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MAGA Blames South Park for Charlie Kirk Assassination as Episode Pulled

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, some conservatives are pointing fingers at South Park for mocking the conservative thought leader in a recent episode, while Comedy Central pulled the episode from a scheduled repeat Wednesday night.
The second episode of the current season of Comedy Central’s satirical hit — titled “Got a Nut” — had Eric Cartman becoming a right-wing podcaster and spouting tropes used by Kirk, who tours college campuses debating progressive students. “Who wants to debate the master debater?” demanded Cartman, who also took on Kirk’s hairstyle and later attended a ceremony giving out “The Charlie Kirk Award for Young Masterdebaters.”
The mockery was pretty tame by South Park standards (certainly kinder than its treatment of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem in the same episode). After the episode aired, Kirk seemed thrilled by the episode and posted a TikTok (below) reacting by calling the episode “hilarious” and noted “South Park gets this right.” The Turning Point USA founder added, “We have a good spirit about being made fun of. This is all a win. We as conservatives have thick skin, not thin skin, and you can make fun of us and it doesn’t matter.”
But after Kirk’s tragic murder at Utah Valley University while engaged in the same sort of college campus debate the episode poked fun of, some MAGA conservatives are blasting the show.
According to the New York Post, one Turning Point USA staffer posted on Telegram, “Comedy has consequences. Charlie was targeted in the culture before he was targeted in real life” and right-wing radio host Jesse Kelly told his listeners: “South Park thought it was funny to turn Charlie into a cartoon joke. Now his wife is planning a funeral.”
The Daily Beast spotted some other comments on social media: “Let’s blame South Park. Blame the media. Blame leftist rhetoric. These people hate you and want to see you dead.” And: “South Park certainly fomented the hatred necessary to get Kirk assassinated.” And: “[South Park creators] Trey Parker and Matt Stone are responsible for this.” While a popular account called Johnny MAGA dubbed South Park “monsters” for the episode.
That said, many others on the right — perhaps even the majority — were quick to note they do not blame the series. One “MAGA” labeled X account wrote, “I don’t blame South Park. They aren’t our leaders, representatives, mentors, pastors, example setters or societal caretakers. They are satire!”
Comedy Central had no immediate comment on yesterday’s scrapped repeat, and the episode was still available on Paramount+ as of Thursday morning. Pulling episodes that unintentionally intersect with a violent real-life tragedy is a common practice as a respectful effort to not to inflame or take advantage of the situation.
Given South Park has been on a tear going after President Trump and MAGA this season, and frequently pivots at the last minute to tackle current events in their episodes, it will be interesting to see what creators Parker and Stone focus on when the show returns next week amid its new biweekly rollout schedule this season.
On a Reddit thread about the episode being pulled, fans agreed not airing the episode was “the polite thing to do” while also concurring that South Park doesn’t deserve blame for the real-life violence. “Probably a smart decision, no matter your feeling on him; don’t give either side reason to exploit this,” wrote one. While another opined, “You really can’t fault them for not predicting this; I don’t think anyone could have predicted this series of events with him literally talking about gun violence as he was being shot.”
The 31-year-old Kirk built a small conservative student group into America First — one of the most influential forces in Republican politics. Kirk was speaking at a debate Wednesday hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions for an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence. A single shot rang out and Kirk could be seen reaching for his neck with his right hand. The gunman is still at large.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social. “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!
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Ukraine war briefing: Poland’s allies decry ‘flagrant violation’; Warsaw sends troops to border to monitor Belarus drills | Ukraine

