Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and
killed on Wednesday at a Utah college event. He was 31. Mr. Kirk was speaking at the college campus event when he was fatally shot, in what the governor described as a 'political assassination' carried out from a rooftop.
“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation. I want to be very clear this is a political assassination,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said.
President Donald Trump, deeply pained by the young activist's tragic death, has ordered US flags to be flown at half mast to honour
Charlie Kirk. "In honor of Charlie Kirk, a truly Great American Patriot, I am ordering all American Flags throughout the United States lowered to Half Mast until Sunday evening at 6 P.M.," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
The US President also called the right-wing activist 'great and legendary'. "The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!" President Trump said, in a post shared on Truth Social. Kirk had played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters.
Officials in Utah are on the hunt for the person who killed Charlie Kirk. Lt. Cameron Roden, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Public Safety, told The New York Times that two people have been detained and questioned by the police, but no one remains in custody. Gov. Spencer Cox said that they are working with the FBI and Utah law enforcement, and ‘will bring to justice the individual responsible for this tragedy’.
Who was Charlie Kirk?
Pic courtesy: Facebook/ Charlie Kirk
Charlie Kirk was born on Oct. 14, 1993, in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago, to Robert, an architect, and Kimberly, a mental health counselor. He was one of the most influential young right-wing figures in the country. He founded Turning Point USA, a youth activist group, in 2012, targeting younger people and venturing onto liberal-leaning college campuses where many GOP activists were nervous to tread. Mr. Kirk is also known for controversial remarks on issues such as gender, race, and politics. He briefly dropped out of Harper College to build TPUSA into a powerhouse, which now boasts millions of social media followers.
A close ally of Trump
FILE -- From left: Charlie Kirk, right, the right-wing influencer and founder of Turning Point USA, is joined onstage by then-former President Donald Trump at an event in Tampa, Fla., on July 23, 2022. Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot in the neck on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, while speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University. (Todd Anderson/The New York Times)
A close ally of Trump, during the president's initial 2016 run, Kirk turned TPUSA into a major conservative force.
Turning Point’s political wing helped run get-out-the-vote efforts for Trump’s 2024 campaign, trying to energize disaffected conservatives who rarely vote. Trump won Arizona, Turning Point’s home state, by five percentage points after narrowly losing it in 2020. The group is known for its events that often feature strobe lighting and pyrotechnics. It claims more than 250,000 student members.
Kirk, who started as an unofficial adviser during Trump’s 2016 campaign and soon became a confidant. “He was a very, very good friend of mine, and he was a tremendous person,” Trump said.
During Trump's campaign in Georgia last fall, Kirk called the Trump vs. Kamala Harris choice “a spiritual battle.”“This is a Christian state. I’d like to see it stay that way,” he said.
Mr. Kirk is also a media personality hosting "The Charlie Kirk Show," which is ranked among the top podcasts.
Family
Pic courtesy: Facebook/ Charlie Kirk
Charlie Kirk is married to Erika Frantzve, former Miss Arizona USA. They got hitched in May 2021. The couple had two children, a daughter born in 2022 and a son in 2024.
Earlier today (Wednesday), Erika Kirk shared a Bible verse on social media that read, "Psalm 46:1 - God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." She has not commented publicly on her husband's death.
First Lady Melania Trump wrote a heartfelt note on Kirk's death. "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," the FLOTUS wrote on social media.
(With inputs from AP)
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