Donald Trump has condemned the deadly shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at an event in Utah last night, describing it as a “dark moment for America”. The President addressed the nation from the Oval Office after Mr Kirk was fatally shot while addressing a large audience at Utah Valley University, as the hunt for the suspected shooter continues.
Videos posted to social media from the university show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” While Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence, 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.
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organisation Turning Point USA (TPUSA) at the time. Officials believe he was shot from roof.
Trump referred to the shooter as “he” as he vowed that the killing wouldn’t diminish Kirk’s influence, though police are yet to have a suspect in custody.
No suspect 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 authorised to discuss the situation by name and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Two people were detained earlier in the day but neither was determined to have had any connection to the shooting and both have been released, Utah public safety officials said.
The President characterised the shooting as an attack on the whole country in his address, and blamed the rhetoric of the “radical left” for his killing. He said: “To my great fellow Americans, I am filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah.
“Charlie inspired millions, and tonight all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror. Charlie was a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate, and the country that he loves 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.
“Charlie was also a man of deep, deep, faith. And we take comfort in the knowledge that he is now at peace with God in heaven.
“Our prayers are with his wife Erika, their two young, beloved children, and his entire family, who he loved more than anything in the world.
“We ask God to watch over them in this terrible hour of heartache and pain. This is a dark moment for America. Charlie Kirk travelled the nation, joyfully engaging with everyone interested in good-faith debate.
“His mission was to bring young people into the political process, which he did better than anybody ever, to share his love of country and to spread the simple words of common sense. On campuses nationwide he championed his ideas with courage, logic, humour, and grace.
“It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonising those whom you disagree day after day, year after year, the most hateful and despicable way possible.
“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.
“My administration will find each and everyone who contributed to this attrocity, and to other political violence, including the organisations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country.
“From the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, which killed a husband and father, to the attacks on ICE agents, the vicious murder of a healthcare executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House Majority Speaker Steve Scalise and three others, radical Left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.
“Tonight I ask all Americans to commit themselves to the American values for which Charlie Kirk lived and died. The values of free speech, citizenship, the rule of law, and patriotic devotion and love of God.
“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, his message, and his legacy will live on for countless generations to come.
“Today, because of this heinous act, Charlie’s voice has become bigger and grander than ever before, and it’s not even close. May God bless his memory, may God watch over his family, and may God bless the United States of America, thank you.”
TPUSA 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’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s 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.
You can find out more about Kirk’s life here.