President Donald Trump on Wednesday introduced conservative activist Charlie Kirk died after being shot at a campus college occasion in Utah.
“The Nice, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is lifeless. Nobody understood or had the Coronary heart of the Youth in the USA of America higher than Charlie. He was cherished and admired by ALL, particularly me, and now, he’s not with us. Melania and my Sympathies exit to his stunning spouse Erika, and household. Charlie, we love you!” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
Earlier than the announcement, Trump instructed ABC Information Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, “It’s horrific. It’s one of the horrible issues I’ve ever seen.”
“He was man. He was an unimaginable man. No one like him,” Trump instructed Karl.
A number of high administration officers rapidly issued messages of help for Kirk as information of the capturing unfold, earlier than Trump’s announcement that he had died.
Kirk, the founding father of the conservative youth activist group Turning Level USA, was an in depth ally to Trump and plenty of members of his administration.
“Say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good man and a younger father,” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X. Vance later posted {a photograph} of him, Kirk and Donald Trump Jr.
On this July 31, 2024, file photograph, Charlie Kirk, Founder and President of Turning Level USA, addresses the group at a rally with Senator and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance throughout a marketing campaign rally at Arizona Christian College Occasion Heart in Glendale, Arizona.
Laura Segall/AFP through Getty Photos, FILE
FBI Director Kash Patel posted that the bureau is “intently monitoring stories of the tragic capturing involving Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley College. Our ideas are with Charlie, his family members, and everybody affected. Brokers might be on the scene rapidly and the FBI stands in full help of the continued response and investigation.”
“Prayers for Charlie Kirk. An unimaginable Christian, American, and human being. Could the therapeutic hand of Jesus Christ be upon him,” Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth wrote on X.
Republican members of Congress additionally mentioned earlier than information of his dying that they had been praying for Kirk. The Home held a second of silence for Kirk on Wednesday afternoon.
“We ask everybody to wish for him and his household. I am simply going to … state the plain right here. That is detestable,” Home Speaker Mike Johnson mentioned. “Political violence has grow to be all too frequent in American society, and this isn’t who they’re.”
Johnson added, “We want each political determine, we want everybody who has a platform, to say this loudly and clearly, we are able to settle disagreements and disputes in a civil method, and political violence have to be pulled out, and it has to cease.”
“This can be a sick and despicable assault,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham posted. “I’m praying for Charlie Kirk and his household. Please be part of me.”
U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk seems at a Utah Valley College talking occasion in Orem, Utah, U.S. September 10, 2025.
Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune through Reuters
Many Democrats additionally rapidly spoke out in opposition to the capturing on Wednesday.
“I’m deeply disturbed by the capturing in Utah,” former Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on X. “Doug and I ship our prayers to Charlie Kirk and his household. Let me be clear: Political violence has no place in America. I condemn this act, and all of us should work collectively to make sure this doesn’t result in extra violence.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the capturing as “disgusting.”
“The assault on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible. In the USA of America, we should reject political violence in EVERY type,” Newsom wrote on X.
Home Democratic Chief Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X: “Political violence is NEVER acceptable. My ideas and prayers are with Charlie Kirk and his household.”
Gabrielle Giffords, a former Democratic congresswoman who was shot within the head throughout a public occasion in 2011, additionally shared a message condemning acts of political violence.
“I am horrified to listen to that Charlie Kirk was shot at an occasion in Utah. Democratic societies will all the time have political disagreements, however we mustn’t ever permit America to grow to be a rustic that confronts these disagreements with violence. Mark and I are praying for Charlie’s restoration,” Giffords wrote.
Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, whose husband was violently assaulted of their California dwelling by an invader on the lookout for Pelosi, referred to as the capturing “horrific” and “reprehensible.”
“Political violence has completely no place in our nation,” Pelosi wrote on X. “All Individuals ought to pray for Charlie Kirk’s restoration and maintain the complete UVU neighborhood in our hearts as they endure the trauma of this gun violence.”
This can be a creating story. Please test again for updates.
