Right-Wing Influencer Charlie Kirk Gunned Down in Chilling University Shooting: Trump-Ally and Young Conservative Icon Dies Aged 31
- Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was shot dead during a public appearance at Utah Valley University
- Mr Kirk, a close ally of Donald Trump, was known for his pugnacious, populist conservatism that has taken over the Republican Party in the Trump era
- The shooting is one of an escalating number of attacks on US political figures, sparking fears of a growing culture of violence
Charlie Kirk, the outspoken right-wing influencer who built a massive following among young conservatives, has been shot and killed during a dramatic public appearance at Utah Valley University. The 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, a prominent conservative organisation, died doing what made him a potent political force – rallying the right on a college campus.
Mr Kirk’s shooting is one of an escalating number of attacks on US political figures, from the assassination of a Democratic state politician and her husband in Minnesota to last year’s shooting of Mr Trump, that have roiled the nation. The incident has sparked fears of a growing culture of violence and has sent shockwaves through the political world.
“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Donald Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social, as news of the shooting broke. “He was a very, very good friend of mine and he was a tremendous person.”
Mr Kirk had personified the pugnacious, populist conservatism that has taken over the Republican Party in the Trump age. He launched Turning Point USA in 2012, targeting younger people and venturing onto liberal-leaning college campuses where many Republican activists were nervous to tread. His organisation was known for its flamboyant events, featuring strobe lighting and pyrotechnics, and reported having more than 250,000 student members.
In a heartbreaking development, video circulating on social media shows the close Trump ally speaking to a crowd at the university campus when he is shot in the upper body. Mr Kirk’s evangelical Christian beliefs were intertwined with his political perspective, and he argued that there was no true separation of church and state.
As news of the shooting spread, tributes poured in from across the political spectrum, with many expressing shock and outrage at the senseless killing. Mr Kirk leaves behind a wife, podcaster Erika Frantzve, and two young children.