WASHINGTON—Daily Wire Host Michael Knowles called for the federal government to “stop the consistent and accelerating trend of leftist terrorism” at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday.
The Daily Wire’s @michaeljknowles appears before the United States Senate to expose what Democrats refuse to confront, the rise of left wing political violence. https://t.co/DbENR3dySX
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) October 28, 2025
Opening Tuesday’s hearing, Subcommittee on the Constitution Chair Eric Schmitt (R-MO) warned that for the past 15 months, political violence “has been a constant fact of American life.”
“We’ve seen assassinations. We’ve seen murder. We’ve seen death. None of this is random. It’s organized, coordinated political terror,” Schmitt said.
The hearing comes just two months after Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk was murdered by a leftist assassin while speaking at a campus event in Utah. Knowles, a friend of Kirk’s, announced that Turning Point’s college tour would continue after the tragedy, and he, along with several other conservative speakers, vowed to carry on the mission.
The chairman said he believes the people behind the violence are “determined militant extremists who wield violence for political ends.”
We must confront the threat of left-wing extremism.
For the past two years, America has been plagued by arsons, bombings, armed ambushes, assaults, violent riots, mass shootings and assassinations.
None of this is random. It is organized, coordinated political terror. pic.twitter.com/TZkmWQ3nMi
— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) October 28, 2025
In addition to Kirk’s assassination, Schmitt invoked the two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump’s life, the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and a slew of arsons, bombings, armed ambushes, assaults, sniper attacks, mass shootings, riots, and violent mobs.
“We are faced with only two paths: Either we confront this political violence and end it, or it will end us,” Schmitt said.
Ranking member Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) said he is “absolutely horrified by political violence in this country” and “unequivocally” condemned Kirk’s murder, but cautioned against debating whether there was more political violence “on one side or the other.”
In his opening statement, Knowles blasted Welch for suggesting that we “not try to pinpoint exactly which side the violence comes from.”
.@michaeljknowles calls out @SenPeterWelch for saying it’s unproductive to point out that political violence is a left-wing problem:
“This seems to me confusing and misbegotten as one cannot solve a problem if one does not know where the problem lies.” pic.twitter.com/CsM7tQZnPr
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) October 28, 2025
“This seems to me confusing and misbegotten as one cannot solve a problem if one does not know where the problem lies,” Knowles said.
.@michaeljknowles testifies before the U.S. Senate regarding a left-wing attack on his speaking event at the University of Pittsburgh in 2023:
“I think we should all be able to agree that throwing an explosive at…people is no mere minor indiscretion…That’s attempted… pic.twitter.com/RgCavh02Bm
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) October 28, 2025
“In light of the murder of my friend Charlie Kirk by a leftist assassin, I am gratified to see that at least some members of our federal legislature are now confronting the consistent and escalating pattern of left-wing terrorism in the country,” Knowles said.
Knowles cited a September 23 Atlantic article which, citing a recent study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, admitted “that the Left is more violent today than the right.”
“Less honest liberals, including members of Congress, continue to deny this fact. Democrat Congressman Seth Moulton, for example, reacted to Charlie’s assassination by blaming the right,” Knowles said.
Knowles cited examples of left-wing political violence, including a personal experience from April 2023 when he was invited to participate in a debate at the University of Pittsburgh on the topic of transgenderism.
He said several hundred left-wing protesters, many dressed in black, gathered to oppose his appearance.
“They lit the street on fire while burning me in effigy with a little Hitler mustache painted on my face. All because I hold the view, as most Americans do, that men cannot become women,” Knowles said.
He said an “Antifa operative” rolled smoke bombs under police barricades and then threw a lit firework into police officers — injuring several.
They were forced to end the debate early, Knowles said.
“Despite popular efforts to deny the existence of organized left-wing terrorism, Brian and Krystal DiPippa were not merely two citizens protesting a speaker with whom they disagreed. Things just got a little out of hand. No. They are members of an extremist cell,” Knowles said.
Knowles said everyone should be able to agree that throwing an explosive at a group of people is “no mere minor indiscretion.”
The Torch Antifa network has claimed the DiPippas as members, Knowles said, noting they “raised money for them through a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.”
“That is a very serious crime. That’s attempted murder, the kind of crime that merits life in prison,” Knowles said.
But, he explained, Brian DiPippa was only sentenced to jail time. His wife Krystal was sentenced to probation.
