Talkline | Sept. 16, 2025 - MetroNews Talkline

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This it's Metro News talk Line.

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Speaker 1 (01:08):
Good morning Welcome in SADI and Cove Insurance Studios, Dave
Wilson and Morgantown.

Speaker 6 (01:12):
TJ. Meadows is in Charleston.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
We appreciate you letting us be part of your day.
For the next couple of minutes. You can be part
of this show by calling eight hundred and seven to
sixty five Talk eight hundred seven six five eight two
five five. You can text us at three oh four
Talk three oh four lots to get to today. A
vigil held on w's campus last night for conservative activist

(01:37):
Charlie Kirk, one of the people attending GINO Sharelli Montague
County Delegate, will join us. Coming up in the second hour.
Is it free speech is a council culture. We'll get
into that discussion. Front of the show. Robert Bolton Matt
Lewis stops by a podcaster author. He interviewed the governor
of Utah four years ago before he became a household

(01:57):
name of the last couple of days. We'll talk to
Matt get his impressions on the Utah governor Spencer Cox. Plus,
we've got news and notes to get to as well.
We had high school football last night. The new high
school football power rankings are out and we just found
out well not long ago before the show started, Robert
Redford has passed away. Roy Hobbs dying this morning or

(02:19):
are we finding out about his death this morning? So
we'll talk to Christen Burt as well. Got all that
good TJ.

Speaker 4 (02:25):
Good morning, Cash Pattel right now in the hot seat,
Dave on Capitol Hill. So I've got that one cueued
up and we'll try to monitor as we go. We'll
see what happens there.

Speaker 6 (02:35):
All right.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
You wrote earlier this week about sentencing guidelines. You were
talking particularly about youthful offenders count Kanawk County Commissioned President
Ben Selango, Charleston attorney, also wrote an op ed piece earlier,
I think it was late last week, talking about the
minimum sentencing guidelines, minimum sentencing when it comes to.

Speaker 6 (02:54):
First degree murder. Both of you agree.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
I'm not putting origin of mouth, but I am putting
origin of mouthj we need to increase that fair fair.

Speaker 4 (03:04):
I think fifteen years for a crime as brutal as
felony murder, using the case that we just came through
here in Charleston, a minimum of fifteen years doesn't seem fit.
When you talk about the fact that Caden Martin nineteen
years old, I mean there's a finality to that. Yes,
it's tragic that he was killed. Yes, it's tragic that

(03:26):
he was killed by juveniles who were tried as adults,
and that we should wish for their reform, we should
cheer their reform and help them along the way. But
there's a finality here in felony murder in fifteen years
with a chance, not guarantee, but eligibility for parole seems
a little light to me.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Dave in West Virginia State Code mandates first degree murder
conviction comes with a minimum fifteen years. There is the
option the jury can recommend mercy, which would make you
eligible for parole. Life without mercy is just that it
is life in Ben Selango wrote in the op ed,
it cannot be denied that a period of fifteen years
in prison, when an innocent life has been deliberately and

(04:07):
savagely taken, is woefully inadequate and cannot be considered quote justice.

Speaker 6 (04:12):
All right, that's a big setup.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Ben Silango joins us from the studios in Charleston, the
Kanawha County Commission President and Charleston attorney Ben, good morning,
glad you could be with us.

Speaker 4 (04:21):
Good morning. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
So why is it time to reconsider state law and
reconsider minimum sentencing requirements for first degree murders specifically?

Speaker 7 (04:31):
You know, and let me say first, you know, when
TJ's commentary came out, I had no idea he was
writing that article, and I'm certain he didn't have any
idea that I was writing my op ed. But it
was funny that we were on the same brain wave
because you were talking about youth offenders. I'm talking about
adult offenders, but the same remains true transparency.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
I wrote that article the day that we had Debrusnick
on Oh was that right? Yeah, I just didn't release
it until the following month.

Speaker 7 (04:57):
I hadn't heard the I hadn't heard the interview, but
had I started working on my op ed about a
week after Arena Zarutska, who was the refugee from Ukraine
who was stabbed in the neck on a train in Charlotte,
because you know, and when I came out of the
op ed, people are like, what in the world is
this democrat doing? I mean, And what they didn't understand

(05:20):
is this is not political. It's personal.

Speaker 4 (05:22):
You know.

Speaker 7 (05:22):
This is something that my wife and I have been
dealing with for many years. Some know the story that
her brother, shortly after she turned sixteen years old, was murdered,
killed exactly the way Arena Zaruska was killed. He was
working in a restaurant and he was stabbed in a
neck exactly like she was. And he was left there
to bleed to death and did bleed to death. And

(05:45):
so for the last twenty plus years we have had
to attend parole hearings every one to three years, there's
a parole hearing, and it is time and time again.
It just victimizes the families of the victims over and over. Now,
what we do know is it is incredibly rare for
anyone to be granted parole on their first attempt, and

(06:06):
so then why not bring West Virginia code in line
with every other states, including the liberal leaning states, to
make sure that the victims' families are protected. Why have
them start parole hearings at fifteen years and then again
at eighteen years and twenty one years if in fact
they're going to be denied over and over, which I
think is you know some of the counterpoints to this

(06:26):
as well. The parole board can deny it, well, then
why have it? You know, why have it? If the
pro board typically does not grant parole on the on
the first attempt anyway, why put the victim's families through that.
We have now been to eight parole hearings to keep
the man who killed her brother in prison, and each
time it is heart wrenching. It starts a month before

(06:48):
the parole hearing. You know, the family is incredibly upset.
Is this going to be the time that the man
that was convicted of first degree murder but was given
with mercy. You know, life with mercy. Is this going
to be the time that he gets out? And so
you think about that every one to three years, having
to go through that with the entire family waiting for
the prole hearing. Typically a week before the pro hearing,

(07:10):
you'll get an email that says, well, the pro hearing
will be on one of these three days. You don't
even know when it's going to be. Then if you
try to participate, you typically don't get to participate, either
remotely or in person. The prole hearings now since COVID,
are all remote participation, but you can't get a link
from the pro board, So you have to set around
a cell phone hoping you have signal, hoping the call

(07:31):
doesn't drop, to try to at least get a few
words in before the parle board makes a decision. That's
what we've had to go through eight times over the
last twenty years now. This most recent time it happened
in August. It happened around the time when the young
Ukrainian refugee was stabbed in the neck and killed in
Charlotte and her perpetrator, the man who killed her is

(07:53):
potentially facing the death penalty, yet an exact same crime
in West Virginia where you have to show up for
parole hearings every one to three years. It's simply unfair
to the victim's families and it's time for West Virginia
for their laws to be in line with the forty
eight other states. West Virginia is the most lenient state
in the nation when it comes to sentencing on first

(08:14):
degree murder convictions. The most lenit tied with Ohio. Why well,
because I think for many, many years, the law was
ten years in the nineties. Changed in the nineties, shortly
after her brother was murdered, the law changed. It went
from eligibility from parole in ten years to fifteen years. Now,
we did not get the benefit of that law change.

(08:37):
He was still under the old system where you have
to show up every one of three years for poor
hearings after ten years. So if you look at all
of the other states, some have twenty years, the majority
have at least twenty five years, at least twenty five years,
most have thirty plus years. So why is West Virginia
lagging behind? Now there are lawmakers that have wanted to

(08:57):
change this. For whatever reason, it always gets held up,
But I think this is the time, this is the
time when they really need to look at It's West
Virginia Code sixty two dash three dash fifteen, and that's
the code that says, if you're convicted of first degree murder,
the jury has the opportunity to recommend mercy, and if
they recommend mercy, that person is eligible for parole in

(09:19):
fifteen years. That simply needs to be changed. It needs
to be changed from fifteen to thirty five years, and
not because it's a deterrence. I don't think anybody is
going to argue that any murderers set down and is
going to read Westernia Code sixty two three dash fifteen
before they kill somebody. It's to respect the victims' families.
Why have them show up for parole hearings at fifteen years,

(09:41):
at eighteen years, at twenty one, or whatever the par
board's determined, and have them relive that time and time
and time again. It's time for West Virginia to be
in line with all the other states and have higher
mandatory minimums for first degree murder.

Speaker 4 (09:55):
So let's transition over to the juvenile side of y this,
which is more what I wrote about. There is a
Supreme Court case out there. It's pointed out spare point
Miller versus Alabama. You cannot grant life without parole. That
you can't hand that down. You have to have the
eligibility of parole.

Speaker 7 (10:11):
That's exactly right. And so you can still revise the
code and comply with the United States Supreme Court's opinion.
And I think that first of all, you cannot revise
the code to differ than that opinion. So you simply
would say instead of saying life without the possible parole.
And we're talking about juvenile offenders. You know, when the
crime is committed by someone who is under the age

(10:33):
of eighteen, then they would come in and you could
still raise the parole minimum to thirty five years. Can
you imagine having your loved ones stab to death, to
left to bleed out. By the way, there was another
family member who was present, stabbed to death, left to
bleed out, and then that person may get out on parole,
whether the juvenile or whether or an adult in fifteen years.

(10:55):
It's unheard of, it's unspeakable, and nobody would want their
family to have to go through that. So Why are
we putting them through that?

Speaker 4 (11:03):
That's the question.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
Ben Selango joining us. He is a Canawll County commissioned
President and Charleston attorney. Why thirty five just does that
strike the right balance in your mind?

