Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was debating mass shootings with a member of his audience in the moments before he was shot dead on a university campus in Utah on Wednesday.
Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA and a key ally of President Donald Trump, was shot in the neck by a sniper’s bullet at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday. He was rushed to the hospital but died soon afterwards. He leaves behind a wife and two young children.
As President Trump led the tributes to Kirk, his killer remains at large at the time of writing. Two people were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the incident, but both have since been released without charge. The manhunt for the gunman continues.
According to a video recorded at Kirk’s event in the run-up to the killing, the guest speaker, who was sitting beneath a canopy branded “The American Comeback Tour” and bearing the slogan “Prove Me Wrong,” was approximately 20 minutes into his appearance and engaging with a member of the audience about gun violence when the shot was fired.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience member asked.
“Too many,” Kirk responded to applause from the crowd.
The attendee informed him that the total was five and continued: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk replied before, just seconds later, he was struck by the bullet and fell from his chair, prompting the panicked crowd to disperse in terror.
Although the detail is bitterly ironic, it is unlikely that Kirk addressing the subject in his final moments amounts to more than a coincidence, given that investigators have already said that the fatal shot is believed to have been fired from a nearby rooftop, suggesting the gunman would likely have been too far out of range to hear the speaker’s commentary.
Trump, Vice President JD Vance, the secretary of war Pete Hegseth, and many others in the president’s MAGA movement have all paid emotional tribute to Kirk. At the same time, senior Democrats, including Gavin Newsom, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, and Nancy Pelosi, have likewise expressed their horror and offered their condolences to the family of the deceased.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk and Fox News host Jesse Watters were among those to post more inflammatory responses in the heat of the moment.
Kirk was a highly influential figure among young Republicans and a familiar face in conservative media, known for his podcasts, campus events, and cable news appearances in support of Trump and his agenda.
It has emerged that his widow, Erika Kirk, 36, had shared a Bible verse about seeking help during difficult times just hours before she lost her husband.
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