Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk is dead after being shot and killed during a college campus event in Utah. He was 31.
The Turning Point USA founder was at Utah Valley University on Wednesday during a Q&A with students at around 1 p.m. local time when a single shot was fired.
In a video of the shooting, Charlie can be seen sitting in front of signs that read “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A large crowd, including some protesters, gathered for the event when suddenly a shot rang out and it appeared the political activist was hit in the neck. The university released a statement saying that “a single shot [was] fired from the top of a nearby building about 200 yards away.” You can see the graphic video HERE.
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Per reports, Charlie was taken to the hospital, but recovery efforts were not successful. President Donald Trump announced 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!”
Turning Point USA also confirmed the death to TMZ:
“It is with a heavy heart that we confirm that Charles James Kirk has been murdered by a gun shot that took place during Turning Point USA’s ‘The American Comeback Tour’ campus event at Utah Valley University on September 10th, 2025. May he be received into the merciful arms of our loving Savior who suffered and died for Charlie. We ask that everyone keep his family and loved ones in your prayers. We ask that you please respect their privacy and dignity in this time.”
While initially the university said they had the shooter in custody and video showed an older man being detained, the school later retracted that statement, confirming the suspect was still at large and no arrests have been made. Per TMZ, the school’s spokesperson said the person detained was not under arrest and has already been released. This person is not believed to be the suspect, per an AP source.
Charlie co-founded Turning Point USA, a nonprofit advocating for conservative politics on high school and college campuses, when he was 18. He regularly went viral for debating liberal students. He was an ally of POTUS and appeared before a House Committee on the January 6 riots because the organization had sent buses to the rally.
One particularly divisive comment he made in 2023 about gun violence has gone viral after this shooting. During an interview, Charlie argued that deaths due to gun violence are “worth it” to protect the Second Amendment, declaring:
“I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”
Charlie Kirk: “It’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment”https://t.co/uoM6TqnAgJ pic.twitter.com/mbJSa2Lzmi
— Jason S. Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) April 6, 2023
He leaves behind his wife, Erika Frantzve, whom he married in 2021, and their two children, a daughter born in 2022 and a son born in 2024. Sending our condolences to his family.
[Image via Charlie Kirk/YouTube]
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