“The federal government must act now to stop the consistent and accelerating trend of leftist terrorism,” Knowles said.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced Daniel Hodges — a police officer who responded to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
Hodges said he believed the press release sent out ahead of the meeting from the chair “made it clear this was not going to be an honest consideration of various causes and effects, but rather a ham-fisted attempt to propagate the unsupported notion that liberal ideology is the greatest origin of modern political violence.”
He added that the hearing was “galling” to him “since every single member of the majority on the subcommittee has either contributed to one of the most infamous examples of conservative political violence of our age or the protection of its perpetrators.”
“Every majority member who could do so voted to acquit Donald Trump during a second impeachment, and now we find ourselves in a new horrific age of political violence,” Hodges said.
In a subsequent exchange, Knowles insisted that “any honest Democrat even would have to acknowledge, as the Atlantic magazine did, as even CSIS has acknowledged, that the threats today to the free marketplace of ideas come from the Left.”
“And so, in order to restore the open marketplace of ideas, the healthy exchange of ideas essential to our self-government, we must regulate where the problem is, and today the problem lies on the left,” Knowles said..@SenEricSchmitt: How do we solve the problem of increased political violence? @michaeljknowles: “You can’t have a marketplace if bandits keep shooting up the marketplace…We must regulate where the problem is, and today the problem lies on the Left.” pic.twitter.com/Pdsl8NAKfs
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) October 28, 2025
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) questioned Knowles about the violence against “people of faith.”
Hawley, who said he was friends with Kirk, described him as “incredibly bold” in speaking about his faith.
“You can’t tell me that that did not play into the reason he was killed,” Hawley said.
He asked Knowles about the reason for the “uptick” in violence.
“Cardinal Manning wisely observed that all human conflict ultimately is theological – a lot of our big policy debates in recent years have really been anthropological and religious in nature,” Knowles said.
Knowles said the attacks on churches, which he called “widespread and increasing” have been “underreported and ignored – in some cases entirely.”
During the hearing, lawmakers also discussed potential steps to address political violence going forward.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he introduced the “Stop FUNDERs Act” which he said would add rioting as a predicate offense to RICO, to “enable the Department of Justice to use the full tools that have been directed at the mafia to go after the corrupt enterprise.”
Former acting United States Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf endorsed the bill during the hearing.
My Stop FUNDERs Act will give the DOJ the tools it needs to go after the financiers of left-wing violence.
I’m glad to see Mr. Wolf joining @FBIDirectorKash Patel and a growing chorus of law enforcement professionals in endorsing this legislation. pic.twitter.com/BUPynxBmCq
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) October 29, 2025
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) also made a brief appearance.
“When we hold hearings that come at this issue that reflects the partisanship of our time and the tribalism of our time, we don’t get to a solution. We are in a crisis right now and there is growing political violence and a glowing justification for it,” Booker said.
Booker admitted there is political violence including “extremists who have left wing ideologies and right-wing ideologies – to say it’s just one and not the other is to deepen the problem.”
“The only thing that’s going to get us out of this condition is for courageous leaders, in both parties to start standing up and extending grace — and self introspection,” Booker said.
Although Booker left the hearing early, Knowles said he made a good point about being “introspective,” then brought up Booker’s endorsement of Jay Jones.
Jones, a Democrat running to be the next Attorney General of Virginia, fantasized about murdering a state Republican leader with “two bullets to the head” and “piss[ing]” on the graves of other Republicans.
Knowles observed that Booker, “in the spirit of introspection, is standing by this endorsement,” having already left the room.
“Senator Booker should practice what he preaches,” Knowles said. “So long as anyone stands by an endorsement such as that, their words are meaningless, they’re shedding crocodile tears on the topic of political violence.”
Hey @SenBooker, we know you left the room early, so we wanted to make sure you heard this from @michaeljknowles:
Sen. Booker endorses a man who called for the murder of a Republican and his children…
“So long as anyone stands by an endorsement such as that, their words are… pic.twitter.com/QDUM5OStYw
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) October 28, 2025
Following the hearing, Knowles said he was “grateful” to Schmitt and the members who attended the hearing — noting that Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) didn’t attend.
“He couldn’t make the time while his side is promoting political violence,” Knowles said.
“Senator Booker made it in and then ran away as quickly as he possibly could, which makes sense because he is endorsing a man for Attorney General of Virginia who calls for murdering Republicans and their kids,” he added.
“I think the crocodile tears from the Democrats were preposterous,” Knowles added. “They were doing everything they could to avoid accepting the blame that sits squarely with them.”
Still, Knowles said he thought the hearing was “productive, because I think it showed the American people where the problem really lies.”
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