Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) on Friday called the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk an attack on American “ideals,” warning at a press conference that the shooting represents a “watershed” moment with unsettling implications for free speech.
Cox joined federal, state, and local law enforcement as they shared details of the arrest of the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, and said the attack at Utah Valley University on Wednesday was meant to scare people from engaging in discourse and sharing ideas — bedrocks of American society.
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“Understand what’s happening in our country today,” Cox said during the press conference. “It is an attack on all of us. It is an attack on the American experiment. It is an attack on our ideals. This cuts to the very foundation of who we are, who we have been, and who we could be.”
“Political violence is different than any other kind of violence. The very act that Charlie championed of expression, freedom of expression that is defined in our founding documents,” Cox said. “Having his life taken in that very act makes it more difficult for people to feel like they can share their ideas, that they can speak freely. We will never be able to solve all the other problems, including the violence problems, if we can’t have a clash of ideas safely and securely — especially those ideas with which you disagree.”
Utah Governor Spencer Cox: "We get to make decisions. We have agency and I desperately call on every American, Republican, Democrat, liberal, progressive, conservative, MAGA, all of us to please, please, please, follow what Charlie taught me. I'll just — I'll just conclude with… pic.twitter.com/mrhUqZt3sn
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) September 12, 2025
The assassination of Kirk, the CEO and founder of Turning Point USA, is one of the most high-profile murders in United States history.
“This is a watershed moment, but we don’t yet know what kind,” Cox said, adding that the present “feels a lot like the late 60s,” when President John F. Kennedy and Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. were both assassinated.
“This is our moment,” Cox said. “Do we escalate or do we find an off-ramp? It’s a choice, and every one of us gets to make that choice.”
He continued, “Social media is a cancer on our society right now. I would encourage people to log off. Turn off. Hug a family member. Touch grass.”
Robinson, who was not a student at UVU, is expected to be charged in the next few days.
Cox noted that in the aftermath of the attack on Wednesday, Utah residents had not taken to the streets and rioted.
TYLER ROBINSON ARRESTED AS SUSPECT IN CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION: OFFICIALS
“I want you to look at how Utahns reacted the last two nights. There was no rioting, no looting, no cars set on fire. There was no violence. There were vigils and prayers,” Cox said.
Authorities said the alleged shooter was arrested at around 10 p.m. local time Thursday. Cox said the shooter lived three hours away from the university in Utah’s southwestern Washington County.