OREM, Utah — Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, is dead at age 31.
He was shot by an unknown gunman at a college event in Utah. President Doanld Trump announced his death in a post on Truth Social:
“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. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
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 “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” 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 AP was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.
“We are confirming that he was shot and we are praying for Charlie,” said Aubrey Laitsch, public relations manager for Turning Point USA.
A person taken into custody after Charlie Kirk was shot in Utah is not believed to be the shooting suspect, a source told the Associated Press.
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 visit to Utah colleges was 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.
“We can never tolerate or become numb to political violence. Our nation is weaker when people are afraid to share their opinions or disagree,” wrote North Carolina Governor Josh Stein on X. “Please join Anna and me in praying for Charlie Kirk’s recovery.”
There’s too much evil in this world. Praying for @charliekirk11, his wife and kids, and the Utah Valley University community.
— Senator Ted Budd (@SenTedBuddNC) September 10, 2025
Praying for Charlie Kirk. Political violence has no place in our society.
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) September 10, 2025
The senseless, violent attack today against Charlie Kirk is deplorable. Please keep Charlie and his family in your prayers. #ncpol
— Senator Phil Berger (@SenatorBerger) September 10, 2025
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.
