President Donald Trump has issued a warning to US citizens after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck at approximately 12:20PM on September 10 while speaking at a campus debate hosted by his organization at Utah Valley University.
Eyewitness footage shows the 31-year-old recoiling in his chair with blood visible on his neck before collapsing, as panic swept the crowd.
He was rushed to the hospital in a private vehicle, but hours later, Trump confirmed his death on Truth Social.
Speaking later in a video filmed from the Oval Office, the 79-year-old president said he was “filled with grief and anger” by the “heinous assassination".
“Charlie inspired millions, and tonight all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror,” he said. “Charlie was a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country that he loved so much, the United States of America. He fought for liberty, democracy, justice, and the American people. He's a martyr for truth and freedom, and there's never been anyone who was so respected by youth.”
The president said Kirk loved his wife, Erika Frantzve, and their two young children “more than anything in the world,” adding: “We ask God to watch over them in this terrible hour of heartache and pain. This a dark moment for America.”
Trump warned that political violence is the result of years of demonizing opponents. “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,” he said.
“For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today. And it must stop right now," he added.
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Trump vowed to pursue “each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity,” referencing his own assassination attempt in Pennsylvania last year as well as “the attacks on ICE agents” and “the vicious murder of a healthcare executive in the streets of New York".
“Charlie was the best of America, and the monster who attacked him was attacking our whole country. An assassin tried to silence him with a bullet, but he failed because together, we will ensure that his voice and his message, his legacy, will live on for countless generations to come,” he shared.
First lady Melania Trump also posted an emotional message on X about Kirk’s children, writing: “Charlie’s children will be raised with stories instead of memories, photographs instead of laughter, and silence where their father’s voice should have echoed. Charlie Kirk’s life should serve as a symbolic reminder that compassionate awareness elevates family, love, and country.”
Investigators say the fatal shot was likely fired from the roof of UVU’s Losee Center, which overlooks the courtyard.
Police detained two men as “persons of interest,” including one described by his mother as a supporter who had traveled to hear Kirk speak, and another older man, who was dragged away by police after officers said he confessed. However, both were later released.
As of now, the gunman who killed Charlie Kirk remains at large.