Influential Trump supporter Charlie Kirk shot & killed in public debate at US university

Charlie Kirk, the founder of the influential United States-based Conservative media outlet Turning Point USA (TPUSA), has died after being shot while at an outdoor speaking event at Utah Valley University near Salt Lake City.

Death confirmed by Trump

According to reporting by the BBC, Kirk was shot in the neck during a speaking event on a Utah university campus at around 12.20 pm local time on Sep. 10 (2.10 am Singapore time).

It is being reported that Kirk was shot with a rifle from over 150 meters.

A person of interest has been taken into custody.

Videos on the incident show Kirk answering a question about mass shootings when a gunshot is heard. The crowd, numbering several hundred, then panics and begins to flee the scene.

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed his death with a post on Truth Social.

In his post, Trump paid tribute to him, saying, “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie”.

Conservatism

Kirk is the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative media outlet that has, over the past decade, been vociferous in its support of conservative ideology and Donald Trump.

It has aggressively targeted younger voters and has been critical in raising money and drawing crowds to Trump and Trump-related events.

TPUSA has embedded itself in tertiary education campuses across the United States.

His appearances, though, have been controversial, with even this recent "comeback tour" receiving nearly 1,000 signatures for university administrators to ban Kirk.

The university issued a statement last affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”

He was also a major proponent of the Second Amendment, which some in the U.S. say allows for gun ownership with little to no government restriction.

Rejection of political violence

Political figures have spoken out against political violence, with many conservative figures in the U.S. urging the public to pray for Kirk before his death was announced.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that “we must all pray for Charlie Kirk”, calling him a “great guy from top to bottom”.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth called Kirk an “incredible Christian, American, and human being”.

But condemnation of the shooting was not restricted to Republican leaders, with the Democratic governor of California and prominent Trump critic Gavin Newsom calling the attack “disgusting, vile, and reprehensible”, and for the rejection of political violence in “EVERY form”.

Former Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, both victims of political violence, Giffords was shot in the head in 2011, both condemned the attack.

Pelosi said that political violence had no place in the U.S., while Giffords said that “we must never allow America to become a country that confronts… disagreements with violence”.

Top image via Charlie Kirk/Facebook and AP