OREM, Utah — Charlie Kirk, who rose from a teenage conservative campus activist to a top podcaster, culture warrior and ally of US President Donald Trump, was shot and killed Wednesday during one of his trademark public appearances at a college in Utah. He was 31.
Kirk died doing what made him a potent political force — rallying the right on a college campus, this time Utah Valley University. His shooting is one of an escalating number of attacks on political figures, from the assassination of a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota to last summer’s shooting of Trump, that have roiled the nation.
Trump announced Kirk’s death on his social media site, Truth Social: “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump wrote.
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University showed 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 rang out and Kirk could be seen recoiling hand as a large volume of blood gushed from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators were heard gasping and screaming before people started to run away.
Kirk was hospitalized in critical condition, before Trump later announced that he had died.
The college said a “single shot” had been fired at Kirk and a suspect was in custody. But a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly later said the person who was taken into custody was not the suspect. It was not clear if authorities were still searching the campus for a suspect.
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. The event had been met with divided opinions on campus. 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 to Utah colleges was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
Trump and a host of Republican and Democratic elected officials had decried the shooting and offered prayers for Kirk on social media.
“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Kirk, an evangelical Christian, was also avowedly pro-Israel and often debated the Gaza war with college students and others in videos shared online. Kirk’s Turning Point USA has maintained ties with pro-Israel organizations and regularly hosted pro-Israel speakers at its conferences. Kirk himself traveled to Israel and praised Trump’s policies regarding the Jewish state, including the 2018 US embassy move to Jerusalem.
Israeli leaders and Jewish activists, some of whom had developed relationships with Kirk through his pro-Israel activism, had reacted with alarm to the news of the shooting.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X: “Praying for @charliekirk11.” Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli wrote: “Praying for Charlie.” Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana wrote: “The people of Israel are praying for Charlie Kirk, the champion of the free world.”
Shabbos Kestenbaum, a right-wing American Jewish activist, urged his followers: “Please stop what you’re doing and pray for our friend Charlie Kirk. Many in the Jewish community are reciting chapters from the Book of Psalms, and I ask you to do the same. Something is deeply broken in America. The political violence must END. GOD HELP AMERICA.”
Kirk founded Turning Point USA in 2012 while still a teenager. The organization has grown into a powerful platform for conservative youth activism, hosting major conferences and expanding into high schools and churches. Kirk became a regular commentator on Fox News and other right-wing outlets, building a reputation as an outspoken critic of higher education, liberal policies and “woke culture.”
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.
The shooting came amid a spike in political violence in the United States across all parts of the ideological spectrum. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade for the hostages held by Hamas, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious event was a shooting targeting Trump during a campaign rally last year.
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at the event, said in an interview on Fox News that 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.”