PRIME SUSPECT: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said during Sunday morning interviews that the suspect in the assassination of right wing political influencer Charlie Kirk was in most ways a “very normal young man” who appeared to have been “radicalized” after he dropped out of college and moved back to his hometown in southern Utah.

  The suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was raised in a Republican household and was registered to vote, although he did not register a party affiliation and never voted. Robinson lived with and had a romantic relationship with a person who was transitioning from male to female, who is cooperating with investigators.

  Authorities have not announced a motive for Kirk’s killing, but motive in this kind of thing is often psychological, not rational. The presence of the transgender partner is likely to feed cries from the right about the “transgender agenda,” as if there is such a thing. Right wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer posted, “How much do you want to bet we are going to find out there is a Trans terror cell that groomed Tyler Robinson and possibly even provided him with the gun to kill Charlie?”

  Kirk’s death has become a rallying point for like-minded conservatives and MAGA Republicans. A massive memorial is scheduled for September 21 at the 63,400-seat State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

  Rather than render the political world to somber silence, the rhetoric has heated up with right wing commentators claiming “they” are at war with us and “they” are out to kill us without specifying who “they” are. In this case there is no “they” … it’s just one young guy accused of killing.

  While celebrating a death may be in bad taste, it is allowable under the First Amendment. Charlie Kirk himself claimed to be a champion of free speech.  But National Public Radio has been tracking the firing and calls for resignation of people of people who endorsed or publicly celebrated Kirk’s killing. As of Friday they had identified 21 educators fired or put on leave as well as firefighters, members of the military, a sports reporter, an employee of the Carolina Panthers, and a city council official in Indiana. 

  The most prominent firing was of Matthew Dowd, the commentator on MSNBC who said on the day of Kirk’s killing that the man was “constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”

THE REGIME: 

— The Los Angeles Times revealed the $1.2 demand the Trump Administration sent to UCLA to settle its accusations of civil rights violations. Among the demands:

• Set up a $172,000 fund for people with claims of civil rights violations.
• Ensure foreign students who are “anti-Western” will not be admitted.
• Annually release demographic data for hires as well as students who have applied or have been admitted, broken down by “race, color, grade point average, and performance on standardized tests.”
• Make a public statement declaring that transgender people’s identities are no longer recognized. 
• End gender-affirming care for minors at medical facilities.
• Give the government access to “all UCLA staff, employees, facilities, documents, and data related to the agreement” not protected by attorney-client privilege.

— President Trump, who repeatedly claimed he could end the Ukraine war in a day, is now pressuring NATO countries to back him up with sanctions on Russia.

   Trump posted over the weekend that, “I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA.” His post, par usual, included an insult saying, “As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking!”

  Trump also said that, “I believe that this, plus NATO, as a group, placing 50% to 100% TARIFFS ON CHINA, to be fully withdrawn after the WAR with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR.”

— Trump told NBC News in a telephone interview that his White House ballroom will be 40 percent bigger than first announced, accommodating about 900 people. In a standard Trump superlative he said, “We’re making it a little bigger. It will be top of the line, as good as it can get anywhere in the world.” 

THE AWARD GOES TO: “The Pitt,” the HBO Max emergency room drama won best drama at the 77th Emmy Awards last night, beating out the more-nominated, bizarre, dystopian, and disturbing “Severance.”

  Seth Rogen’s  Hollywood satire “The Studio” on Apple TV+ won best comedy as Rogen collected statues for acting, directing, producing and writing. “It’s getting embarrassing,” Rogen said after winning best comedy. 

  Almost all the awards were won by cable and streaming outlets. Legacy network television won only two for Saturday Night Live’s 50^th Anniversary Special and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”

THE SPIN RACK: “Fox & Friends” co-anchor Brian Kilmeade apologized yesterday, days after saying on-air that mentally ill homeless people should be given “involuntary lethal injection — or something. Just kill them.” He had been talking about the mentally ill man who killed a 23-year-old woman riding a train in Charlotte. — Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce told Fox sports reporter Erin Andrews that his “palms were definitely sweating” when he proposed to pop star Taylor Swift. The Chiefs, who won the Super Bowl two years in a row, are 0-2 so far this year, but Taylor was there for yesterday’s 20-17 loss to the Eagles. 

BELOW THE FOLD:  Donald Trump on his social media feed complained about the new, less violent NFL kickoff style calling it “sissy” football.  The opposing teams are lined up only five yards apart in order to reduce injuries of players crashing together at full speed.

  The President plays golf.

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