The assassination of Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus Wednesday has ignited warnings from Dr. Drew Pinsky, who described it as a symptom of a dangerous societal shift. 

“Whenever mass murder has occurred, it’s always been in a setting of dehumanization, always,” Pinsky said on “Hannity” just hours after the Turning Point USA founder was shot and killed. 

He explained that mobs often begin by scapegoating and stripping rivals of their humanity, which they believe ultimately gives them permission for violence.

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CHARLIE KIRK

“One of the things that mobs do is they scapegoat, they first dehumanize,” said Pinsky, chief patient officer at The Wellness Company.

“And once they’re scapegoating, they go for blood.”

According to Pinsky, this mindset has caused some in the public to dissociate from public figures, reducing them to “cartoon characters” rather than people with lives. He argued that hateful online rhetoric merges into real-world violence. 

“They feel at their liberty to act out on them, again, in the mob of social media. But the reality is this is bad for everybody’s soul.”

CHARLIE KIRK PAINTED AS ‘CONTROVERSIAL,’ ‘PROVOCATIVE’ IN MEDIA’S ASSASSINATION COVERAGE

Kirk’s death is the latest in a string of violent attacks on conservative figures. The shooting comes about a year after the two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump during a roughly two-month stretch in 2024. 

The 31-year-old father of two was known as a staunch Trump supporter and spent years touring the country, promoting conservative values to younger audiences. He was widely known online for the open debates he’d host on college campuses. 

Pinsky suggested that Kirk’s outspoken defense of his beliefs is what made him a target.  

VIGILS HELD ACROSS US AFTER ASSASSINATION OF CHARLIE KIRK: ‘WE MUST HEAL’

“Charlie, [was] somebody who stood for morality and truth,” he said. 

“We have people in this country so brainwashed that they believe that is a sign of somebody consorting with evil.”

Trump gave an address to the nation in the wake of the attack, calling the perpetrator a “monster” and describing the assassination as a dark moment for America.

Despite the heartbreak for many around the country, Pinsky believes Kirk’s influence will continue long after his death. 

“Charlie has created institutions that will go on and his memory will survive. And he can be a martyr in the name of good,” said Pinsky. 

“Doesn’t help his family, doesn’t help his children, but we can make sure that he doesn’t die in vain.”