Related Articles
Turning Point USA founder and conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was shot and killed today during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
A spokesperson for Kirk confirmed to The New York Times that the conservative influencer died shortly after being shot in the neck while speaking at the event.FBI Director Kash Patel announced on social media this evening that a “subject in custody” in the shooting of Kirk was released following “an interrogation by law enforcement.” “Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency,” said Patel on X.
Turning Point USA confirmed that Kirk was shot earlier this afternoon. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was held in critical condition until he died. Donald Trump announced his death on Truth Social. “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” the president wrote. “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!”
Videos of the incident appeared to show Kirk being shot in the neck while sitting on a table under a small pavilion declaring “Prove Me Wrong.” Kirk was speaking at Utah Valley University at an event on Turning Point USA’s American Comeback Tour.
“We are closely monitoring reports of the tragic shooting involving Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote earlier today. “Our thoughts are with Charlie, his loved ones, and everyone affected. Agents will be on the scene quickly and the FBI stands in full support of the ongoing response and investigation.”
On Truth Social, Trump — a longtime supporter and ally of Kirk’s — wrote that“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!”
“Say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good guy and a young father,” Vice President J.D. Vance wrote on X.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee wrote on X that he was monitoring the situation and asked his followers to “join me in praying for Charlie Kirk and the students gathered there.” Utah’s other senator, John Curtis, also responded on X. “I am just now learning of a shooting on the campus of Utah Valley University during an event featuring Charlie Kirk,” he wrote. “My heart goes out to Charlie, those in attendance, and their families. We are praying for his safety and the well-being of everyone impacted.”
Kirk had been a fixture in right wing politics for more than a decade. With financial support and mentorship from a conservative benefactor, Kirk launched Turning Point USA in 2012 as a vehicle to mobilize young economic conservatives, primarily on college campuses.
The focus of the organization has pivoted over the years as Kirk aged, and conservatives have found richer returns among non-college-educated voters. In 2022 Kirk even wrote a book called The College Scam: How America’s Universities Are Bankrupting and Brainwashing Away the Future of America’s Youth.
More recently, Turning Point USA has taken on a religious focus, changing its core goals from promoting “fiscal responsibility” and “free markets” to “restor[ing] America’s biblical values.”
Kirk was a fixture of the 2024 presidential campaign, and he appeared at the GOP convention in Milwaukee. Kirk partnered with controversial pastors and sought to mobilize evangelical voters, while Turning Point USA took on a pivotal role mobilizing voters, with Trump’s campaign effectively outsourcing turnout to Kirk’s organization in several swing states.
Throughout Turning Point’s evolution, Kirk’s often-controversial appearances at college campuses remained a bread-and-butter public showcase for the organization — with Kirk often sparring with liberal students and challenging them on their views, with videos of such encounters then becoming fodder for viral social media.
The shooting of Kirk appears to be the latest example in a recent rise in politically motivated gun violence in America, which has included last year’s assassination attempt of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, as well as the assassination of a prominent progressive lawmaker in Minnesota this June.
Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona representative who was shot in the head in 2011, responded to the shooting today. “I’m horrified to hear that Charlie Kirk was shot at an event in Utah,” she wrote. “Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence.”
This is a developing story …
