Salt Lake Trib runs 'hole-in-the-head' comic suggesting a call for violence against Utah GOP lawmakers

Less than a month after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the leftist media outlet in Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune, published a cartoon from Pat Bagley depicting a "Hole-in-the-Head Gang" featuring the US Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis, as well as Reps. Burgess Owens, Blake Moore, Mike Kennedy, and Celeste Maloy, suggesting a call for violence against the lawmakers. 

The cartoon depicted the congressmen in a "wanted" poster with red around each lawmaker's neck. In September, Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was killed in an assassination in Utah, in which he was shot in the neck.

The title of the cartoon originally stated, "Bagley Cartoon: The Hole-in-the-Head Gang." Andrew Kolvet, a close friend of Kirk as well as the spokesman for TPUSA, said, "Less than a month removed from Charlie's assassination in Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune published this cartoon entitled 'The Hole-in-the-Head Gang' depicting a wanted poster with elected officials from the state (with red around the neck?!)."

Lee told The Post Millennial, "The Salt Lake Tribune descended into rabid leftist partisanship long ago. I don’t know anyone who reads it."

The "cartoon" was published on October 7 but was later updated on October 9 with an editor's note that read, "The headline on this cartoon has been updated because the original did not meet our standards for publication. We know words matter. We try to be intentional about the words we use and we regret this error."

Kirk was shot to death when he was speaking to students at Utah Valley University on September 10. Tyler Robinson, a man who was deeply involved in leftist ideology as well as had been dating his roommate who identifies as transgender, has been charged with Kirk's murder and is facing the death penalty in Utah if found guilty.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall has previously named a day after Bagley in Utah, calling May 31, 2025, "Pat Bagley Day." Earlier this year, Bagley moved to Portugal, stating on social media that the move stemmed from President Donald Trump and called MAGA "full-on fascist."