Charlie Kirk’s political activism and Turning Point USA organization were born in Chicago suburbs, friends recall

Right wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed during an event at a Utah university Wednesday, got his start in politics from a young age in Chicago’s suburbs.

Kirk was born in Arlington Heights, Illinois, northwest of the city of Chicago, and raised in nearby Prospect Heights. He attended and graduated from Wheeling High School where his passion for politics was born.

Longtime friend Aaron Del Mar, who is currently chair of the Cook Conty Republican Party and has entered the 2026 Illinois governor’s race alongside former State Senator Darren Bailey, remembers Kirk as a student who was already putting together political events and connecting people.

Del Mar said Kirk was a gifted conservative leader who connected to younger audiences and used social media to build his message. He first met him when Kirk was a junior and asked him to attend an event he had organized.

“He built that brand, and he built his social media presence, and he built his messaging,” Del Mar said. “And he did it in a way that appealed to younger viewers.”

While he was a junior at Wheeling, Kirk also volunteered for the 2010 U.S. Senate campaign of Illinois Republican Mark Kirk, who he is not related to. Mark Kirk was successfully elected to Congress.

After graduating, Kirk briefly attended Harper College in Palatine but dropped out. His political activism reached its next gear when he met Bill Montgomery, then a Tea Party-backed legislative candidate, at a “Youth Empowerment Day” event at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois.

Together, Kirk and Montgomery founded Turning Point USA in 2012 when Kirk was just 18 years old, and set up its first headquarters in Lemont. He told Crain’s Chicago Business in 2015 that Turning Point’s purpose was to “rival liberal groups such as MoveOn.org.”

Kirk was also involved in Republican Bruce Rauner’s successful 2014 gubernatorial campaign successfully challenging incumbent Pat Quinn. Rauner was also a financial supporter of Turning Point USA, donating tens of thousands of dollars in 2014 and 2015 through the Rauner Family Foundation.

Turning Point USA posted a video to their YouTube page in 2015 in which the newly elected Rauner praised Kirk for his activism and called him a “superstar.”

Illinois businessman Gary Rabine was a friend of Kirk’s. In the fallout of the shooting, he explained how those who loved Kirk feel about hate some critics had for him, and even celebrations of Kirk’s death they said they’ve seen online.

“People say – and I hear this lately and it bothers me – that he was full of hate. Man, they are so wrong,” he said. “He wasn’t afraid to admit when he was wrong. He wasn’t afraid to embrace people that think totally different than him.”

Robert Carpenter, a native of Sycamore, Illinois, was at the event where Kirk was shot.

“I had a question prepared, and a couple of my friends were also in line, and they had questions prepared too,” he said.

Carpenter said he hid behind an SUV after Kirk was shot.

“Eventually I just met up with some random folks, and they let me hop in a car with them, and I left the campus with them,” he said.

He cut his trip to Utah short because of what happened.

Kirks’ shooting has already created political fallout. President Trump called Kirk a “patriot.” And while political violence has been roundly condemned by leaders from all sides of the political spectrum, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker blamed Trump’s own rhetoric for fueling its rise.

“Political violence, unfortunately, has been ratcheting up in this country,” Pritzker said Wednesday after news of Kirk’s death broke. “I would just say it’s got to stop. And I think there are people who are fomenting in this country. I think the president’s rhetoric often foments it.”

Downstate Republicans, including Bailey, are now demanding Pritzker resign.

Kirk’s body is set to be flown on Air Force Two to Arizona, where his wife and two children live. Vice President JD Vance and his wife will be on board.

The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person who killed Kirk.

Sara Machi

contributed to this report.

More from CBS News