Speaker 7 (11:16):
I think it's It is actually slightly higher than New York,
slightly higher than California and Maine and New Hampshire, but
not as harsh as say Puerto Rico. Who if you're
convicted of first degree murder in Puerto Rico, mercy or
no mercy, it's a minimum of ninety nine years. It's
essentially a life sentence. I don't think in the instance
of a juvenile that would comport with due process and

(11:39):
would probably run a fout of the United States Supreme
Court opinion. So I think it is and it's not
as bad as say Pennsylvania and some of the others
who say it's a minimum of fifty years. I think
it strikes a balance of protecting the families. I don't
think any of the law. Quite frankly, even if there
was a death pillion, I don't want to broach that
topic that it serves as as I don't think that's

(12:02):
the reason you would have this it's quite frankly to
protect the victims families. I think ninety nine years is
a bit of an outlier, but so is West Virginia.
So you wouldn't want to follow the most extremes on
either side, And quite frankly, we are the most lenient,
the most extreme in the nation when it comes to
first degree murder sentences.

Speaker 4 (12:20):
That needs to change. You read my commentary, it speaks
for itself. However, I do want to ask questions that
the other side may pose back to juveniles, Kagan wrote
in that decision. She talked about the fact that you
have to consider age background. A juvenile may have come
up in a bad environment that may play into what

(12:40):
they did, role in the crime, where they directly responsible
or not, and the potential for change because there's still
children at that time, and there's a potential for them
to grow on to become productive members of society. So,
you know, should we leave it at fifteen years for kids?

Speaker 7 (12:54):
No, I don't think we should, because you still have
to consider the victim's family, and I think that's the
problem with the state of the law in West Virginia.
Everybody's worried about the murderer and they're not worried about
the murder the families of the murder victims. So we're
worried about the murderer's state of mind, the murderer's age.
You know, whether or not the murderer can get better. Well,
i'll tell you who's not getting better, the person that

(13:15):
they killed. And so we need to focus more on
the victims' families and the victim as opposed to worrying
about the person who intentionally, premeditated and killed somebody. And so,
if you're convicted of first degree murder, that's an intentional killing.
That's a premeditated killing, And we're worried about whether they're
going to get better. Why why should we Why should

(13:38):
our focus be on them instead of the person that
they just killed. So that's that's my point. I again,
I don't think this is a political issue. It's not
a partisan issue. This is something where you've got to
strike a balance between making sure that the victims' families
are protected and making sure that you keep the murderer

(13:58):
behind bars. I don't know how many statistics there are
about people who actually get out and repeat. It's probably
a very low number, I would imagine, but that doesn't
matter to the victims' families. If somebody gets out, every
time they go to Walmart, every time they go to Kroger,
every time they go to Target, they're going to be
wondering if that person's in there. They're going to be

(14:19):
wondering if they're the next target. If showing up at
eight prole hearings to keep them in prison has enraged
that person enough again to kill So why not protect them?
Why take Why have the most lenient sentence in the
United States for parole? As you BELI, why do that?
I think the answer is clear and it's and it's simple.

(14:40):
I just think we have to get our line of
thinking in in line with the other forty eight states
who are doing it quite frankly better than we are.

Speaker 1 (14:49):
Have you spoken to any state centers or delegates about
bringing this up in January?

Speaker 8 (14:53):
I have.

Speaker 7 (14:54):
I've spoken to a number of them.

Speaker 5 (14:56):
You know.

Speaker 7 (14:56):
I first reached out to Delegate Dana Ferrell reached out
to Delegate jb Acres.

Speaker 4 (15:02):
You know jb is.

Speaker 7 (15:04):
You know, he's a lawyer, He's incredibly intelligent, he's in judiciary.
Dana Ferrell understands, you know, the personal side of this
JB understands quite well the legal side of this, and
I've explained to them our concerns. I've explained to them
kind of what we've gone through. I've run out and
reached out to Senator Jefferies, Glen Jeffries, and this is

(15:25):
going to be a big part of Conall County's legislative
agenda this year. We've got to make sure that we
are protecting the public and we are protecting crime victims
and their families.

Speaker 4 (15:35):
What's the feedback so far? Quickly?

Speaker 7 (15:37):
You know what, very few oppose. I mean, you always
get the social media people who who comment simply just
to comment. But and that's fair, I mean, there's entitle
their opinion. But what we want to do is make
sure that we're putting the families first. We want to
get input from the families. People who have been through
these parole hearings every one to three years, how devastating
that is on them and their families, How it absolutely

(15:58):
rips the band aid off and the gab off every
single time it comes up to have to sit there
and listen to the man who murdered your loved one,
try to explain and excuse and come up with different
reasons why he should get out, knowing that you know,
this Thanksgiving, this Christmas, you're not going to see your
loved one, but yet he gets to go home to
his family. It's not fair. It's absolutely unfair. And that's

(16:19):
why every other state besides West Virginia and Ohio changed it.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
Ben, you also brought up kind of on the side,
you make a pretty good case to reform the parole process.
By the way, as well, that seems like that needs
to be updated. You were talking about that process. Maybe
you get a cell phone, maybe you get a link.
Just a little bit of a side note there in
addition to this conversation.

Speaker 7 (16:41):
And let me tell you something I would consider us.
You know, I've been a lawyer for twenty eight years.
We're probably more sophisticated than the average person when it
comes to dealing with the legal process. Right, even we
can't get a link, I can tell you I sent
ten fifteen emails to try to get a link, and
August of twenty twenty five for the most recent prole hearing,

(17:03):
only ten minutes before the prole hearing, did we learn
oh we never got your request?

Speaker 4 (17:08):
Yes you did.

Speaker 7 (17:09):
I sent it ten or fifteen times. But you know,
and other families simply give up. I mean, I've heard
stories from other families who never got a letter that
the murderer was coming up for parole, so they didn't
even know to attend and the person was let out.
You know, you really have to rally support and show
that there is a public sentiment against the person who's

(17:30):
up for parole to really be considered for a parole denial.
And the whole process, whether it's the Western YA Code
dealing with sentencing, whether it's the parole process, seems to
favor the murderer rather than the victims of murder.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
Then Selango, President of the Kanawha County Commission, Charleston Attorney,
appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (17:50):
Thank you for stopping by.

Speaker 4 (17:51):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (17:52):
Coming up, we'll get some of your thoughts through before
talk through a four talk line from the Encove Insurance Studios.

Speaker 3 (17:58):
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Speaker 1 (19:21):
Text line three or four Talk threeh four Phone numbers
eight hundred and seven to sixty five Talk. Matt Lewis
is going to join us friend of the show Conservative columnists.
He interviewed Utah Governor Spencer Cox a couple of years back.
We'll get his impressions on the Utah governor who has
been thrust into the national spotlight over the last several days.
Let's get in a couple of texts three or four

(19:41):
talk three oh four. Texter says, Amen, mister Solango, who
will be opposed to this? Asks the Texter, Well.

Speaker 6 (19:50):
You pointed out TJ.

Speaker 1 (19:51):
It's been tried multiple times, has not been able to
get through the legislature though.

Speaker 4 (19:55):
Yeah, so someone's been against it. But I have to
tell you, Ben carries weight. Let's just call it what
it is. And if he's pushing it this go around,
I'd say it has a better chance than it's had before.

Speaker 6 (20:05):
And this is just a gut feeling, but it would
seem the makeup of this particular legislature would be favorable
to something like this.

Speaker 4 (20:14):
I would agree.

Speaker 6 (20:16):
Texter says absolutely agree.

Speaker 1 (20:17):
Always seems like the criminal gets more thoughts and consideration
than the person slash family who was murdered. Really wrong,
Ben Selango is correct with the weak sentencing of murderers
in the state. Also, we need the death penalty for
anyone who would go on to school property in killer students, teachers, administrators,
and school staff. While Caden's murder is heartbreaking, the young

(20:40):
men who are responsible deserve to be held accountable. I
can't help but feel that they are just children really
deserve mercy. There can't be justice for what happened, but
as the Lord gives us mercy, I believe that we
should offer forgiveness as the Lord does. Fifteen years is
a long time, and odds are that they won't be
released that soon, says the Texter. We've got some more
of your thoughts coming up. Kristin Burt will join us

(21:01):
later on this hour. Robert Redford dying, his death being
announced this morning at the age of eighty nine. We'll
get her thoughts on his life and career coming up
later on this hour. More of your text as well.
Three or four Talk three oh four is the text line.
You can always give us a call at eight hundred
seven to sixty five Talk eight hundred seven sixty five
eight two five five. Almost forgot Jake Link running the

(21:23):
video stream on the Metro News TV app this morning,
and Ethan Collins is our audio producer back running the
control center.

Speaker 6 (21:31):
Coming up talk to.

Speaker 1 (21:32):
Matt Lewis will join us on the other side of
the news break. We'll talk about Spencer Cox, the Utah governor.
That's coming up. As talk line continues on Metro News
for forty years, the voice of West Virginia. It is
ten thirty times. To get a news update, Let's check
in with the Metro News radio network find out what's
happening across the great state of West Virginia.

Speaker 13 (21:55):
West Virginia Metro News. I'm Jeff Jenkins. A new data
driven West Virginia Chamber of Commerce report shows West Virginia
needs workers, and a lot of them. The West Virginia
Campaign for Jobs twenty twenty five digest shows a fifty
four percent job participation rate, the lowest in the nation.
Chamber Vice President Brian Dayton says the numbers also show
a need to increase teacher pay.

Speaker 14 (22:13):
We are very low in teacher pay. We put a
lot of burden on our teachers beyond teaching the students.
Some of that is just systemic that we have to
figure out our teachers are really wearing a ton of hats.

Speaker 13 (22:25):
That report does show manufacturing workers in West Virginia are among
the fifth highest paid in the nation. How's the delegates?
Democrats continue their discussion efforts. Last night, the group was
in Martinsburg for another kitchen table event. Ohio Kenny Delagate
Sean flu Hardy fiddled a question about Peia structurally.

Speaker 6 (22:41):
Pia is fine.

Speaker 15 (22:43):
It just needs funded, and we find funding for all
types of things.

Speaker 12 (22:47):
Host scholarship explodes exponentially, but we have money for it.

