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Conservative influencer Charlie Kirk shot dead at Utah university event
"We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot," Trump said on X. "A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!"
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Reuters - Wed, 10, Sep 2025
- 16:38 EDT
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U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk appears at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah, U.S. September 10, 2025. / Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via REUTERS
U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk, an influential ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday at an event at a Utah university, Trump said.
"The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. 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," Trump wrote on social media.
Also Read: MAGA commentators escalate attacks on India over trade, visas
A university spokesperson said police did not have a suspect in custody. Earlier, the school had reported that someone had been detained.
Cellphone video clips of the incident circulating on social media showed Kirk addressing a large outdoor crowd at the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah, when a loud crack that sounded like a gunshot rang out. Kirk moved his hand toward his neck as he fell off his chair, sending the attendees running.
In another clip, blood can be seen gushing from Kirk's neck immediately after the shot. Reuters has not confirmed the authenticity of the videos.
Kirk and the group he co-founded, Turning Point USA, the largest conservative youth organization in the country, played a key role in driving young voter support for Trump in November.
Kirk's appearance on Sept. 10 was the first in a planned 15-event "American Comeback Tour" at universities around the country. He often used such events, typically drawing large crowds of students, to invite attendees to debate him live. Before he was shot, Kirk was sitting at what he calls a "Prove Me Wrong" table to field questions from the audience.
""WE. ARE. SO. BACK. Utah Valley University is FIRED UP and READY for the first stop back on the American Comeback Tour," Kirk wrote on X ahead of the event.
After winning his second presidential term, Trump credited Kirk for mobilizing younger voters and voters of color in support of his campaign.
"You had Turning Point's grassroots armies," Trump said at a rally in Phoenix in December. "It's not my victory, it's your victory."
Kirk had 5.3 million followers on X and hosted a popular podcast and radio program, "The Charlie Kirk Show." He had also recently co-hosted "Fox & Friends" on Fox News.
He was part of an ecosystem of pro-Trump conservative influencers – including Jack Posobiec, Laura Loomer, Candace Owens and others – who have helped to amplify the president's agenda. Kirk frequently attacked mainstream media and engaged in culture war issues around race, gender and immigration, often in a provocative style.
While the motive for the shooting is unknown, the United States is undergoing its most sustained period of political violence since the 1970s. Reuters has documented more than 300 cases of politically motivated violent acts since supporters of Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
In July 2024, Trump was grazed by a gunman's bullet during a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania. A second assassination attempt two months later was foiled by federal agents.
In April, an arsonist broke into Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's residence and set it on fire while the family was inside.
Earlier this year, a gunman posing as a police officer in Minnesota murdered state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and shot Senator John Hoffman and his wife. And in Boulder, Colorado, a man used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to attack a solidarity event for Israeli hostages, killing one woman and injuring at least six more.
Both Republican and Democratic politicians expressed support for Kirk following the shooting.
"Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord," Vice President JD Vance, who was close to Kirk, wrote on X.
"The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible," Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom said on X. "In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form."
At the White House, staff members, many of them young and admirers of Charlie Kirk, were ashen-faced as news of the shooting spread.
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