Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, one of the most prominent figures in America’s right-wing youth movement and a close ally of former President Donald Trump, was shot dead during an event at Utah Valley University.
He was 31.
Kirk, a father of two, was addressing students at the first stop of his "American Comeback Tour" when the attack occurred.
Video from the event showed him seated at a "Prove Me Wrong" table, where he invited questions from students, when a gunshot rang out.
He was struck in the neck and collapsed as students fled.
He was rushed to hospital but later pronounced dead.
Conservative youth leader
Born October 14, 1993, in the Chicago suburbs, Kirk briefly attended community college before leaving to pursue activism full time.
At just 18, he co-founded Turning Point USA (TPUSA) in 2012, a nonprofit dedicated to "identifying, educating, training and organising students to promote the principles of free markets and limited government."
Under his leadership, TPUSA became the largest conservative youth activist organisation in the US, with a presence on more than 3,000 high school and college campuses, 650,000 lifetime student members, and a staff of over 450.
Kirk also built a vast media presence.
His commentary appeared in outlets including Fox News, The Hill, Newsweek, RealClearPolitics, and The Washington Times.
He hosted The Charlie Kirk Show, a daily podcast and syndicated radio program carried on 150 stations, simulcast on Real America’s Voice News, and downloaded more than 120 million times in the past year.
His social media reach exceeded 100 million people per month, with Axios ranking him among the "Top 10 most engaged" accounts worldwide.
Trump ally
Kirk became one of Trump’s most visible surrogates, speaking at the 2016 and 2020 Republican National Conventions and at Trump’s inaugural parade in January 2025.
Trump later appointed him to the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors.
Following news of his death, Trump wrote 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."
Trump later told the New York Post: "He was a very, very good friend of mine and he was a tremendous person."
Kirk authored four books, including the New York Times bestseller The MAGA Doctrine: The Only Ideas That Will Win the Future (2020).
In 2022, he released The College Scam, which criticised US higher education as exploitative and "brainwashing away the future of America’s youth."
His next book, Rightwing Revolution: How to Beat the Woke and Save the West, was due out in 2024.
He was named to the Forbes "30 Under 30" list and was known for his combative speaking style, often staging debates with students in his "prove me wrong" sessions.
While praised by conservatives for mobilising young voters, Kirk was accused by critics of spreading division and misinformation.
He amplified false claims of voter fraud in 2020, spread scepticism about Covid-19, opposed birth control, and promoted the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory.
Yet he also urged Republicans to embrace mail-in voting after 2022, arguing "losing feels a lot worse" than adapting to "election month."
Islamophobe, pro-Israel
When it comes to Israel, Kirk has been one of its biggest supporters since the start of the genocide in Gaza in 2023.
He recently denied that Israel was starving Palestinians in Gaza shortly after reports said that Israeli soldiers were blocking aid and deliberately shooting aid seekers.
“No, Israel is not starving Gazans,” Kirk said in one of his tweets in July.
He has also targeted Muslims and Islam consistently, accusing Muslims of being extremists and claiming Islam is not compatible with the values of the West.
“Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America,” he said in his last tweet targeting Muslims.
