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. A person of interest was in custody, officials said.
“My heart is breaking at the devastating news of Charlie Kirk’s death,” said ALGOP Chairman John Wahl. “Charlie dedicated his life to inspiring and energizing conservative young people across the country, giving them hope and a voice in America’s future. His loss is not only a tragedy for his family and loved ones, but for an entire generation that he empowered to stand for freedom.”
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.
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. He 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.
“We must stand united against political violence in every form,” Chairman Wahl added. “What happened to Charlie Kirk is more than an attack on one man—it is an attack on the very freedoms that define our nation. Free speech, peaceful dialogue, and the open exchange of ideas are the cornerstones of our Republic. When violence replaces debate, when intimidation replaces dialogue, we all lose. America must send a clear message that political violence will never be tolerated. We honor Charlie’s legacy by rededicating ourselves to civility, to courage, and to protecting the sacred right of every citizen to speak without fear.”
The shooter reportedly wore dark clothing and fired from a roof on campus some distance away. The death was announced on social media by Donald 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.”
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.”
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.
