Conservative activist Charlie Kirk dies after being shot at Utah event
The conservative activist Charlie Kirk died after being shot at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said in a post online.
Kirk, 31, was the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA , was shot while at a debate.
"The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead," the president posted to Truth Social.
"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!" Trump added.
Authorities took a person into custody at Utah Valley University, but they were not the suspect, according to news reports.
The suspect in the shooting is still being searched for, the mayor said, according to The Associated Press.
Photos taken in the moments after the shooting reveal a chaotic aftermath, as frantic people carrying American flags and wearing "Make America Great Again" hats tried to get away from the stage where Kirk appeared.
One woman carried a child on her back as she made her way through the large crowd at the event in Utah.
Some in the crowd appeared visibly upset, crying in shock over what they'd just witnessed.
In the aftermath, heavily armed officers swarmed the area. Later, the officers, some with police dogs, could be seen clearing students off the campus while law enforcement helicopters clattered overhead.
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 visits to Utah colleges, which were sparking controversy. He wrote, "What's going on in Utah?"
The college said a "single shot" had been fired at Kirk, and a suspect was in custody.
President Donald Trump and a host of Republican and Democratic elected officials 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.
The shooting comes 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 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.
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at the event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.
"It seemed like it was a close shot," Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.
He said 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."
Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a Tea Party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.
But Kirk's zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
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.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this story.
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