Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed Wednesday during a campus event at Utah Valley University, in what officials are calling a “targeted attack” amid growing concerns over political violence nationwide.
Kirk, 31, was speaking under a tent in the Sorensen Center courtyard when a single gunshot struck him in the neck. Video shared on social media shows Kirk collapsing as stunned attendees scream and scatter. First responders rushed to the scene, but Kirk was pronounced dead hours later. Authorities say the shooter remains at large, according to Associated Press.
“This was clearly a targeted assassination,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told the Houston Chronicle, calling the shooting a “deliberate and planned act against Kirk.”
Kirk was the co-founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, a right-wing youth organization with a significant presence on college campuses. He was a close ally of President Donald Trump, who announced Kirk’s death on Truth Social and called him “Great, and even Legendary.”
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump wrote.
The suspected shooter fired from a rooftop approximately 200 yards away, a spokesperson for Utah Valley University told The New York Times.
Kirk’s death comes just months after his organization drew attention at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, though he was not present. On March 19, Pacific’s chapter of Turning Point USA hosted a controversial event titled “The Truth About Transgenderism” in Long Theater, featuring Pastor Junsun Yoo, who argued that gender-affirming care should be limited for minors.
The event drew 139 attendees and roughly 120 protesters who gathered outside with rainbow masks, signs, and chants like “No Trump. No KKK. No TPUSA.” The protest remained largely peaceful, though tensions flared when some demonstrators attempted to move beyond police barriers.
University of the Pacific clarified the event was student-organized and not university-sponsored, citing its support for both free expression and inclusive values.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom also responded to the shooting, calling it “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible” in a post on X.
“In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form,” he wrote, joining a growing chorus of leaders from across the political spectrum condemning the attack.
