(Bloomberg) — A search is underway for the killer of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who was fatally shot Wednesday at a Utah university.
Kirk, executive director of the Turning Point USA advocacy group, was speaking at an outdoor event before a crowd at Utah Valley University when a single shot was fired from a nearby building, according to local police. Governor Spencer Cox described it as a “political assassination.”
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A person of interest was taken into custody and later released, FBI director Kash Patel said in social media posts, later tweeting that the FBI is seeking information, video and photos to help find the killer.
The shooting, the latest in a spate of political violence in the US, drew an outpouring of shock and condemnation from Republicans and Democrats. Kirk, 31, started Turning Point USA more than a decade ago and had turned it into one of the most influential groups helping to rally young voters to conservative causes. He leaves behind a wife and two young children.
“Charlie was a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country that he loved so much,” Trump said in a video Wednesday evening in which he blamed rhetoric from the “radical left” for contributing to the violence.
“It’s long past time for all Americans, and the media, to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible,” said Trump, who ordered flags across the country to half-staff for several days.
Vice President JD Vance, in a lengthy post on X, detailed his friendship with Kirk and how the activist had helped his political career, including connecting him with Trump’s eldest son, and his Christian faith.
Former Democratic presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama also denounced the violence and offered sympathies to his family. The Republican National Committee praised Kirk as a “dedicated patriot who spent his life defending conservative values and inspiring young Americans.”
Kirk was at UVU for his group’s American Comeback Tour and was hosting an event called Prove Me Wrong, where the audience attempts to stump the pundit. There were more than 3,000 people in attendance, said Jeff Long, the university’s police chief, as well as six local police and Kirk’s personal security detail.
At approximately 12:20 pm Mountain time, about 20 minutes after Kirk began speaking, a single shot was fired from a building about 200 yards away. A supporter of gun rights, he had just begun answering a question on the number of mass shooters in America over the last decade.
Social media videos show attendees running from the area while Kirk’s personal security team appeared to carry him out and into a waiting sport utility vehicle. He was driven to a local hospital where he later died, police said.
Closed circuit surveillance video shows a person dressed in dark clothing believed to be the suspect and the shot may have been fired from a rooftop, officials said. No other details were released, including information about what type of weapon may have been used or if it was recovered.
“I want to be very clear, this was a political assassination,” Cox said. “Charlie Kirk was first and foremost a husband and a dad to young children. He was also very much politically involved, and that’s why he was here on campus.”
The murder represents an escalation in political violence in an increasingly polarized American society. Trump was the subject of two assassination attempts last year while he was campaigning for his second term. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, was forced to flee his house in April after an arson attempt. In June, a gunman killed Minnesota legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home.
“Political violence has become all too common in American society and this is not who we are,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday. “We need everyone who has the platform to say this loudly and clearly: We can settle disagreements and disputes in a civil way.”
Originally from a Chicago suburb, Kirk began his conservative advocacy in high school. After graduating, he briefly attended nearby Harper College before dropping out to start Turning Point USA, where he raised money from prominent conservatives. His 2012 essay for Breitbart News about liberal bias in economics textbooks earned him invitations to appear on Fox Business and a speaking engagement at a local college.
Over the next decade, Kirk grew Turning Point USA into a powerful advocacy group that welcomed conservative students eager to prove liberal bias on college campuses. The organization had more than 800 college chapters, according to its website.
Kirk would often publicly debate college students and personalities across the political spectrum. He was the first guest on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s podcast earlier this year and was scheduled to debate progressive influencer Hasan Piker at a sold-out event at Dartmouth College later this month.
Newsom, a Democrat and Trump critic, called Kirk’s killing “sick and reprehensible.”
–With assistance from Janet Lorin, Demetrios Pogkas, Adrienne Tong, Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Jennah Haque and Alicia Clanton.
(Updates with Patel request for information in third paragraph.)
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