Speaker 6 (22:52):
Like it's all about priorities.

Speaker 13 (22:54):
The kitchen table meetings will continue at various spots around
the state for the next couple of months. Hancott County
man apparently no longer lived with the guilt that came
from murdering his father. Sixty three year old James Adams
a Chester, pleaded guilty Monday to the nineteen eighty seven
shooting death of his father, Edward Adams in the family's
home in Brook County. Adams was shot in the head,
and police back then determined it was a suicide, but

(23:15):
James Adam called nine one one in recent months and
said he did it and played guilty Monday. You're listening
to Metro News for forty years the voice of West Virginia.

Speaker 16 (23:23):
Governor Patrick Morrissey has set a very bold goal fifty
gigawats a new energy capacity by twenty fifty. Thanks to
House Bill twenty fourteen, West Virginia's coal plans will be
upgraded to run longer, stronger, and more efficiently, thus delivering reliable,
affordable base load power. Our families and businesses will be

(23:45):
able to count on. West Virginia Coal Association President Chris
Hamilton stated Governor Morrissey's plan to grow West Virginia's energy
generation capacity to fifty gigawatts by twenty fifty is a
dynamic approach to economic development which will supercharge our state's
coal industry and broader economy. With Governor Morrissey's leadership and

(24:06):
the action of the legislature, West Virginia is once again
America's energy leader. Cold is powering Progress. Cold is Powering
West Virginia. Brought to you by the West Virginia Coal Association.

Speaker 13 (24:22):
Circuit Court arraiment will come soon in Raleigh County for
a woman indicted in an Eastern morning traffic death. Destiny
Lester was named in four criminal counts in connection to
the April twentieth collision with a vehicle on the Coalfields
Expressway in Sofia. The collision killed twenty four year old
Bailey Bauer Boom County. Bower co owned the Boom Boutique
in blooming Rose. There will be an arrangment soon for

(24:44):
Leicester and a trial date scheduled. From the Metro News
anchor desk I'm Jeff Jenkins.

Speaker 1 (25:17):
Three or four Talk three or four is the text
line eight hundred and seven sixty five eight two five five.
That is the phone number if you would like to
be part of the show this morning. Coming up second hour,
Fairmont State University political science professor Robert Bolton will join us.

Speaker 6 (25:33):
Friend of the show.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
We gotta get into this conversation a little bit more
in depth today.

Speaker 6 (25:39):
We touched on it a bit yesterday.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
We've touched on a bit over the last couple of days.
Is free speech or is it a new version of
cancel culture? What is your expectation of protected speech. We'll
get into some of that discussion with Robert Bolton coming
up at eleven oh six this morning. Three or four
Talk three or four the text line Over at wv
Metro News dot com. Calm this morning got a recap
of the Monday night high school football game in West Virginia. GWB,

(26:06):
Huntington and Metro News high school football rankings are out
by the Way, presented by tutors Biscuit World, Huntington, Bridgepoard,
Independence and Wahama retain the top spots.

Speaker 6 (26:17):
By the way.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
The first s SAC playoff ratings will be out later today.
They mean absolutely nothing, TJ. But you know they're they're
fun fodder.

Speaker 4 (26:27):
If you're gonna be something to the kids, right, I
mean the kids.

Speaker 1 (26:29):
No, every coach will tell every one of those guys
they mean absolutely nothing.

Speaker 4 (26:33):
Oh, they'll tell them that, but the kids will still
look at them. That's what I told that growing up.
That's why I kid on the team knew where you stood.

Speaker 1 (26:41):
That's why we put the high school rankings out every week.

Speaker 6 (26:45):
They get retweeted a lot. I'm just saying, just you
know what, I think.

Speaker 4 (26:49):
That's important in this era of everybody gets a trophy,
somebody's got to be first, somebody's got to be last, Dave.
And the more opportunity we have to make that point,
I think, the better off we are, and the better
our kids will be with learning how to be disappointed
and moving on and facing adversity. I'm off my soapbox.

Speaker 6 (27:09):
You're off your soapbox.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
Last night in Morgantown, there was a candlelight vigil held
for conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Representatives from Turning Point USA
at WV host of the vigil. There were several hundred
people there last night. Estimates range anywhere from five hundred
to one thousand people on the WVEW Downtown at campus
last night. Got a couple of clips from the from

(27:35):
the event last night, Turning Point USA at W President
William Cosma says he was actually surprised by the turnout
for last night's vigil.

Speaker 17 (27:48):
You know, it was phenomenal. It'd seen my wildest expectations.
I favored we would get a good turnout. I know
people love Charlie, but this is just insane. I mean,
we had probably close to a thousand people and there
were people up on the head bill.

Speaker 4 (28:00):
Couldn't believe it.

Speaker 1 (28:01):
Virginia Lockhart says she remembered Virginia Garrett remembers meeting him
for the first time.

Speaker 18 (28:06):
I'm originally from southern California, went to Pastor Jack Hibbs
church and first met Charlie probably about twenty eighteen ninety
when he came to church. He has an amazing brain.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
And Cameron Lockhart, WW student from Chicago, telling Wajar that
unity is what the country needs right now.

Speaker 19 (28:29):
You look at how people are reacting to this, and
I was worried it would draw gap between the two,
but it's in reality's part. Everyone together to United as one.
I think that's what our country needs right now, and
I think Charlie did a lot for us, and I
think this is exactly what this country needs.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
Craig Erhard is a Fairmont resident and says that this
assassination is eerily reminiscent to what he remembers from the sixties.

Speaker 4 (28:52):
Came up from Fairmont.

Speaker 20 (28:53):
Like the rest of the world, we saw what happened
and just thought it was so unbelievable. I'm an old timer,
but I'm not old enough to know what things were
like when JFK and RFK were assassinated in MLK, but
I sure felt that way watching this.

Speaker 6 (29:06):
Tim Evault also came up from Fairmont for the vigil.

Speaker 7 (29:09):
Don't know that much about him, but I listened to
his podcast. I've heard him debate people, and what I
liked about him was when.

Speaker 4 (29:16):
He debated you, he wasn't manage you.

Speaker 6 (29:19):
He wouldn't manage you.

Speaker 21 (29:21):
He was trying to show you a different way, something new.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
So the sound from last night's vigil. We have a
story posted this morning from w A Jr's Joe Nelson
over at the website wdvmetronews dot com and TJ the
governor announcing there will also be a visual coming up
Thursday at the state capitol Fort Charlie Kirk. So a
couple of the events across a couple of events of

(29:45):
thousands across the country this week remembering Charlie Kirk.

Speaker 4 (29:49):
And I don't think you can deny the influence that
Charlie Kirk had specifically on the conservative youth, and not
even conservative youth, but just youth in and large in
our country. There were a lot of left leaning youths
who found themselves gravitating toward him, toward him to debate
with him. I mean, just look at one of his

(30:09):
look at one of his rallies, and you'll see that
by who shows up and who he interacted with online. Dave,
I've thought a lot about about this, and I'm just
not sure. I know, the Governor of Utah and others
have said that the shooter, the suspect, the murderer, whatever

(30:30):
you want to refer to him as, was a leftist.
Was he a leftist? I mean, when you look at
what was written on the bullet casings.

Speaker 2 (30:40):
Was he.

Speaker 1 (30:43):
Strong indication hang on, no, go on, But what.

Speaker 4 (30:47):
He wrote on the bullet casings would reflect that of
a groper. Gropers are far right, they're far right.

Speaker 6 (30:56):
No, no, far right. No.

Speaker 1 (31:00):
The evidence in this case suggest he was certainly, certainly
a leftist. I think that is a major stretch to
try to make this guy out to be a far
right activist.

Speaker 4 (31:10):
I don't know what he was, is what I was
getting ready to say.

Speaker 6 (31:14):
What was I think the evidence is pretty clear, we'll
give it to me.

Speaker 4 (31:17):
Laid out that he was a leftist.

Speaker 6 (31:19):
He leaned left.

Speaker 1 (31:20):
All the evidence that I have read, through every report
that I have seen.

Speaker 4 (31:24):
I've read the saint he leaned left.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
I mean to try to look, we can talk about
both sides of the aisle, needing to tone down the rhetoric,
needing to tone down the what would Starwalk call it
the stakes.

Speaker 6 (31:38):
All of that is true.

Speaker 1 (31:40):
But to try to make this out like we don't
know what this guy.

Speaker 4 (31:43):
Was, that's just not trying to make it out either way.
I'm just asking questions. So what he wrote on the
bullet casings, then, was that disinformation? Because that's Groper's stuff. Man,
It is anti fascist. Belichow is anti fascist, But a
lot of the other stuff was Groper's and Groper's And
here's where the Republicans have missed, Conservatives have messed up.
We should be stronger on getting people like Fointees and

(32:04):
Gropers and these people out of the movement. They don't belong.
They're way too far right. They're white nationalists. I'm not
saying that this guy was a white nationalist, but I'm
struggling to understand why he wrote that on the on
the casing. Then if he didn't represent maybe it was disinformation.
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (32:20):
Three or four talk three or four is the text line.

Speaker 1 (32:22):
If you don't, no, I just I do not read
not reading the same things you are reading into it
what you are on that one.

Speaker 6 (32:30):
We're totally on different pages. This guy was a leftist,
he was, I'm.

Speaker 4 (32:35):
Not saying he wasn't. What I want to know is
why I'm trying to understand why those groper sayings were
on the bullet casings. I would just like to understand that.
That's all I'm getting at.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
Yeah, well, again, trying to I see what you're saying,
but I just trying to paint him as if he
is not what he is.

Speaker 6 (32:56):
I think it's just a bit disingenuous, that's all I think.

