OREM, Utah (AP) 鈥 Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in what the governor called a political assassination carried out from a rooftop.
鈥淭his is a dark day for our state. It鈥檚 a tragic day for our nation,” said . “I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.鈥
No one was in custody late Wednesday, though authorities were searching for a new person of interest, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the situation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Authorities had earlier provided evolving information on the status of the search, with FBI Director Kash Patel initially saying on social media that a 鈥渟ubject鈥 had been taken into custody, only to later say the person had been released after being questioned.
Authorities did not immediately identify the person who had been in custody, a motive or any criminal charge.
But the circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to an that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans 鈥淭he American Comeback鈥 and 鈥淧rove Me Wrong.鈥 A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The Associated Press was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.
鈥淒o you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?鈥 the person asked. Kirk responded, 鈥淭oo many.鈥
The questioner followed up: 鈥淒o you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?鈥
鈥淐ounting or not counting gang violence?鈥 Kirk asked.
Then a single shot rang out. The shooter, who Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a roof on campus some distance away.
The death was announced on social media by Trump, who praised the 31-year-old Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization , as 鈥淕reat, and even Legendary.鈥 Later Wednesday, he released a recorded video from the White House in which he called Kirk a 鈥渕artyr for truth and freedom鈥 and blamed the rhetoric of the 鈥渞adical left鈥 for the killing.
Utah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated and remained closed. Classes were canceled until further notice. Those still on campus were asked to stay in place until police officers could safely escort them off campus. Armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for information on the shooter.
Officers were seen looking at a photo on their phones and showing it to people to see if they recognized a person of interest.
The event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s 鈥淭he American Comeback Tour,鈥 had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its 鈥渃ommitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.鈥
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 going on in Utah?鈥
The shooting drew across the political aisle as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.
鈥淭he attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,鈥 Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last March hosted Kirk on his podcast, posted on X.
鈥淭he murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,鈥 said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman in her Arizona district.
The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major parties. The attacks include the at their house in June, the , and a , who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the .
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at Wednesday’s event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.
鈥淚t seemed like it was a close shot,鈥 Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.
He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.
鈥淯tah is one of the safest places on the planet,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd so we just don鈥檛 have these types of things.鈥
Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.
But Kirk鈥檚 zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
Despite early misgivings, enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president鈥檚 eldest son, during the general election campaign.
Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.
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Richer and Sherman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Michael Biesecker, Brian Slodysko, Lindsay Whitehurst and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.
