The Abhorrent Rise of Assassination Culture: An Indictment of Moral Depravity

Survey Data Reveals Growing Justification for Political Violence

A shocking new report from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), titled Assassination Culture: How Burning Teslas and Killing Billionaires Became a Meme Aesthetic for Political Violence, lays bare a terrifying trend metastasizing within extreme left-wing corners of American society. The normalization of political violence—specifically targeting figures like President Donald Trump and Elon Musk—has reached a nauseating crescendo. This is nothing less than a sign of the times: a grotesque erosion of the most fundamental biblical law, “thou shalt not kill.” The report’s findings are an outrage, a disgrace, and a clarion call to repentance and prayer for this nation and despicable assassination culture that threatens the very soul of our civilization.

The NCRI’s investigation, grounded in original survey data and open-source intelligence, exposes a chilling reality. Following the July 13, 2024, attempted assassination of President Trump, tolerance—and even celebration—of political violence has surged, particularly among younger, hyper-online, ideologically left-leaning individuals. This builds on earlier NCRI analyses from December 2024, which documented how viral social media narratives legitimized the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Now, this poison has spilled offline, evidenced by a macabre California ballot measure dubbed “the Luigi Mangione Access to Health Care Act”—a twisted tribute to Thompson’s killer. That such an initiative, cynically named to honor a murderer while masquerading as a healthcare reform, could even be proposed speaks volumes about the depths to which this assassination culture has sunk. The report’s data is staggering: 31% of respondents found murdering Elon Musk at least somewhat justified, while 38% said the same for President Trump. Among self-identified leftists, those figures leap to 48% and 55%, respectively. Nearly 40% deemed destroying a Tesla dealership in protest at least somewhat acceptable.

But the rot goes deeper. The NCRI identifies a coherent “assassination culture” underpinned by psychological and ideological factors. Support for murdering Musk and Trump correlates strongly with justifying Thompson’s killing and hyper-partisan left-wing beliefs. Social media amplifies this sickness, with platforms like X awash in memes and aesthetics glorifying violence—burning Teslas and dead billionaires as punchlines. The report highlights specific examples: X posts celebrating Luigi Mangione as a “folk hero” and calls to “burn down” Tesla dealerships, paired with survey respondents’ comments like “Elon Musk dying would objectively make the world better.” 24% of respondents indicating a willingness to personally destroy a Tesla dealership or donate to support such acts.

Violence is not a protest tactic; it is evil incarnate. Property destruction is not a meme; it is anarchy. The report warns of a “spillover effect” into real-world instability, and the evidence is already here—arson attacks on Tesla property and a growing list of targets from Trump and Musk to “capitalist elites” writ large. This is not justice; it is barbarism dressed up as ideology.

Americans must reject this assassination culture with every fiber of our being. The sanctity of human life is non-negotiable, no matter one’s politics or wealth. To see murder and destruction lauded as virtuous by any segment of society is a betrayal of everything God has designed for humanity. The NCRI’s findings demand action: a unified stand against this tide of violence by leaders across this nation, in every sphere of society.