Speaker 4 (32:59):
He well, I think we would both agree he shot
Charlie Kirk because he doesn't agree with Kirk's political intings.
I mean, I think that's fair. I've even been contested
on that. I don't think that holds water at all.
I mean, surely we can all agree that the reason
the guy shot Charlie Kirk is he disagreed with Charlie Kirk.
Can we agree on that at least? But we can't
even find I can't even find agreement on that. The

(33:20):
emails of the texts that we get, you can't even
get agreement on that. I am willing to take a
look at why there were the Groper sayings on the
bullet casings. I'm not saying he wasn't a leftist. I'm
not saying he hadn't gone so far right that he
came all the way around the circle. I'm just trying
to understand how all of this comes together in this

(33:41):
world that we live in today, the modern day Internet,
this movement, and I have a lot of questions about it.
The guy was evil, absolutely, I agree with Kirk on
a lot of things. I'm not trying to take up
for the guy. I'm just trying to understand why that
was there and I don't understand it.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
Coming up, we'll talk to Kristen Berts. She's our Hollywood reporter.
Robert Redford passed away at the age of eighty nine.
We'll get her take on his life and career when
we returns talklineal Metro News Back in a moment.

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Speaker 1 (35:37):
Coming up top of the hour, Friend of the Show
Robert Bolton will join US Delegate Genosharelli from Monengelia County.
We'll stop by at about eleven thirty this morning as well.
Phone lines are open eight hundred seven sixty five talk
text lines three h four talk three oh four. Earlier
this morning, we learned Hollywood legend Robert Redford passed away
at the age of eighty nine. Joining us on Metro

(36:00):
in his talk line this morning, our Hollywood reporter Kristin
Burt's Kristin, good morning. You know, we've really got to
get together on occasions other than just when Hollywood icons
pass away.

Speaker 6 (36:11):
Unfortunately, Robert Redford. There were none bigger.

Speaker 23 (36:16):
Yeah, honestly, this is the loss of a Hollywood legend,
and I feel like the old school Hollywood legend. He's
one of the last great movie stars that we had.
And when you look at the depth of his career
and what he accomplished, it really is incredible. I was
like pulling some highlights and you're thinking, Okay, I know
the movies that he's done. Of course, he's done Barefoot

(36:38):
in the Park and The Way We Were and Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the Sting. And then
you add on his directing career, which was incredible, and
he had the Sundance Film Festival, and he was a
climate activist and he was politically active. It's really incredible
what he accomplished in his eighty nine years.

Speaker 4 (36:53):
What do we know about his death?

Speaker 23 (36:56):
So from the latest reports that we've seen from the
New York Times, it was said that he died in
his sleep overnight.

Speaker 6 (37:05):
Kristin.

Speaker 1 (37:06):
When you think about Robert Redford, or at least when
I do, the first film that jumps to the mind,
the Natural Roy Hobbes, that is the film. Of course,
I'm a baseball fan and that's probably why. But that
is the film that jumps to me. I know he
did obviously much much more in his career, but it's
The Natural that's the one that pops to the mind immediately.

Speaker 23 (37:27):
Yeah, I think absolutely. With The Natural, you think of
like the epitome of a baseball movie, and that's you know,
Robert Redford, like the handsome, like American hero paired together
with America's favorite pastime. I just felt like it was
a natural fit. No pun intended.

Speaker 4 (37:44):
Talk a little bit about more of his skills as
a director. I think most people think have been more
as the actor more so than the director, but talk
about those skills and how he spent his career actually
behind a camera.

Speaker 23 (37:57):
Yeah, I think that's a great point, and a lot
of people might be shocked to learn that he never
won an Oscar for his acting career, which is pretty
incredible to think about given the breadth of his filmography.
But when it comes to directing, he did win Best
Director for Ordinary People in nineteen eighty and I think
that he was one of those who were really able

(38:19):
to transition from in front of the camera to behind
the camera very successfully. A river runs through It is
one of my favorite movies that came out in the
early nineties Quiz Show, another movie that he was nominated for.
He really understood what it took to direct actors, and
I think that's what made him so good in front
of and behind the camera.

Speaker 4 (38:40):
He didn't know he did Quick here.

Speaker 23 (38:42):
You didn't know he did Quiz Show.

Speaker 4 (38:43):
No, I missed that. Didn't know he did that?

Speaker 23 (38:45):
Yeah, and he was nominated, didn't win, but he was
nominated for that. So I just sit there and when
we take a look at this, he was really successful
in just about everything he did.

Speaker 6 (38:55):
Kristen Burt joining us Hollywood reporter Robert Redford passing away.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
At the age of eighty nine. Well we have or
do we have any Hollywood icons? Or is this a
golden age the Redford generation that we're never going to
see quite like that?

Speaker 23 (39:10):
Again, I think you're accurate in saying that. I mean,
you think about it like the Paul Newman's, the Robert Redfords.
Those are the old school Hollywood movie stars. They were
handsome and rugged and good looking, and they made their splash,
you know, in all areas of entertainment. And I think
now when I think of like the last great Hollywood

(39:32):
movie stars. We have Tom Cruise, but Tom Cruise isn't
necessarily jumping into directing or anything else like that. He
loves being a movie star, he likes being in front
of the camera, he likes connecting with fans. And then
it kind of drops off after gen X because things
are so different. Celebrities are very accessible thanks to social media,
and the Hollywood landscape has changed tremendously. So I do

(39:56):
think that Robert Redford represents kind of the last of
his general.

Speaker 4 (40:01):
Off screen out of the industry. What do we know
about him personally? Was he a family man? What did
he like to do?

Speaker 23 (40:08):
Yeah, Robert Redford was very private. He passed away in Provo, Utah,
so he spent most of his personal years outside of
the California landscape. And he was married twice. His first
marriage lasted twenty seven years. They divorced in nineteen eighty five,
and then he remarried in two thousand and nine. And

(40:28):
he had four kids. One child died of skids pretty
early on, I think about two months in and then
his son Jamie died a couple of years ago from cancer.
So he's survived by two daughters and several grandchildren, and
I think one of the biggest legacies he has is
going to be the Sun Dance Film Festival, because he
really ushered in a wave of independent cinema that carried

(40:51):
us through the nineties and even through today. We see
now independent cinema is a little bit different. It winds
up on streamers now. But the festival has grown so
big that it is leaving Park City and it is
moving to Boulder, Colorado. In twenty twenty seven.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
Kristin Burt, Hollywood reporter Robert Redford passing away at the
age of eighty nine. Kristin, thanks for joining us in. Seriously,
we have to do this one time when we're not
talking about another Hollywood icon whos passed away.

Speaker 23 (41:21):
Absolutely, I know we do wildfires, Hollywood deaths. Let's find
something happy.

Speaker 6 (41:25):
We'll find some good news next time.

Speaker 11 (41:26):
Let's do it.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
Thank you, Kristen Burt, Hollywood reporter. We'll get to your calls.
Got actually one call. Steve's holding on from Burnsville. We'll
get to your call. We'll get to text as well.
This is talk line from the ENCVE Insurance Studios.

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Speaker 6 (43:49):
So go ahead, play.

Speaker 1 (43:50):
Today, Steven Burnsville, what's on your mind, Steve.

Speaker 18 (43:58):
Well?

Speaker 27 (43:58):
I just listen to the conversation just having with your
broadcast partner. They're kind of trying to attribute this guy's
motivation to the fire where and this is just part
of the problem. You got on the bullet casing catch fascists.
He had written some Italian anti fascist song lyrics on

(44:21):
the bullet His family said that he had vim disagreements
with Charlie Kirk, the guy's living with a transgender person.
None of these things, if you look at him objectively,
would even remotely point towards the right. And there's the problem.
In order to fix anything, first you have to have

(44:44):
clear accountability for what's going on. And if you try
and if you're trying to obvious gate, what's obvious and
even the Governor of Utah said, everything in our investigation
to date points to that kind of thing. But this
obvious station or try and deflect, and try and put

(45:07):
this thing somewhere where it doesn't belong, only muddies of water,
and that makes people more angry. So I don't think
that type of conversation helps anything in any way.

Speaker 6 (45:18):
Shaking your form, Steve, appreciate the phone call. Thanks for listening, buddy.

Speaker 11 (45:23):
All right, thank you, you're welcome.

Speaker 6 (45:24):
Eight hundred and seven to sixty five. Talk.

Speaker 1 (45:26):
Let's get in a couple of text three or four
talk three oh four. Clint Eastwood is the last of
that generation.

Speaker 6 (45:32):
That's that's fair.

Speaker 1 (45:33):
Clint Eastwood is probably the last of the Hollywood icons
Dirty Harry, Yeah, I guess Tom is Tom Cruise, Well,
he'd be the last great Hollywood icon.

Speaker 4 (45:44):
How old is Tom Cruise?

Speaker 18 (45:45):
Now?

Speaker 6 (45:46):
Tom Cruise doesn't age. Tom Cruise has looked the same
for the last thirty five years.

Speaker 4 (45:51):
No, that's true. I can't, I honestly cannot recall how
old he is, though.

Speaker 1 (45:56):
Let's see DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Samu L. Jackson,
Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford. Yeah, but Cruise is sixty three. No,
he's sixty three.

Speaker 4 (46:10):
The old Google machine says he was born July third,
nineteen sixty two, making him sixty three years of age.

Speaker 1 (46:17):
Like I said, he's looked the same for the last
thirty five years. Harrison Ford, Denzel maybe, but I don't
think they rise to Robert Redford's status, do they.

Speaker 4 (46:29):
I think it's just a different time, you know, because
in the age of Cruise, in the age of Denzel,
I mean, you've got the small screen, You've got the
Netflix stuff that kind of came in during their era
and all that. I mean Robert red he had the
big screen and that was it. Yeah, you know what
I mean, and that that generation. I think it's fair
to say he's the last of that.

Speaker 6 (46:48):
Al Pacino you throw him in that category.

