In the days following the shocking assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, public figures from across the spectrum have spoken out — some in mourning, others in protest, and some, like WNBA star Natasha Cloud, with a call to action.
Cloud, a prominent voice in sports activism and a standout guard for the New York Liberty, took to X with a raw, emotional plea for gun reform.
Her message, written in capital letters, was unmistakable: “I AM TIIIRRREEEED.” The sentiment was not aimed directly at Kirk’s political identity, but at the broader epidemic of gun violence in America — an issue that, as she pointedly noted, "doesn’t discriminate."
I need yall to care about CHILDREN this way.
I need yall in an uproar that we’ve had 46 school shootings THIS YEAR (2025) .
& still legislation surrounding deadly weapons won’t change.
Idk how yall operate with hypocrisy & gaslighting ideologies everyday.
— Natasha Cloud (@T_Cloud4) September 11, 2025
Her plea arrived in tandem with another act of violence — a Denver-area school shooting that left three teenagers critically injured. To Cloud, these tragedies are connected not by ideology, but by inertia — the failure, as she sees it, to act on what she described as “controllables.”
“Your 2nd amendment was written for guns that took powder. Not military grade weapons,” she wrote, adding that America leads the world in gun-related deaths. The post wasn’t about partisanship — it was a visceral cry from someone who’s seen far too many headlines like this one.
She later blasted what she called the “reckless” habit of sending prayers instead of passing policy, writing, “Gun violence doesn’t discriminate. Doesn’t matter what dumba-- party you’re a part of.”
While Cloud’s frustration tapped into one side of the national debate, President Donald Trump delivered a very different message from the White House, announcing that Charlie Kirk would posthumously receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian honor in the United States.
“Charlie was a giant of his generation,” Trump said Thursday. “A champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people.” He praised Kirk’s devotion to conservative principles, his impact on America’s youth, and the strength of his family, particularly his widow, Erika, and their two young children.