Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a powerful take on the assassination of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, saying, "once again, a bullet has silenced the most eloquent truth teller of an era."
As my RedState colleague Jennifer Van Laar reported, the founder of Turning Point USA was doing what he loves, speaking to college kids about the Conservative message and dispelling liberal myths, when he was shot in the neck at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday.
READ MORE: UPDATE: Charlie Kirk Assassinated During Event at Utah Valley University
MORE: President Trump and Others React to News of Charlie Kirk Shooting at TPUSA Event
Initial reports were sketchy as to whether Kirk was going to survive, with reports saying he had been hospitalized and was in critical condition. A short time later, President Donald Trump reported that his dear friend and someone many voices on the right had come to call a friend had died at the age of 31, killed by an assassin's bullet.
"The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!"
After news of his death was confirmed, many conservatives and those in Trump's administration shared tributes to Kirk, as RedState reported.
One of those voices was that of RFK Jr., who knows, unfortunately, all too well what it's like to live without a father and uncle. When he was 14 years old, his dad, Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated on June 6, 1968, in Los Angeles following the California primaries. The HHS Secretary's uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas.
He shared a post on X showing him and President Trump standing next to Charlie and a message that read:
"Once again, a bullet has silenced the most eloquent truth teller of an era," RFK Jr.'s post read about Kirk. "My dear friend Charlie Kirk was our country's relentless and courageous crusader for free speech."
"We pray for Erika and the children," he added. "Charlie is already in paradise with the angels. We ask his prayers for our country."
As my RedState colleague Ward Clark reported, Ellen Treanor, Associate Vice President of Strategic Communication Management at Utah Valley University, detailed the events around the assassination of Kirk.
"We had a speaker, Charlie Kirk, who was invited by a student group, Turning Point USA, who was speaking on campus today at noon," Traenor said in a statement. "At about 12:20 shots were fired from a building about 200 yards from the speaker. To the best of our knowledge, the individual was hit and was taken away immediately by his security personnel."
SEE: Here's What We Know About Charlie Kirk's Killer
ALSO: Absolute Depravity From MSNBC After News Broke of Charlie Kirk's Shooting
FBI Director Kash Patel later posted on X that a subject was in custody, as RedState reported.
That news has since been updated.
Patel's new post read:
The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency
Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika, and their two very young children, a daughter born in 2022 and a son born in 2024.
The tragedy is almost too much for many of us to process. But we will keep reporting what we know about the suspected assassin and any arrests. Keep checking back on RedState for updates, and pray for his family.