Speaker 4 (46:50):
Ooh maybe al Pacino gets a little of both worlds.
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (46:59):
He was also so had He was also head of Hydra,
Hell Hydra. What am I missing here? There's gotta be more?

Speaker 1 (47:05):
Oh uh that Redford warned, Okay, some of these texts,
I gotta read them before I start reading them, all right, Sorry.
Air on the Host second hour, coming up to talk
line on Metro News, the voice of West Virginia.

Speaker 2 (47:28):
Visit encova dot com to learn more.

Speaker 1 (47:40):
Our number two Metro News talk line eight hundred and
seven to sixty five Talk is the phone number eight
hundred and seven sixty five eight two five five. You
can text the show at three oh four Talk three
oh four. Jake Link is our video producer on Metro
News Television, and Ethan Collins is running the phones and
handling the audio side of things. Coming up on Ague

(48:01):
County Tellinggate. Gino Shrelli will join us at the bottom
of the hour. Once again, say good morning to TJ Meadows.
He's in the Charleston Bureau. Good morning, TJ.

Speaker 4 (48:10):
Good morning Dave. The private text line is going crazy.

Speaker 6 (48:13):
Oh it is.

Speaker 4 (48:14):
People think I've lost my mind because I'm asking questions.

Speaker 6 (48:17):
Well, they may not be far off. They may not
be far off. Gino will join us.

Speaker 1 (48:23):
He was one of the one of those in attendance
last night at the Charlie Kirk vigil in Morgantown. We'll
talk to him about last night's vigil. And Kirk's influence
on his political career coming up bottom of the hour.
So one of the other conversations that's come out of
this tragedy from last week is.

Speaker 6 (48:43):
Freedom of speech.

Speaker 1 (48:44):
First Amendment protected speech because many people took to social
media and posted their thoughts which were celebratory in nature
to the death of Charlie Kirk, and they have lost
their jobs because that they've been fired, they have been
pointed out on social media. Robert Bolton is a political

(49:04):
science professor at Fairmount State University. He and his students
were having some of these very conversations yesterday about freedom
of speech, about the Fifth Amendment, about whether or not
to that First Amendment.

Speaker 6 (49:15):
Yes, I mentioned the.

Speaker 1 (49:16):
Fifth We'll get to that as well, but whether or
not the First Amendment carries over to the workplace, all
the above we will discuss. Robert Bolton joins us on
Metro News talk Line this morning. Robert, good morning, Glad
you can join us.

Speaker 5 (49:27):
Good morning, Dave, Good morning, TJ. Always glad to be on.

Speaker 1 (49:30):
I'm not even sure where to start this conversation because
there's a broad take I've seen some of the news
networks have been talking about this. I guess just generally,
what's your take as people went on social media and
in many instances celebrated the death of Charlie Kirk and
then we're relieved of their jobs because of it.

Speaker 5 (49:53):
Well, first and foremost, I think it goes without saying
that celebrating anyone's death, especially someone who who was not
engaging in any type of violent activity, who was expressing
his opinion on a college campus, I think that's personally
a very shameful pattern of behavior if you're lauding or

(50:14):
praising or celebrating his death. Whether or not you agree
with Charlie Kirk or found some of his opinions odious,
the fact of the matter is is that was a
man with a wife and with two very young children,
at least one of whom I know was there and
witnessed her father's murder. So, in my opinion, it's incredibly
poor taste to celebrate his death. But in regard to

(50:37):
the employment aspect of it, yes, you've seen many people fired.
When I was on Facebook just a few hours after
his murder, it was making the rounds that there was
an employee of West Virginia University who was basically celebratory
about mister Kirk's death, and then there was a professor

(50:57):
out of Middle Tennessee State University. I believe it was
who ended up being fired, or maybe she was a dean.
Now that I'm thinking about who ended up being fired,
and I know that there have been calls for termination
elsewhere throughout the United States.

Speaker 4 (51:12):
Robert is hate speech protected under the.

Speaker 5 (51:16):
Constitution, Absolutely, no questions about it. Again, I want this
is part of the conversation I was having with my
students yesterday. If you go to many different countries in Europe,
for Germany, for example, which obviously has a history of Nazism,
where during World War Two it engage its leadership engaged

(51:37):
in genocide, even today engaging what some people might term
hate speech, so denying the Holocaust, targeting particular ethnic groups
or individuals because of their background can result in criminal prosecution.
When I was in law school, I actually had a
roommate one year who was from Germany, and he's one

(52:00):
time remarked somewhat flabbergast that he did not understand why
in the United States we did not prosecute those individuals.
He said, in Germany, we don't want anything like that
to happen again. But no in the United States. As
a legal matter, there is no such thing as hate
speech in regard to criminal liability. If you denied the Holocaust,

(52:23):
if you said you did not like a particular ethnic
or religious group, or if you did not like an
individual person and that you generally hoped that they would die,
that is protected. And my argument to my roommate back
when I was in law school, and it's the same
argument I have today, is look, there's a lot of

(52:44):
odious speech out there, but you've got a constitutional right
to be a jerk. And I would much rather someone
who is, say a neo Nazi, be able to express
their views, even though I find them odious, rather than
them attempt to conceal those views and fly under the radar.

(53:04):
Because again, even if it's criminalized, that doesn't mean someone's
going to change their views. It just means they're going
to be more subtle and by implication, more dangerous if
they learn how to message in a careful way where
they tiptoe around criminal liability.

Speaker 1 (53:22):
Talking to Robert Bolton, political science professor at Fairmont State University,
we know the First Amendment does not extend to private employers.
If you say something, post something on social media that
reflects poorly on your employer could costant business.

Speaker 6 (53:36):
They can get rid of you. They can get rid
of you for that.

Speaker 1 (53:38):
What about public employees, That seems to be a trickier area.

Speaker 5 (53:43):
It absolutely is a trickier area. Just one thing briefly
about the private employers about the only exception to that,
because the vast majority of states, and that vast majority
of employment situations, you're an at will employee, So you
can be terminated for any reason as long as because
it's not a few prohibited categories like protection of race.

(54:05):
But there are some exceptions if say you had an
employment contract or there were a few other situations. In
regard to public employment, becomes much more difficult because if
you are working for the government, generally, the Supreme Court
has said that unless it causes a significant disruption in

(54:26):
the workplace or imposes and such an unfair burden on
the government that they cannot effectively function, that you cannot
be terminated just on the basis of your opinions. Now,
if say, for example, you are a law enforcement officer
posting about politics dooring your work shift, you could potentially

(54:49):
be sanctioned and even under some circumstances terminate if it's
doing your work hours, But outside the work hours, it's
very very difficult in order to terminate someone one who
is expressing their personal political views. Even among professors such
as myself, if you are a tenured faculty member, you

(55:10):
can say some pretty odious things both inside of the
classroom and in your private life, and generally that's going
to be protected. There are exceptions to it, there are
limits to it. But compared to private employers, public employers
are much more restricted in what they can sanction their
employees over saying I'd.

Speaker 4 (55:31):
Like to read you a quote from Pam Bondy that's
going around the internet video that hit yesterday. She said, quote,
there's free speech and then there's hate speech, and there
is no place, especially now, especially what happened to Charlie
in our society. We will absolutely target you, go after
you if you are targeting anyone with hate speech. What
are your reflections on that quote?

Speaker 5 (55:54):
Without knowing all of the broader content of her speech
where she gave that, or a answer that question, I
will say in general what I said a moment ago,
that hate speech is not something that is criminally sanctionable
in the United States. Now that again doesn't mean that
if you're a public employee, they may not review your

(56:15):
employment record or your conduct on the job, and you
may be inviting additional attention for yourself. But and also
in mister Kirk's case, the big difference is that it
wasn't just speech. This poor man was murdered in front
of thousands of people. That by all means please investigate
the killer, and I hope that they prosecute him to

(56:35):
the full extent of the law. But in regard to targeting, investigating,
and prosecuting people, you have to generally pursue a very
specific threat against someone. If I'll use this as an example,
Under federal law, it is a crime to threaten the
life of the president. If you said, in general, I

(56:57):
hope President X passes away, that is not something that
will result in a criminal or at least will not
result in a successful criminal prosecution. If you said, on
the other hand, I am going to go out and
attempt to shoot President X at the White House tomorrow,
that would be something that you could be prosecuted potentially

(57:21):
for now, the former example I gave of hoping that
that happens, that doesn't mean you're not going to get
a very awkward visit from the Secret Service and they're.

Speaker 4 (57:30):
Going to check you out.

Speaker 5 (57:32):
That you're going to happen. Happens all the time. And
the president. The last number I saw was I think
each president filled something like ten thousand threats per year.
But the vast majority of these people are mentally ill
and aren't really capable of organizing the threats, usually blustering
a bar or on the internet. But yeah, absolutely you

(57:54):
can be investigated for that. But is that going to
result in a successful criminal prosecution if you just say,
I hope in general someone passes away, not a chance.

Speaker 1 (58:04):
Robert Bolton joining US Fairmont State University political science professor.
More of a philosophical question to you, Robert. Several years ago,
during the height of cancel culture, the conservatives, Republicans, the
right were very critical of that, people who would post
their political thoughts and could very well lose their job
because of that. Is this the same thing only on

(58:27):
the other side this time?

Speaker 5 (58:29):
Yeah, I hate to be a little bit cynical about it,
but I do think it is a little bit of
one upsmanship by each side of the political aisle. I've
said oftentimes in my classes that one thing I realized
early in life that I was in God, and having
a little bit of humility and recognizing that I've been

(58:50):
wrong concerned points in my life and have changed my
mind on certain issues. I wish more of the United
States had that perspective. I wish that we were a
little bit more understanding that we're all Americans and we're
all in this together, and that yeah, you know what,
we all have the stereotypical drunk uncle with Thanksgiving who

(59:11):
blathers on and you roll your eyes at their opinions.
But maybe having a little bit of humility and recognizing, look,
the idea of what I think mister Kirk was trying
to get at, having an open conversation, having an open
debate and not trying to ruin someone's life in the process,
even if they express odious views is probably a bit better.

