Imagine turning on the TV and hearing a well-paid broadcaster casually suggest that homeless people — many of them veterans — deserve a lethal injection. That’s not satire. That’s not hyperbole. That’s what Fox’s Brian Kilmeade said on air.

On Legal AF, attorney Michael Popok broke it down: calling for extermination isn’t just indecent, it may well be criminal. Under New York law, charges could include criminal solicitation, hate-crime enhancement, aggravated harassment, or even making a terrorist threat to coerce a civilian population. Add in FCC decency concerns, and the case is clear: this wasn’t “free speech.” It was an incitement.

And yet, no one on that Fox couch pushed back. No outrage. No demand for accountability. Just silence, until a half-hearted apology trickled out under fire.

What I Saw Firsthand

This story hits me in a personal way. Last year I worked a short-term assignment with a nonprofit serving the homeless community in Springfield, Missouri. My time there was brief — just a few months — but it left a lasting imprint.

I remember one day in pouring rain. It was the kind of cold rain that cuts right through you. People stumbled through the doors, soaked and shivering, looking for shelter. A young woman in her twenties came in with her dog — both dripping. She asked, quietly, “Do you have any dry clothing?” We didn’t always have what people needed, but I dug through a bucket of donated things my boss said to clear out and found a small shirt that might work. I walked to where she was resting, sat down beside her, and whispered, “I found something for you.”

What she did next broke me open: with the softest, grateful voice she scooped her dog to her chest, slid the dry shirt over him, and crooned, “Come here, buddy — you’re cold.” The tenderness of that moment — a woman, ragged and exhausted, caring for a dog as if for family — showed me everything about who these people really are.

Another time a young man asked if we had a stylus. I didn’t in that moment, but that night I went home and grabbed several I had and brought them back the next day. He didn’t return for weeks. When he finally did, I recognized him immediately and asked, “Do you still need that stylus?” He was off-guard, stunned that someone remembered. His gratitude was quiet and deep.

I used to buy bus passes with my own money for people trying to get to appointments or job interviews. Small things. Tiny acts that cost me very little but meant the world to someone else.

That’s why Kilmeade’s words hit me like a slap — not just indecent, but a denial of the humanity I’ve seen firsthand.

The Real Obscenity

When I first heard his words, I wasn’t amused — I was furious. I hate to be foul, but my first thought was: who the fuck are you, Brian Kilmeade? Who are you to decide who gets to live or die? Sitting in a studio, paid millions, with the audacity to call for killing homeless people like it’s a punchline. That’s not commentary. That’s cruelty dressed up for TV.

Kilmeade’s words weren’t just cruel — they were obscene. Out of touch much? Callous much? Hateful… accountable ever? And Fox News no less. Should we expect more at this point? Or has the bar fallen so low that genocide-lite “jokes” now slip by as entertainment?

Here’s the truth: homelessness is not a crime. It’s a reflection of systemic failures — lack of affordable housing, untreated mental illness, addiction without access to care, broken safety nets. Many on the streets are veterans who risked their lives for a country now willing to dismiss them as disposable.

To suggest killing them outright is not only gross, it’s dangerous. Words like this normalize violence. They give tacit permission to audiences already primed for cruelty. And if accountability doesn’t come from the FCC, from prosecutors, or from Fox’s own leadership, then what hope do we have for decency in public discourse?

Choosing Humanity

The brief time I spent with the homeless community changed me. It taught me that compassion — not cruelty — is what binds us. That a warm shirt, a remembered question, a bus pass, or a kind word can ripple outward in ways we never see. Those tiny acts are not charity theatre; they are lifelines.

Fox may be comfortable broadcasting hate. We do not have to be comfortable watching it. We can demand accountability. We can choose compassion over cruelty, kindness over callousness.

Because at the end of the day, the question isn’t just about Brian Kilmeade. It’s about us.

I know, because I’ve been there.
I know, because I’ve seen their faces.

What kind of world do we want — one where media normalizes violence, or one where kindness still has a seat at the table?

P.S. If you haven’t checked out Legal AF, do it. Michael Popok’s commentary on this was sharp, unflinching, and necessary. He deserves credit for calling it what it is: criminal.