A SCOTTISH Tory MSP has alleged there is a “link” between the rhetoric of SNP politicians and the killing of right-wing American activist Charlie Kirk.
Murdo Fraser made the accusation in response to the First Minister’s tribute to the Turning Point USA co-founder, who was shot dead at an event in Utah Valley University on Wednesday evening.
Swinney said: “The murder of Charlie Kirk is another dreadful example of violence in our politics.
“We live and thrive by the democratic strength of respecting the views of others. There can never be a place for violence. My sympathy to his wife and family.”
Fraser reposted the tweet and added: “You were deputy to a first minister [Nicola Sturgeon] who said ‘I detest the Tories’. Just yesterday you called [Scottish Tory MSP] Craig Hoy ‘disgusting’ and ‘despicable’ for raising constituents’ concerns over asylum hotels.
“There’s a link between othering and demonising opponents and events in the US. Do better.”
Kirk was a close ally of Donald Trump and an influential online right-wing influencer and commentator.
He was best known for his events on American university campuses where he would debate audiences under the banner “prove me wrong”.
A deeply divisive figure, his murder threatens to spark political turmoil in the States, with some politicians laying the blame for his killing at the door of the Democrats.
Before his death was confirmed, Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace told reporters in Washington DC: “Democrats own this, 100%.”
Twitter/X owner Elon Musk (above) also weighed in on conversations online about the assassination, telling followers: “If they won’t leave us in peace, then our choice is fight or die.”
In a separate tweet, he said: “The Left is the party of murder.”
Moments before he was killed, Kirk was debating about transgender people and mass shootings.
Posting a day before his death, Kirk said: “Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America.”
He had previously said that it was “worth it” to have “some gun deaths every single year” so that Americans kept their right to bear arms.
Kirk's killer remains at large.
Political violence is reappearing as a prevalent phenomenon in America again, with president Donald Trump having survived two recent attempts on his life and the murder of two Democrat politicians earlier this year.
Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were shot dead at their home in June and Vance Luther Boelter has been arrested in connection with their murders at the shootings of a state senator and his wife, who survived.
Police found a list of people in Boelter's car of nearly 70 people including abortion rights activists, Democrat politicians and abortion providers. State governor Tim Waltz called the shooting an "act of targeted political violence".
The SNP were approached for comment.