(59:34):
I think the better way rather than just getting someone
fired is maybe approaching them, having a conversation with them
and saying here's why I disagree with you, and trying
to change their mind, because if you get them fired,
more than anything, you're probably going to instill this persecution
mentality in them and make them dig in their heels
even further than they were before they uttered that opinion.

Speaker 4 (59:58):
Let's go back to the founding and the founders were
the founder's genius in that they recognized that protecting free
speech should only apply to government protection and on the
private side, the marketplace of ideas. If an employer fires someone,
then maybe their customers won't use that business or patronize it,

(01:00:21):
or maybe they'll patronize it more. Were the founders and
genius in their thinking there or did they just get lucky?

Speaker 5 (01:00:28):
Maybe a bit of both. I'm a strong believer if
you tried to pull off something like that today, I
don't see how we would be cessful. I think it
would just end up collapsing into chaos. Not that they
were perfect, man, not that they didn't have blots. But
I'd tell my students the United States is the United

(01:00:49):
States has a law of problems. There are many things
that we could do better on. But the one thing
that I truly believe that we do better than any
other country or on the earth is our approach to
free speech. And I do think that there is most
certainly a difference between the private sector and the public realm.
If you are being criminally prosecuted. You're not just having

(01:01:10):
your livelihood taken away. You could potentially be fined, you
could potentially be incarcerated. In the private sector, if you
lose your job, there is always another job out there.
Someone will eventually end up employing you. I do think
the idea of imposing the same type of restrictions on
the private sector in regard to government activity when it

(01:01:31):
comes to restricting speech, I would be very hesitant to
apply that. I do think the Founding Fathers when they
met for the first time in Philadelphia after the Constitution
was raphied and introduced that first Amendment a real, a visionary,
and for its time, completely unprecedented, a radical proposition.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
Robert Bolton, Fairmont State University, Political science professor, Robert, what's
been your student's reaction to all of this over the
last several days.

Speaker 6 (01:02:00):
What are they talking about?

Speaker 5 (01:02:02):
Yeah, I will say, compared to I think what you
see on TikTok or YouTube, most of my students have
their feet pretty firmly planted on the ground. I am
a little bit more optimistic when I talk to them
than when I read the newspaper. Nationwide, there's a variety
of opinions, but I will say that it seems like

(01:02:23):
everyone in my classrooms haven't talked to them one on one,
every one of them, But it seems like all of
them recognize that this was a horrendous murder. Some of
them do have a little bit more skeptical approach in
regard to what we alluded to earlier about whether or
not we should prosecute hate speech, but most of them
do seem to understand that you need to be very

(01:02:45):
careful about that because your side will not always be
in power. Eventually there will be an election that you lose,
and you better hope that the other side doesn't use
the same tools that you used against them, just for
speech and observation.

Speaker 4 (01:03:01):
So do you feel like we're doing a good enough
job then of educating our kids about the Constitution about
their rights? Oh, heavens no, absolutely. I figured you would
go with that.

Speaker 5 (01:03:14):
No, I'm and again, my students are probably better off
than the law of people in this country. There's a
statistic I like telling people, and this is true. If
you ask the average American to name all five rights
protected in the First Amendment, only three percent of Americans
can do that today. And that isn't just me. Some

(01:03:35):
old man with my pants hiked up high saying kids
these days, that's true across the board. Very few young
people take the time to read the Constitution. It's very
rarely taught in class today in a meaningful way. I
have a good friend over in graft and Rich who

(01:03:55):
teaches the high school Civics class, and he invites me
to speak in most years, and I give a talk
on the Bill of Rights, and he's one of the
few teachers I know who really takes the initiative to
do something like that. When you look at broader levels
of knowledge among Americans, it seems like most people don't

(01:04:15):
understand what they're first, fourth, or fifth or sixth Amendment rights,
and that to me is very discouraging. I tell people,
I do not think the younger generation is dumber. I
am not one of those people. I don't think that
they're lazier, but I do find that they generally are

(01:04:35):
more distracted than maybe some of the older generations. And
I think part of that's technology. In some ways, the Internet,
which was supposed to be the information super highway and
it can be an amazingly beneficial tool, has ultimately kind
of evolved into this giant distraction most of the time

(01:04:55):
for them.

Speaker 1 (01:04:57):
Robert Bolton, Fremont State University, political science friend of the show.
Always appreciate your insights. Thanks for coming on with us today.

Speaker 5 (01:05:04):
I always appreciate being on great Talking Loki too, You.

Speaker 1 (01:05:07):
As well, Robert Bolton, Fairmont State University, Political science professor.
We'll get in a couple of text three or four
talk three oh for Gino. Shrelly joins us Bott on
the er Montengay County Delegate. This is talk line from
the Encovie Insurance studios.

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Speaker 3 (01:05:50):
Rafters along the Lower Galy have reported sightings of a
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every boat that passes back to you. Carrie.

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Play.

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Speaker 24 (01:06:19):
Metro News Television app.

Speaker 8 (01:06:27):
It's Metro News shows all day, including.

Speaker 24 (01:06:29):
Talkline, Sports Line, three Guys Before the Game, Metro News,
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Speaker 6 (01:07:08):
Sitting.

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That Fiber built in West Virginia for West Virginia is
expanding to more communities every day, from simple browsing to
ten gig speeds. There's a plan for every need a
visit cittynet, dot nets and connect with a local company
you can trust. Three or four talk three four is

(01:07:29):
the text line? Well, TJ already cheated, But can you
name text us know? Can you review the five rights
in the First Amendment? Go ahead, TJ?

Speaker 6 (01:07:39):
Did you? Did you do it without looking up the
name the five Rights in the First Amendment?

Speaker 2 (01:07:43):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (01:07:43):
No, I carry a little pocket constitution on my phone here.

Speaker 1 (01:07:46):
On the phone. That's a that's a modern day Robert C.
Bird carried always the pocket Constitution.

Speaker 4 (01:07:51):
Yeah, little little pdf you can go to if you
ever need it, because I don't have the memory. But
it's a freedom, religion, freedom speech, freedom of the press,
right to assemble, right to petition the government, which I
would argue the last one. We don't do a lot
these days. But that's the whole point about the house.
You can go into the house and have your congressman
these days.

Speaker 1 (01:08:09):
You know, I did not retain a lot from college.
I'll admit that's probably evident from most of the show.
But one of the things I did retain TJ.

Speaker 6 (01:08:17):
In media law. We had to take a.

Speaker 1 (01:08:19):
Media law class. Dan Hollis was the professor. I think
he still teaches that class. Let me know, folks, Marshall students,
Marshall professors who listen. But one of the very first
thing you had to do in that class if you
were going to pass it, was memorize the first the
five freedoms in the First Amendment mandatory mandatory.

Speaker 6 (01:08:36):
And that stuck.

Speaker 1 (01:08:38):
A lot of the other things he tried to tell
me didn't stick, but that one did. And I'll take
that as a win. Three or four talk three oh four.
All right, we'll get to some more of your text messages.

Speaker 6 (01:08:47):
Coming up.

Speaker 1 (01:08:47):
Gino SHRELLI going to join us. He is a Montague
County delegate. He was attending the vigil on wv's campus
last night. He was also one of the original TPUSA
members on the Morgantel campus.

Speaker 6 (01:09:00):
Will talk about it.

Speaker 1 (01:09:00):
Coming up, Talk Linel Metro News, the Voice of West Virginia.
It is eleven thirty times to get a news update.
Let's check in with the Metro News radio network. Find
out what's happening across the great state of West Virginia.

Speaker 21 (01:09:14):
West Virginia Metro News. I'm Chris Lawrence Marshall University announcing
these schools. President of First Lady Brad and Alice Smith
have done any of fifty million dollars to the school
for the Marshall All In Program. The program is a
groundbreaking ever to ensure that Marshall's students can graduate with
no debt, and it's the largest gift ever to the
school and the largest personal contribution ever made by a

(01:09:35):
sitting president anywhere. Smith said the reason for the substantial
gift is to level the playing field in West Virginia
and Appalachia to try and ensure the dream that every
student with a dream of getting a college degree can
do so. It's estimated north of a thousand people turned
out for last night's candlelight vigil on the WBU campus
in Morgantown for Charlie Kirk. Charleston area resident Virginia Garrett

(01:09:57):
was there. She had a chance to previously meet Kirk.

Speaker 18 (01:10:00):
Originally from southern California, went to Pastor Jack Hibbs Church
and first met Charlie probably about twenty eighteen ninety when
he came to church. He has an amazing brain.

Speaker 21 (01:10:12):
Individual was sponsored by the ww Chapter of Turning Point USA,
the organization Kirk founded. A tragic wreck in Raleigh County,
which has been a sensitive subject for many has now
resulted in an indictment. Destiny Lester of Fairdale now faces
a four county indictment charging her with the death A
Bailey Bauer of Wyoming County from a head on collision

(01:10:33):
that occurred April twentieth on the Coalfield Expressway near Sofia.
You're listening to Metro News for forty years. The voice
of West Virginia.

Speaker 24 (01:10:42):
Metro News Television app.

Speaker 8 (01:10:49):
It's Metro News shows all day, including.

Speaker 24 (01:10:51):
Talk Line, Sports Line, three Guys Before the Game, Metro News,
Middays Hotline, and our new feature State of Minds, right
on your smart TV or streaming device. Get more information
at WV METRONEWSTV dot com. Metro News Television is powered
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Wealth Enhancement, Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration, and Polka Valley.

