Right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed today while speaking at an event at a college in Orem, Utah. He was 31.
Kirk was a close ally of President Trump and an influential leader in the MAGA movement as the founder of Turning Point USA, a political organization that advocates for conservative causes on school campuses. Kirk also stirred controversy, spreading false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election that Trump lost and drawing accusations of antisemitism and bigotry by pushing the unsubstantiated “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, which alleges an organized effort to replace white people of European descent with nonwhite people.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “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 ordered flags to be flown at half-staff until sunset on September 14.
Democrats and Republicans quickly denounced the shooting and decried it as the latest example of political violence to shock the nation, though some on the right responded by blaming Democratic rhetoric and “liberal hate.”
The search for the shooter is ongoing after two suspects who had been taken into custody earlier were released and cleared of involvement.