When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, it took more than a decade before Americans saw the infamous Zapruder film.<\/p>\n
Today, the killing of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk can be replayed in dozens of high-definition clips across social media, reshaping how the nation confronts political violence in real time.<\/p>\n
‘You\u2019ll never have an assassination again that we don\u2019t have footage of,’ presidential historian and former Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Bush administration, Tevi Troy, told Fox News Digital. <\/p>\n
‘I have an image in my head of what Lincoln\u2019s assassination might have looked like, but every assassination since the Kennedy era, or even assassination attempts, there\u2019s generally going to be footage about it now, and that\u2019s just a very difficult thing,’ he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Zapruder footage of Kennedy’s assassination remained largely unseen by the public until 1975, when it aired on national television more than a decade after his death. Its grainy frames shocked viewers. Americans, at the time, were ‘much more dependent on what the caretakers of the culture would put on TV,’ Troy said, and if a broadcast was missed, there was often no second chance to see it. <\/p>\n
Troy added, ‘The gatekeepers controlled what you saw.’<\/p>\n
In the minutes after Kirk was shot in the neck on his ‘American Comeback Tour’ at the Utah Valley University on Wednesday, graphic video clips captured by bystanders using phones flooded social platforms like X, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. <\/p>\n
Traditional outlets held back from airing the moment of impact, but social media users shared multiple angles\u2014including real-time replays and slowed-down segments\u2014many without content warnings or editing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
‘Desensitizing is the right word\u2026 It\u2019s not good for you,’ Troy said when asked what the impact of such high-speed graphic footage could do to the public. <\/p>\n
‘It\u2019s not good for your soul. It\u2019s not a question of not being available \u2014 it is available. Then you have to make an effort not to see it,’ he said.<\/p>\n
Troy noted that in the immediate aftermath of Kirk\u2019s killing, some voices on the left appeared to rationalize or downplay the violence, while others rushed to frame the suspect\u2019s background in ways that minimized political fallout for their side. He called the reaction ‘a ghoulish exercise.’<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
‘There’s a horrible tragedy where this person who just wants to have political conversations was murdered with three young kids,’ Troy said. ‘But this is where we are today. If there is political violence, they want to make sure it’s framed in such a way that it doesn’t bring their side down.’<\/p>\n
Turning Point Founder and commentator, Kirk, 31, was killed on Wednesday by suspected shooter Tyler Robinson while answering a question at Utah Valley University. He leaves behind his wife and two children, ages one and three. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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