A slew of deranged users on Bluesky sent a barrage of threats to prominent Republicans and outspoken media personalities immediately after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated Wednesday.
Posters called for Tesla tycoon Elon Musk, conservative podcasters Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles, as well as “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling to be “next” in the hours after Kirk, 31, was pronounced dead, according to screenshots shared by one user.
Some of the most frequent targets were Elon Musk and Ben Shapiro.
Some posts called for death blatantly, others called for public figures to be “next.”
Some brazen accounts called for outright violence, including one who wrote, “I hope they shoot Ben Shapiro next,” while another compared the violence to a “game of whack a mole.”
Shapiro, a close friend of Kirk, announced Thursday morning on his podcast, “The Ben Shapiro Show,” that he would be undertaking a college tour in the wake of the father of two’s on-stage murder during an event at a Utah college.
Others on Bluesky wished for another assassination attempt on the president.
“HEADED FOR TRUMP NEXT??? LET’S HOPE,” a user posted in a reply to a law enforcement update on the manhunt for the gunman who struck Kirk with a single bullet at a Utah Valley University event on Wednesday.
Bluesky warned users on Thursday that celebrating the assassination of Kirk violated its rules after dozens of posts on the platform celebrated the grisly killing of the conservative activist.
Several of the hateful comments and replies calling for violence appear to have been taken down or deleted as of Thursday evening, The Post confirmed.
A torrent of abuse aimed at prominent online posters.
Bluesky — created by Twitter’s former CEO Jack Dorsey and now led by CEO Jay Graber — has surged in popularity after the 2024 election as a rival to Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter. Its decentralized moderation and customizable feeds appealed to progressives seeking refuge from the Musk-run X — though critics say it has become an ideological echo chamber. As of September 2025, the app has 1.5 million daily users, according to data aggregated by the platform.
Meta, Reddit, Discord and YouTube also announced measures to restrict content tied to Kirk’s killing.
Reddit spokesperson Gina Antonini told the news site the Verge: “Our sitewide rules prohibit encouraging, glorifying, inciting, or calling for violence.”
She said moderators were instructed to use enforcement tools to remove posts celebrating Kirk’s death.
Meta spokesperson Francis Brennan said the company was taking down “the most graphic content” of the shooting while applying warning labels to sensitive videos. He added that younger users’ access was being restricted.
Discord said it was “actively removing video and other content related to this incident that violates our policies,” stressing that glorifying violence is banned.
Kirk was struck by a sniper atop the Losee Center, a building on campus about 200 yards from where he was speaking to thousands as he kicked off his multi-city American Comeback Tour.
He was fatally shot in the neck while on stage during the outdoor event, sending students and other attendees running for their lives.
Kirk’s killer remains at large. Authorities have released photos of a “person of interest” and have called for the public’s help in identifying him.
