Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk Fatally Shot During Utah College Event

In a shocking and tragic development, conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, was fatally shot and killed at a college campus event in Utah on Wednesday. The incident, which was immediately condemned across the political spectrum, has highlighted the deeply polarized climate of American life and an escalating trend of political violence.[1, 2, 3]

Details of the Assassination

The shooting occurred on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, at Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem, Utah, where Kirk was kicking off his “American Comeback Tour.”[1, 4, 2] He was speaking under a tent at the Sorensen Center courtyard, addressing a crowd of up to 3,000 people.[1, 4] Video footage of the event, which circulated widely on social media, shows Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone moments before a single shot rang out.[1, 5]

Immediately before he was shot, Kirk was participating in a question-and-answer session with an audience member. The conversation had turned to the topic of mass shootings and gun violence, with the questioner asking Kirk about transgender mass shooters. Kirk responded, “Too many,” and then the questioner followed up by asking about the total number of mass shooters in America. As Kirk responded by asking for clarification, a single shot was fired.[1, 5] Footage captured Kirk being struck in the neck, and he was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died.[1, 4]

According to authorities, the shooter, who has not been apprehended, wore dark clothing and fired from a rooftop at some distance from the courtyard where the event was held.[1, 5] Two people were initially detained in connection with the shooting but were later released after it was determined they were not the gunman.[1, 5] Witnesses noted that despite a large crowd and the presence of police and Kirk’s private security, there were no bag checks or metal detectors at the event.

A Polarizing Figure and a Controversial Event

Charlie Kirk, a prominent ally of President Donald Trump, was 31 years old and had risen from a teenage conservative activist to a top podcaster and “youth whisperer” for the right.[1, 2, 6, 7] He was the co-founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, an organization that promotes conservative politics on college and high school campuses and was known for his “combative style” and engagement in the “culture wars.”[1, 6] The event at UVU had already generated a polarizing reaction, with an online petition calling for administrators to bar Kirk from speaking garnering nearly 1,000 signatures. The university defended its decision to host the event, citing its commitment to free speech and intellectual inquiry.[1, 6, 5]

Reactions from Across the Political Spectrum

News of Kirk’s death was announced by President Donald Trump on his social media platform, Truth Social.[1, 4, 2] Trump praised Kirk as “Great, and even Legendary” and later released a video calling him a “martyr for truth and freedom,” while placing the blame for the attack on “the radical left.”[1, 5] Other right-wing figures also quickly blamed the left, with one prominent X account tweeting, “THIS IS WAR.”[3]

Condemnations of the shooting, however, came from across the political spectrum.[1, 3] Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had hosted Kirk on his podcast earlier in the year, posted on X that the attack was “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible.”[1] A progressive streamer who had been scheduled to debate Kirk called it a “terrifying incident,” expressing worry about “the reverberation of people seeking out vengeance in the aftermath of this violent, abhorrent incident.”[3] The assassination of Kirk is seen as part of an escalating series of attacks on political figures and a symptom of a nation’s “era of violent populism.”[2, 3, 5]