Orem, Utah (AP) – Conservative activist Charlie Kirk And President Donald Trump’s allies, who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, were shot dead at an event at the University of Utah in what the governor called a political assassination.
The crowd will react after Charlie Kirk, CEO and co-founder of conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot dead at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, September 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah. (Deseret News via Tess Crowley/AP)
Authorities say Kirk was killed in one shot from the rooftop on Wednesday. Anyone who fired the gun slid down amid the screams and the chaos that led students to flee the Utah Valley University campus. Federal, state and local governments were searching for unidentified shooters early Thursday, seeking what they called “multiple aggressive crime scenes.”
“This is a dark day for our state, a tragic day for our country,” he said. Utah Governor Spencer Cox. “I want to make it very clear that this is a political assassination.”
The two were taken into custody Wednesday, but neither of them has been decided to lead to shootings and both have been released, Utah Public Safety officials said.
Authorities did not immediately identify the motive, but the situation in the shooting was Escalating the threat of political violence in the United States It has been reduced across the ideological spectrum over the past few years. The assassination caused bipartisan condemnation, but it took into account the national approach to prevent fatal violence from appearing as deadly violence.
A video posted on Utah Valley University’s social media shows Kirk talking to a handheld microphone and sitting under a white tent decorated with the slogan “American comeback” and “Proof Me Wrong.” A single shot sounds and you can see Kirk reaching out with his right hand, as a massive amount of blood erupts from the left side of his neck. The surprised audience can hear people screaming in breath before they start to run away.
Croewley to Crowley photographer’s surname – Law enforcement was photographed on Wednesday, September 10th, 2025 by Charlie Kirk, CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA. (Deseret News via Tess Crowley/AP)
Kirk was asking questions about gun violence.
Kirk was speaking at Sorensen Center Courtyard on campus at a discussion hosted by his nonprofit political youth organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA. Just before the shooting, Kirk was asking the audience questions about mass shootings and gun violence.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the past decade?” asked. Kirk replied, “Too many.”
The questioner followed up as follows:
“Are you counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.
Then a single shot rang.
The shooter, who Cox pledged, was held responsible in a state with the death penalty, was fired from the roof of a building a little further away, wearing dark clothing.
Madison Latin was looking just a few dozen feet from Kirk’s left when he said he heard Kirk’s attack from Kirk’s left.
“You seem so scary, not just for his safety, but for your own safety, as blood is falling and dripping,” she said.
She said she saw people fall to the ground in a creepy silence that was immediately pierced by screams. Latin ran, while others fled around the decorative pool. Some fell and were trampled down by the Stampede. People lost their shoes, backpacks, folding chairs and frenzy water bottles.
When Latin later learns that Kirk had passed away, she says she cried and describes him as a role model who has determined him and demonstrated how to fight for the truth.
Charlie Kirk speaks Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday, September 10, 2025 before being shot during a visit to Turning Point.
Trump calls Kirk “martist for the truth”
About 3,000 people were in attendance, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety. Six officers were working at the event at the university’s police station, along with details of Kirk’s own security, authorities said.
Trump announced his death on social media, praised Kirk, 31, who was co-founder and CEO Turning Point As “great and even legendary.” On Wednesday, he released a recorded video from the White House, where he called Kirk “a martial artist for truth and freedom” and denounced the rhetoric of the “radical left” for the murder.
Utah Valley University said the campus was evacuated shortly after the shooting, and officers escorted people safely. It will be closed until Monday.
Meanwhile, armed officers roamed the neighbourhood adjacent to campus, knocked on the door and sought information residents may have in the shooting. The helicopter rang overhead.
Wednesday’s event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour,” produced a response for the polarized campus. An online petition seeking university administrators to appear in Kirk has received nearly 1,000 signatures. Last week, the university issued a statement citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to freedom of speech, intellectual investigation and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted an X-picture in a news clip showing his visit was causing controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
Charlie Kirk will hand over his hat before speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday, September 10th, 2025.
Condemnation from the entire political spectrum
The shooting was drawn Fast criticism Crossing the political aisle when Democratic officials joined Trump, he lowered the flag to half the price, issued a presidential declaration, and Republican Kirk’s allies condemned the violence.
“An unpleasant, sleazy and denigrated as attacks on Charlie Kirk,” posted on X, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democratic California governor who hosted Kirk on a podcast last March.
“Charlie Kirk’s murder breaks my heart. My deepest sympathy lies in his wife, two young children and friends,” said former Democrat Gabriel Guiffold. People injured in a 2011 shooting In her Arizona area.
The shooting seemed poised to become part of a surge in political violence that touched various ideologies and representatives of both major political parties. Attacks include Assassination of Minnesota Senators and her husband At their house in June, Fire bombs at the Colorado Parade to demand Hamas’ hostages be releaseda Fire has been set up at the Pennsylvania Governor’s HouseI was a Jew in April. The most infamous of these events is Photographing of Trump during last year’s campaign rally.
Former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who attended Wednesday’s event, told Fox News Channel he didn’t believe Kirk was safe enough.
“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And we don’t have these kinds of things.”
Turning Point was established in 2012 by Chicago suburb Kirk (18 at the time) and Tea Party activist William Montgomery to convert on university campuses for low tax and limited government. It wasn’t a success right away.
But Kirk’s enthusiasm for standing up against liberals in academia ultimately outperformed a set of influential, conservative investors.
Despite the early concerns, Turning Point He enthusiastically supported Trump after he decided to nominate the GOP in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. during the general election campaign.
Soon, Kirk was a regular on cable television, where he leaned against the culture war and praised the then president. Trump and his son were equally enthusiastic, often talking at Turning Point meetings.
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Richer and Sherman reported from Washington. Nicholas Riccardi, an Associated Press author in Denver. Michael Beezecker, Brian Slodisco, Lindsay Whitehurst, and Michelle L. Price. Jesse Bedain of Orem, Utah. And Harry Golden of Seattle contributed to this report.