Speaker 8 (01:11:13):
With the right.

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Recovery takes patience, intention, and a willingness to listen. Every
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(01:11:36):
Learn more at back to Life wv dot org.

Speaker 21 (01:11:41):
The City of Charleston now has twenty seven thousand additional dollars,
which Mayor Goodwin says will be used to pay for
park equipment in North Charleston and Kanas. City money comes
in the form of a check from the state's Unclaimed
Property Fund. Treasurer Larry Pack delivered the windfall to the
mayor at city Hall on Monday. The Treasurer's office has
more than four hundred and seventy three million worth of

(01:12:01):
listings in his database, and everyone's encouraged to go online
and look up your name to see if some of
it may be owed to you. From the Metro News
anchored desk, Guy, I'm Chris Lawrence.

Speaker 1 (01:12:32):
Three or four Talk three or four is the text
line eight hundred and seven to sixty five.

Speaker 6 (01:12:35):
TALK.

Speaker 1 (01:12:36):
That is the phone number David Morgantown TJ in Charleston.
Gino Shirelli is a delegate for Moningelia County. He was,
of course, he's in Morgantown and he was at the
vigil last night held on wu's campus for Charlie Kirk.
It was organized by Turning Point USA at WVEW, the
organization the chapter in Morgantown obviously associated with the found

(01:13:01):
the company or the organization founded by Charlie Kirk. Gino
joined us on Metro News talk line Gino, good morning,
glad you could talk to us.

Speaker 8 (01:13:10):
Good morning, gentlemen.

Speaker 29 (01:13:11):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 6 (01:13:12):
Gino.

Speaker 1 (01:13:13):
You go way back when it comes to TPUSA on
the Morgantown campus. How did you get involved?

Speaker 29 (01:13:19):
So I think about my time slowly getting involved in
politics over the years. And this may come as a
surprise to some, this isn't a secret. I started college
as a Bernie Sanders supporter, believe it or not, so
I had very different views than I do now. But
getting to college, you know, the free exchange of ideas,
the open marketplace of values and ideas. I engaged with

(01:13:42):
a lot of the groups on campus and through my
own personal research, through what I believed, you know, was
my own open mind at the time, I stumbled upon
Turning Point USA early on in its development, and I
gradually became involved with the chapter, and this is almost
ten years ago at this point, and I ended up

(01:14:03):
really feeling like I found a political home with the message,
and I got so involved that I ended my college
career before I graduated as one of the campus coordinators.
So that was one of the reasons why I felt
not only inclined to go to the vigil last night,
but another reason is because on the very lawn where
that vigil was held, I tabled for the organization. I

(01:14:26):
hosted the free speech ball where anybody could come up
and write anything that they want on it. Turning Point
has always been a free speech organization, So seeing all
those people there gathered last night, seeing the growth that
the organization is experienced over the past decade, it was
very powerful.

Speaker 4 (01:14:42):
What were the seeds that Turning Point planted in you
that shifted you politically?

Speaker 29 (01:14:48):
You know, I think that there was this strong emphasis
on you, as an individual, have the capability to shape
your own destiny. You should never be afraid of the
things that you believe in. You should never be afraid
to advocate for them. Go well, have your ideas challenged,
have those tough conversations with people and fight for what
you believe in. I think all of that really helped
to cultivate and and and plant those seeds that have

(01:15:11):
grown into what I believe that I am today.

Speaker 6 (01:15:15):
Gino, that's a one eighty man. I've known you for
a while.

Speaker 1 (01:15:18):
I did not know that part of your story to
go in a Bernie supporter come out on the other
end a conservative. So was it the discussions? Was it
the conversations? I mean, how how did this organization you know,
help mold who you are today as far as your
political views?

Speaker 29 (01:15:35):
Well, I think that there are a lot of aspects
to that. However, I think one of the one of
the biggest things that really sort of got me into
the Bernie Sanders wing in the first place was as
a young man going to college, a lot of the
promises that were made they're they're really you know, they're
they're concentrated down into a couple taglines where they get

(01:15:55):
you with the idea of you shouldn't have to pay
for as much as you as you do. Things should
be easier on you, you know, things you shouldn't have
to pay pay for all these things for healthcare and
in school and whatever, and a lot of it is
very idealistic, and I think that a lot of young
people are really captured by that. But as you get
a little bit of as you get a little older,
you get a little bit more experienced, you start to

(01:16:17):
understand that maybe some of the pie and the sky
ideals that are laid out by the Bernie Sanders type
of crowd, well morally, I think that their heart's in
the right places. Sometimes things don't always work out like that,
so I think a lot of the logistics of the
promises made by that crowd seeing that sort of crumble.
And another thing that I noticed is that the people
that I interacted with in Turning Point and in.

Speaker 5 (01:16:40):
The conservative side of the aisle, it was always.

Speaker 29 (01:16:42):
So nice everyone that I was involved with. It doesn't
matter what you agreed with or disagreed with the people
in Turning Point, even they all didn't agree with each other,
but there was always a chance for a productive conversation,
and it just eventually won me over.

Speaker 4 (01:16:56):
How important is that to just be nice to somebody
when you're espousing your views, not yelling, not being domineering.
How important is that think?

Speaker 29 (01:17:06):
I think that it's it's extremely important, And anybody that
knows anything about Charlie Kirk, know that he was the
champion of that over the past decade. His entire message
since the very beginning was you must be able to
have these conversations, sit down across the table from someone
and be able to talk about it. He only wanted
to have these debates. And I think the most disturbing

(01:17:26):
part of all of this is despite his incessant desire
to argue in debate and have these conversations, they shot him. Anyway.
I think that's a very dark indicator of where we
may be as a country.

Speaker 1 (01:17:39):
Talking to Gino Shirelli, he's Montague County delegate. He attended
the vigil last night on ww's campus. Can you set
the scene for us last night, Gino?

Speaker 27 (01:17:49):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (01:17:49):
Sure.

Speaker 29 (01:17:49):
So I arrived maybe ten after seven o'clock. There was
already a group of about one hundred and fifty to
two hundred people there. I made my way towards the back.
I introduced myself to the Tarning Point president and I
told him that I was interested in speaking because of
my history with the organization. And as the sun slowly
began to set the Life Sciences stairs up here, they

(01:18:10):
were never at empty at any point, people just kept
funneling in, funneling in, funneling in, and where I was standing,
I couldn't really get capture the size of the crowd myself,
but it seems like a lot of people were saying
that there was almost a thousand, potentially over a thousand.
The Life Sciences Green was filled with people and there
was a very somber tone people. A lot of people

(01:18:30):
were crying over it. The crowd was very good. There
was a few incidents, few heckles, but nothing major. What
I saw last night was really really inspired to see
so many people gathered for Charlie.

Speaker 4 (01:18:43):
How was kirk turning point the entire organization. Others have
tried this, you know, they've tried to connect with youth
in college campuses and they flat out failed. I mean,
many conservatives had just written off youth completely. Yet here's
a guy that was able to do it in person,

(01:19:04):
do it and in media how I mean, It's just
I still don't think people have an appreciation of how
he was able to do that.

Speaker 29 (01:19:13):
That's another thing that I was talking about with somebody
last night. I think that the way that Charlie Kirk operated,
his charisma, his business acumen. I think that this put
him in the perfect position to be able to capitalize
on a very big, ideal, idealistic need in this country. People,
young people, young Conservatives, young Republicans wanted a champion. You know,

(01:19:34):
Charlie is a peer. He was only a year older
than me. So I think that his abilities him being
in the right time, at the right place, having the
ability to capture the ear of virtually every young conservative
in America. It is one of the most impressive feats
political feats I think over the past decade is the
building of turning point. I think about when I was

(01:19:56):
just a when I was a campus coordinator there. Our
chapter had twelve members and some of them were tentative.
You know, we didn't have all attendance at every single event.
So to see where it goes from here, I also
think is going to be a testament to Charlie's legacy.

Speaker 1 (01:20:13):
Guino Shreli, Montague County Delegate, joining zero Metro News talk line.
I told Josh Holstein, the Boone County Delegate and chair
of the state Republican Party, last week or it was
a Monday, whenever we spoke to him. Days run together, Geno,
but I told him, I have hope for the next generation,
which would be you, you, Josh Holstein, and the younger generation

(01:20:34):
coming up, that we are going to be able to
figure this out. We're going to get beyond some of
this hardline rhetoric on both sides. We're going to beyond this.
We're going to get back to a point where we
can have conversations and we can govern without vilifying the
other side.

Speaker 6 (01:20:50):
I have faith. I don't know why.

Speaker 1 (01:20:51):
Maybe it's misplaced, you know, but I do believe that
young people who aren't even old enough to vote, or
maybe who are just coming of age now, are watching
everything that goes on and are saying, you know what,
we're not going to do it this way, We're going
to try to do it a better way.

Speaker 6 (01:21:06):
Again.

Speaker 1 (01:21:07):
Maybe misplaced, maybe naive, maybe overly optimistic, glass half full
kind of view, but g you know, I've got hope.
I've got hope for the younger generation.

Speaker 29 (01:21:16):
You know, I understand where you're coming from, and sometimes
it's really difficult to have that hope. I think about
when I initially heard about Charlie getting assassinated, I was
driving back from Charleston, actually, so I was frantically trying
to figure all this out while I was on I
seventy nine. In hindsight, that might have not been the
best idea, but watching the video on my way back

(01:21:38):
from Charleston was one of the one of the hardest
things that I've had to stomach being on the Internet.
And I sometimes worry. I still worry right now about
where we're going and what the future looks like because
a lot of people, especially the people that believed in
Charlie Kirk and his message and his ideas, they want
to have those conversations. That was the entire message. Charlie

(01:22:01):
Kirk was the champion of free speech, and he was
still politically assassinated anyway. So I do have my concerns
going forward. He was killed by a freak deranged leftist.
Sorry TJ. I'll push back on you a little bit
on that one, but I think that there was rhetoric
involved in this, and I think it's getting harder and

(01:22:21):
harder to have these conversations when one side wants to
come to the table and the other side just wants
to murder you.