Poland and about 40 of its allies on Friday denounced the intrusion of Russian drones into its airspace this week, calling on Moscow to avoid more “provocations”. Before an emergency meeting of the UN security council requested by Poland, deputy foreign minister Marcin Bosacki told reporters that Warsaw and its allies wanted to “draw the attention of the international community to yet another flagrant violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations committed by the Russian Federation”, which had brought “the entire region closer to conflict than at any time in recent years”. The comments were from a statement signed by about 40 countries, including the 26 other members of the European Union, Ukraine, the United States, Japan and Canada. “We take this opportunity to reiterate our call on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its war of aggression against Ukraine, to renounce any further provocations, and to respect its obligations under the UN Charter,” he said. “Escalation cannot lead to peace.”
France, Germany and Denmark will contribute fighter jets and other military assets to an enhanced defence of Poland against future Russian drone incursions, Nato leaders announced at a press conference on Friday. The UK is also expected contribute to the Eastern Sentry mission, which will gradually be expanded from the Arctic in the north to the Black Sea and Mediterranean in the south to better tackle Russian drones and missiles.
The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. The military drills started on Friday, and include exercises close to the border with Poland and Lithuania and in the Baltic and Barents seas. Russia’s defence ministry posted a video showing heavy military equipment – including armoured vehicles, helicopters and navy ships – taking part in the drills. Poland said it would station about 40,000 troops near the Belarus border for the duration of the drills.
Prince Harry laid a wreath at a flower and flag memorial to Ukraine’s war dead in Kyiv’s Maidan Square during a surprise visit to support the country in its fight against Russia, saying he wanted to do “everything possible” to help the thousands of military personnel who have been seriously injured in the war against Russia. During the trip to Kyiv, Harry and a team from his Invictus Games Foundation gave details of new initiatives to support the rehabilitation of the wounded, with the eventual aim of providing help to all areas of the country.
Russia said peace talks with Ukraine were on “pause” as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. “Our negotiators have the opportunity to communicate through channels. But for now, it is probably more accurate to talk about a pause” in talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Speaking at a conference in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said the west should not trust Putin. “Putin’s goal is to occupy all of Ukraine. And no matter what he tells anyone, it is clear that he has set the war machine in motion to such an extent that he simply cannot stop it unless he is forced to fundamentally change his personal goals,” he said. The Ukrainian president also called on allies to encourage China to use its leverage with Russia to stop Moscow’s offensive.
Trump told Fox television his patience was being taxed by Russia’s refusal to end its invasion. “It’s sort of running out and running out fast, but it does take two to tango,” Trump told Fox television. “It’s amazing. When Putin wants to do it, Zelensky didn’t. When Zelensky wanted to do it, Putin didn’t. Now Zelensky wants to and Putin is a question mark. We’re going to have to come down very, very strong,” he added. The Ukrainian president has long been open to efforts to meet and agree a ceasefire.
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Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford fight, odds: 1 bettor wagers $2 million on Terence Crawford to win

Terence Crawford and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez square off on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in one of the biggest fights of the year.
Several bettors will have a very large rooting interest.
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A bettor at BetMGM wagered $2 million on Crawford to win the fight at +140 odds on Friday night. The wager would win $2.8 million and is the largest reported wager on the fight.
One bettor at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas also wagered $715,000 on Crawford to win the fight at +140 odds, which would win just over $1 million ($1.001 million to be exact). Other sportsbooks have taken six-figure wagers on Crawford as well.
“We just took a very large bet on Crawford to win and by KO,” Andrew Babakitis, risk manager at the Westgate Las Vegas Super Book, told Yahoo Sports via text message on Friday afternoon. “Price moved from -180 to -160 on Canelo. We have three times as many bets on Crawford. Book loses on both fighters by KO, we are likely going to need a decision if we want to win on the fight.”
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Alvarez opened as a -200 favorite at BetMGM, but is down to -150 on the three-way line, while Crawford opened as a +175 underdog and is currently +150. While only 23% of wagers are on Alvarez to win, nearly half the total dollars wagered (42%) at BetMGM are on Canelo, while the betting public is backing the underdog, with 33% of wagers on Crawford to win.
Nearly half the bets (44%) and total dollars wagered (44%) were on a tie, as of Friday morning.
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ICE agent shoots dead man who tried to drive at agents, officials say

US immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot and killed a man near Chicago on Friday after he allegedly drove his car at a group of agents.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said ICE was trying to arrest the man, but he resisted and drove towards the group. An agent was then dragged along by his vehicle.
The agent, who the department said feared for his life, drew his gun and opened fire.
The driver, Silverio Villegas-Gonzales, was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after, officials said.
“During a vehicle stop, the suspect resisted and attempted to drive his vehicle into the arrest team, striking an officer and subsequently dragging him as he fled the scene,” the statement said.
The ICE agent suffered “severe injuries” in the incident, officials said, but was in a stable condition in hospital.
The Department of Homeland security said Mr Villegas-Gonzales had a history of reckless driving and was an undocumented migrant. He entered the country “at an unknown date and time,” they said.
A spokesperson for the local police department in Franklin Park said they were not involved in the incident.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said in an online post: “This is a developing situation and the people of Illinois deserve a full, factual accounting of what’s happened today to ensure transparency and accountability.”
Franklin Park is a suburb of around 18,000 people near O’Hare Airport north-west of Chicago. Around half of the population of the village is Hispanic.
Immigration officials have been ramping up enforcement activities in the Chicago area this week on the orders of the Trump administration.
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