{"id":217462,"date":"2025-09-11T06:10:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T06:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/217462\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T06:10:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T06:10:16","slug":"conservative-activist-charlie-kirk-dead-after-being-shot-at-utah-university-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/217462\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservative activist Charlie Kirk dead after being shot at Utah university event"},"content":{"rendered":"

OREM, Utah (AP) \u2014 Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist<\/a> and close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in what the governor called a political assassination carried out from a rooftop. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a dark day for our state. It\u2019s a tragic day for our nation,\u201d said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox<\/a>. \u201cI want to be very clear this is a political assassination.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Gov.<\/p>\n

Gov. Spencer Cox speaks at a press conference at Utah Valley University after Charlie Kirk, CEO and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed during a visit at the university in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley\/The Deseret News via AP)<\/p>\n

Gov. Spencer Cox speaks at a press conference at Utah Valley University after Charlie Kirk, CEO and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed during a visit at the university in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley\/The Deseret News via AP)<\/p>\n

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No suspect was in custody late Wednesday, though authorities were searching for a new person of interest, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the situation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Two people were detained earlier in the day but neither was determined to have had any connection to the shooting and both have been released, Utah public safety officials said.<\/p>\n

Authorities did not immediately identify a motive but the circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to an escalating threat of political violence in the United States<\/a> that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.<\/p>\n

Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans \u201cThe American Comeback\u201d and \u201cProve Me Wrong.\u201d A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The Associated Press was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.<\/p>\n

People were seen exiting a building on Utah Valley University after Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot Wednesday at an event on campus.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?\u201d the person asked. Kirk responded, \u201cToo many.\u201d<\/p>\n

The questioner followed up: \u201cDo you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCounting or not counting gang violence?\u201d Kirk asked.<\/p>\n

Then a single shot rang out. The shooter, who Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a building roof some distance away to the courtyard where the event took place.<\/p>\n

Some 3,000 people were in attendance, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety, which also said the university police department had six officers working the event along with Kirk\u2019s own security detail. <\/p>\n

The death was announced on social media by Trump, who praised the 31-year-old Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA<\/a>, as \u201cGreat, and even Legendary.\u201d Later Wednesday, he released a recorded video from the White House in which he called Kirk a \u201cmartyr for truth and freedom\u201d and blamed the rhetoric of the \u201cradical left\u201d for the killing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n AP AUDIO: Conservative activist Charlie Kirk in critical condition after being shot at Utah college event\n <\/p>\n

AP correspondent Haya Panjwani reports on an attack on Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n

Utah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated and remained closed. Classes were canceled until further notice. Those still on campus were asked to stay in place until police officers could safely escort them off campus. Armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for information on the shooter.<\/p>\n

Officers were seen looking at a photo on their phones and showing it to people to see if they recognized a person of interest.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A law enforcement officer stands outside Utah Valley University on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (AP Photo\/Alex Goodlett)<\/p>\n

A law enforcement officer stands outside Utah Valley University on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (AP Photo\/Alex Goodlett)<\/p>\n

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The event, billed as the first stop on Kirk\u2019s \u201cThe American Comeback Tour,\u201d had generated a polarizing campus reaction. 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 \u201ccommitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on in Utah?\u201d<\/p>\n

The shooting drew swift condemnation<\/a> across the political aisle as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,\u201d Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last March hosted Kirk on his podcast, posted on X. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,\u201d said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting<\/a> in her Arizona district.<\/p>\n

The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major parties. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband<\/a> at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages<\/a>, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania\u2019s governor<\/a>, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Joseph<\/p>\n

Joseph Vogl stands outside Timpanogos Regional Hospital on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (AP Photo\/Alex Goodlett)<\/p>\n

Joseph Vogl stands outside Timpanogos Regional Hospital on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (AP Photo\/Alex Goodlett)<\/p>\n

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Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at Wednesday\u2019s event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like it was a close shot,\u201d Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.<\/p>\n

He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Allison<\/p>\n

Allison Hemingway-Witty cries after Charlie Kirk is shot during Turning Point\u2019s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley\/The Deseret News via AP)<\/p>\n

Allison Hemingway-Witty cries after Charlie Kirk is shot during Turning Point\u2019s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley\/The Deseret News via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

\u201cUtah is one of the safest places on the planet,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so we just don\u2019t have these types of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

But Kirk\u2019s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.<\/p>\n

Despite early misgivings, Turning Point<\/a> enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president\u2019s eldest son, during the general election campaign.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

__<\/p>\n

Richer and Sherman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Michael Biesecker, Brian Slodysko, Lindsay Whitehurst and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OREM, Utah (AP) \u2014 Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who played…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":217463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[9600,5643,45326,44710,11029,19719,245,1226,69,407,118793,1854,57,118792,8591,50,80,365,100102,61,67,132,68,436,424,118794],"class_list":{"0":"post-217462","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-activism","10":"tag-arizona","11":"tag-assassinations","12":"tag-attempted-assassination-of-donald-trump","13":"tag-az-state-wire","14":"tag-charlie-kirk","15":"tag-children","16":"tag-conservatism","17":"tag-donald-trump","18":"tag-education","19":"tag-gabrielle-giffords","20":"tag-gavin-newsom","21":"tag-general-news","22":"tag-jason-chaffetz","23":"tag-jr","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-politics","26":"tag-religion","27":"tag-spencer-cox","28":"tag-u-s-news","29":"tag-united-states","30":"tag-unitedstates","31":"tag-us","32":"tag-ut-state-wire","33":"tag-utah","34":"tag-william-montgomery"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115184181832686878","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}