats—they’re a pattern of aggression now seeping onto college campuses.
A Texas Attack Amplifies Concerns
The Texas incident reveals the group’s tactics: lure agents with fireworks and slogans, then strike from a distance. The U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas detailed how suspects shot from a tree line, aiming to harm unarmed ICE agents. This calculated violence, tied to the same group now recruiting at Georgetown, raises alarms about their growing audacity.
The club’s chapters span the country, and their rhetoric—rooted in Brown’s radical legacy of executing pro-slavery settlers and sparking a doomed uprising—frames their actions as righteous rebellion. Yet, as the Harpers Ferry raid showed, with innocents like freed Black man Heyward Shepherd caught in the crossfire, such zeal often leaves devastation in its wake.
Georgetown Responds, but Questions Linger
Georgetown acted swiftly, with a spokesperson telling Fox News Digital, “Georgetown University has no tolerance for calls for violence or threats to the university. The flyers have been removed and the university is investigating this incident and working to ensure the safety of our community.” Still, for students like McInnis, the incident shakes the ideal of a campus as a safe space for debate.
