(AP) — Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in what the governor called a political assassination carried out from a rooftop. A person of interest was in custody, officials said.
“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. “I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”
Authorities did not immediately identify the person in custody, a motive or any criminal charges, but the circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to an escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.
People were seen exiting a building on Utah Valley University after Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot Wednesday at an event on campus.
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The Associated Press was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.
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Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” the person asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”
The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.
Then a single shot rang out. The shooter, who Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a roof on campus some distance away.
The death was announced on social media by Trump, who praised the 31-year-old Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, as “Great, and even Legendary.”
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AP AUDIO: Conservative activist Charlie Kirk in critical condition after being shot at Utah college event
AP correspondent Haya Panjwani reports on an attack on Charlie Kirk.
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account.
Utah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated and remained closed. Classes were canceled until further notice. Those still on campus were asked to stay in place until police officers could safely escort them off campus. Armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for information on the shooter.
Officers were seen looking at a photo on their phones and showing it to people to see if they recognized a person of interest.
The event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
The shooting drew swift condemnation across the political aisle as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last March hosted Kirk on his podcast, posted on X.
“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.
The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major parties. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year.
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at Wednesday’s event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.
“It seemed like it was a close shot,” Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.
He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.
“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”
Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.
But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.
Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.
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Richer and Sherman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Michael Biesecker, Brian Slodysko, Lindsay Whitehurst and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.
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May his soul rest in peace.
Political violence shows the state of USA, he was a victim of his own preaching. Even though he talked hateful things to empower hateful actions this will one be used as justification for more political violence.
It’s sad that they have this and a mass shooting minutes of eachother and will never implement gun laws.
@Young Antiguan Communist. You are clearly the pure example of leftist people who 0 tolerance. You even mention “he talked hateful things” is very disgusting and show a very clear soulness of your personality. People like you confuse hate speech with the speech that you hate. Only people with lack of arguments co sider the way he debate as a “hateful” because don’t have a solid argument to debate and prefer to jump to “Ohh you spread hate” and I wish you the dead. That is what you are doing also. I saw lot of videos of people feeling joy about this, lot of universities students laughing at this and that speaks loud about this generation of humans. “Hate speech” the words of leftist movement that regardless where they live, they are the same that prefer to kill or celebrate the death of someone than have serious political debate.
Arnaldo why do you think I am celebrating his death? When did I say he deserved it?
Obviously I don’t agree with a white supremacist as a black man but at the end of the day until the motive is out I just see it as the state of America and it’s unrest by political oppression. Weather it’s people angry at the ICE raids, Americas support of Israel or the cutting of the number of little government programs.
The killing of this political figure doesn’t tells me anything different from the killing of the democrat political that was killed a couple months ago. That people are angry and America has 3x more guns than people living there so gun violence isn’t rare.
@Arnaldo
No need to demonize “Young Antiguan Communist” for his/her opinions which, I am sure are shared by many, and to which he/she is fully entitled. Conservatives like Kirk and the politician he so greatly admired , with 0- tolerance for diversity of any kind, might very well have contributed to his unfortunate demise. One major question raised by Arnaldo is that of gun control. In light of the repeated senseless shooting of innocent “bystanders” , when will today’s US government officials realize that their cultural, shameful past of cowboys vs Indians, of bar saloons and shootouts – Dodge City style – are outdated, distasteful, shameful self-destructive and reflective of a decadent culture rapidly on the road to total self
destruction.
Absolutely tragic.
Everyone is talking because of the gentleman’s popularity in the conservative movement. But tons of people are killed yearly by guns in the US. The United States has an affinity and likeness for guns and until that is addressed and corrected, they will always have these devastating gun incidences. Guns in the hands of the wrong persons are dangerous.
First and foremost he is a Christian and its really weird how people are making this solely about politics like he didnt spread Jesus and the gospel in every possible situation
All of your are blinded and that’s how the devil wants you. Blinded. He himself said he is first a Christian and he taught Godly values and they came out in every chance to answer a question. He left behind a very very young family. You people are sick
He spoke things into reality.. racist AF… no need to apologize for my words … like Scarface once said you NEED PEOPLE LIKE ME TO POINT AND SAY THATS A BAD GUY… Albert Einstein quotes the world will be destroyed not by those who do evil but by those who “WATCH” and do nothing….
All leftist talk about diversity and are the one who doesn’t want diversity of opinions when they dominate a country. Anybody can openly debate and express in capitalism society. But nobody can do the same in socialist society where the slogan is “Everything with the state, nothing against it” Kirk spread the Christianity more than yours, almost all leftist hate Christianity. You hate everyone who is rich. You talk about Palestinine because Israel is rich country VS a poor country. Because There is a lot of genocide right now and for the last decades happening in Africa. And none of yours talk about it Because is genocide between poors..Nobody is rich and they are involved in a no stop wars and genocide between factions. Every single year thousands of innocent people die in Africa due internals conflict of interest. But you make silent about it an none of you pull up a flag of those country in support them. But of course, Israel is rich, and Palestinians are poor, let’s pull up high the flag of this poor country, but turn eyes yo the other side of conflicts that is happening in Africa, ours ancestors land is being covered with red, but is better to support Arabs..Yeah..Hurra for Arabs, not hurra for Africans..Pure hypocrisy.
It’s not about taking sides. It’s about LISTENING to one another. It’s about coming to the table civilized, mature and respectful humans. What ever happened to that?
When you have a president who favors ALL and *ANY type* of gun in everyday life (card carrying or not) a president who uses name calling as a regular response, bullying, lying and relies on using a “get even” tactic as an acceptable means of communication, a president who is a proven felon, rapist & racist, what other outcome do you expect? The “temperature” in the US (and spilling over across the world) – is one of hostility, hatred, negativity, anger, lying, hopelessness’s and depression all across the board.
If anyone’s loved one (friends, family member, etc) was on the receiving end of any of those how would you react then? Sadly so many people already know. And this isn’t about budgets or bottom lines. It’s about being civil, treating people with kindness & listening.
It’s unthinkable that there are still people who think there is actually an ounce of human decency in this monster. If you learned your daughter’s (or sister, mom, niece or any woman you care about) new boyfriend or husband spoke to people like that, constantly lied, called people names, unkind, threatens when he doesn’t get his way, a convicted felon, rapist & a racist – would you be in favor of their dating or marrying him?
America. We can do better. So much better.
@an Antiguan: the operative catchy word here to you is christian, Christopher Columbus was a Christian, and so to was all our ancestors slave master, when the white murderers was moving the Africans from the mother country to enslavement around the world the ship was named Jesus, the priest had the bible to save the ammunition that they had to waste on our forefathers, this is why the christians and church system let netanyahu and Israel gets away with genocide because the name Israel is conflated with a historical place that was man made by moving Germans into Palestine in the 1940’s and call them Israelites, so christians think it’s the bible and Christianity will that make netanyahu and Israel entitled to murder people who are black or not pure white as Hitler taught these Germans, Christianity is one of the most destructive force on this earth, all these violence because of different religious beliefs, sectarian violence.
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