Speaker 4 (01:22:28):
I'm not saying the guy wasn't a leftist. I'm just
trying to understand what the bullet casings mean. With that said,
I have skeptical hopes, you know, and I think that's
what I'm hearing you say as well, because today's youth
and I think this goes back to this whole message
about what was on these casings. They kind of live

(01:22:50):
on the internet. Man. They don't get out, they don't
have community, they don't care about other people, they don't
develop deep relationships. And minus that, I have my doubts
about how we move forward. I don't know how you
get them to get off of the Internet and really
connect with someone and really know them and care about them.

Speaker 29 (01:23:11):
That's I think that's a good point in Dave, you
and I have talked about that before. When I first
ran there was another incident of some kind where online
people get radicalized in their close knit little circles. I
think that with the proliferation of the Internet, I think, obviously,
with all of its wonderful achievements and advancements that it's
helped us with, I think that there are a lot

(01:23:31):
of drawbacks. I think that COVID was a catalyst in
this where it forced people to be even more online
than they already were. I think we've seen the degradation
and culture and community over the past so many years.
I think it's getting It seems like it's getting a
little bit worse in a lot of ways. So I
think that we have some structural issues in the American

(01:23:51):
communities that are contributing to a lot of these these tragedies.
I think that restoring community, restoring the public emphasis on God.
I think that we have our priorities wrong in society.
It seems like everybody's just funneled into the rat race.
They find like minded people online, and it just creates
these negative FeAs.

Speaker 4 (01:24:11):
Are we addicted? Are the social media big tobacco? Are
we addicted? I hear that all the time. I've got addicted.

Speaker 29 (01:24:17):
I think that a lot of the Internet and the
way that it operates is designed to be as addictive
as possible. A lot of people say, oh, well, it's
just pixels on a screen. I don't think it's that shallow.
I think that there are deeper psychological implications to the
things that people are consuming online, whether it's extremist political content,
whether it's hardcore pornography. I think that people's brains fundamentally

(01:24:41):
work differently than they did prior to the Internet. And
I think that's something that we're going to struggle to
cope with us we continue forward.

Speaker 1 (01:24:46):
Hey, let me give you a little bit of naivete
here to make you feel better.

Speaker 6 (01:24:49):
Both of you.

Speaker 1 (01:24:50):
When we did the Metro News West Virginia poll, what
do we find? Old people are on Facebook, old people
are on Twitter? Now, I know the younger generations will
find new, different social media apps to collaborate on, to
be on to do.

Speaker 6 (01:25:03):
All these things.

Speaker 1 (01:25:06):
Again, maybe it's naive Geno, but I am hoping they
are seeing things going on.

Speaker 6 (01:25:10):
They're going we don't want.

Speaker 1 (01:25:10):
To do it that way, we want to I see
these kids in high school where they get to cover
high school sports. I see the things you say that
don't you gotta say don't exist? That it does exist.
They do have strong bonds. You see this one on
sports teams. You see this in sixteen, seventeen, eighteen year
olds week in week out. Are they different than we
were when we were in high school?

Speaker 6 (01:25:31):
Absolutely?

Speaker 1 (01:25:32):
But every generation is different. I'm I'm going to be optimistic, Gino.

Speaker 6 (01:25:36):
You're not going to bring me down. We're going to
be optimistic here.

Speaker 1 (01:25:38):
In the last thirty seconds of this interview, I just
have they can turn this thing around.

Speaker 29 (01:25:44):
I totally agree with you. I think that optimism is
still important. I think that what we've seen, especially what
feels like over the last couple of years, is this
resurgence in desire, especially young, especially among young people, for
something new. What that means is going to different groups
of young people are going to define that differently. But
young people are inclined for a different way of living.
They want their communities to look differently, and I think

(01:26:06):
that young people are going to be fighting for that
no matter where they fall on any political or social spectrum.
So one thing, one quote that I really would like
to say that I said at the visual last night.
It's from Sore and Kirker guard. I think it's extremely
powerful and relevant. Right now, when the tyrant dies, his
rain ends. But when the martyr dies, his reign begins.
And I think we're going to see a lot of

(01:26:26):
Charlie Kirks moving forward.

Speaker 1 (01:26:28):
Montigue County delling it Gino, Sharelli, good conversation, Appreciate it, Gino.
We'll talk again real soon.

Speaker 29 (01:26:34):
Thanks, gentlemen, take care you as well.

Speaker 6 (01:26:36):
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Speaker 6 (01:28:31):
Three or four Talk three or four is the text line.

Speaker 1 (01:28:35):
I agree with TJ that we do not know if
the murderer of Kirk was a leftist or not enough
info yet. Do not make the same mistake the cash
Ptel and a lot of others made in the same case,
judging before you have sufficient evidence.

Speaker 6 (01:28:47):
We've got a lot of it.

Speaker 1 (01:28:49):
We've got a lot of evidence that would support the
idea that this was someone who pleaned left politically. I mean,
it's out there. There's a lot of evidence out there.
Are there questions, absolutely, there are questions to answer, but
there's a lot of evidence to indicate this individual was
left politically, left leaning politically to say the least. And

(01:29:11):
also common sense, common sense would at least lead me
in a direction. Why would a right winger want to
kill Charlie Kirk. It would have to be somebody that's
so far right wing. He's way past Charlie Kirk for
not being right wing enough. At least common sense would
dictate that.

Speaker 6 (01:29:28):
To me.

Speaker 4 (01:29:29):
TJ. Well, if say a stick in my head in
the lion's mouth, I mean, that's what groper's belief. They
believe Charlie Kirk wasn't far right enough. I am not
saying this assassin was a groper. He may very well
be far left. And you're right, the transgender ideology. All
of that adds up. All I'm saying is and this

(01:29:50):
is on me. When I looked at those bullet casings,
I didn't appreciate the memes and how it plays into
today's Internet generation. And I've looked at that deeper. Maybe
that was disinformation on his part, Dave, and the way
he used it outside of Belichow, which is very much
Italian anti fascists, the other markings, Hell two divers, the

(01:30:13):
video game things that tend to be in that Groper pickup.
I just have questions about why it's there, That's all
I'm saying. I'm just trying to understand. Again, could be disinformation.
I don't know. I'm just trying to understand why he
used those same terms that those tend to pick up on.

Speaker 1 (01:30:29):
And those are fair questions where I took exception and
still take exception the idea that this person can be
painted as not as someone who comes from the left politically,
And look, this was a political assassination. So his ideology,
his thinking why he did it, that all plays a
factor into this.

Speaker 6 (01:30:49):
That all plays a factor into this.

Speaker 4 (01:30:50):
Well, maybe he's both. I mean, I don't know, maybe
you can be a groper and a far leftist with
certain things. I don't know. Everything's off the table these days,
or I mean it is three.

Speaker 1 (01:31:00):
Or four talk three four. Don't back down from your questions, TJ,
says the Texter.

Speaker 4 (01:31:05):
Look, I'm not backing down and I'm not trying to
be a jerk about it. I'm just asking questions. So
I don't know, don't put words in my mouth. I
appreciate the comment. All I am asking is I just
want to know what those bullet casings mean. And I'm
trying to understand this. I think we can all agree
the guy assassinated Charlie Kirk because he took exception with
what Kirk said and the speech that Kirk had. That's wrong.

(01:31:27):
Guy was evil. I'm just trying to understand what it
all means and I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:31:31):
Sorry, Texter says, we did not know he was a leftist.
We absolutely do not know that he did not agree
with Charlie.

Speaker 6 (01:31:38):
Kirk, but we don't know that he was a leftist.

Speaker 1 (01:31:39):
You're not looking at all the evidence, You're only looking
at the right. Again, there is a ton of evidence
to suggest in fact.

Speaker 4 (01:31:46):
Is you're not mad at me? Are you?

Speaker 6 (01:31:48):
No?

Speaker 4 (01:31:49):
Okay, just making sure I'm mad.

Speaker 6 (01:31:51):
All right, I gotta take a final break back in
a moment.

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Speaker 1 (01:33:15):
A couple of texts three or four talk three oh
four before we call on today, Texter says, we let
the Internet raise the generation of kids, and it is
spitting a lot of them out so radical that they're
essentially nihilistic and anarchist. That's why you are having such
a hard time figuring these kids out. They have been
fed so much propaganda that when they went through the

(01:33:36):
entire political spectrum, pieced together parts of this and that
and morphed into nothingness. Compound that with the ever growing
wealth gap, and you have yourself an army of nothingness
hiding in plane sight, says the texter. Guys, it's very
hard for people on one side to admit that they
might have messed up a person, even on their side.

(01:33:57):
It's always the other side, says the texter.

Speaker 6 (01:34:01):
So why do we do?

Speaker 5 (01:34:03):
So?

Speaker 1 (01:34:03):
What do we do if the murderer's politics are left
one nut giving us an excuse to hate more? Shame
on you guys throwing gas on this horrible fire. No,
I don't think it's throwing gas on the horrible fire.
But it is part of the story. To understand what
motivated this individual and why they acted on that. That
is part of the story. We have said all weeks,
since last week, everyone needs to bring the temperature in

(01:34:25):
the room down. Everyone needs to bring down the rhetoric
and the stakes when we have political conversations.

Speaker 6 (01:34:31):
All right, Gonna end it there.

Speaker 1 (01:34:32):
Metro News Middays coming up next, David, Amanda, We'll talk
to you tomorrow ten oh six on talk line. Metro News,
the Voice of West Virginia.

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Talkline | Sept. 16, 2025

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