Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University Wednesday, a shocking act of political violence that brought widespread condemnation. “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 ...

Charlie Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA, speaks before former President Donald Trump's arrival during a Turning Point USA Believers Summit conference at the Palm Beach Convention Center on July 26, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America/TNS

Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University Wednesday, a shocking act of political violence that brought widespread condemnation.

“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,” President Donald Trump said on Truth Social.

Videos shared on social media show Kirk sitting under a white canopy, speaking to hundreds of people through a microphone, when a loud pop is heard; he suddenly falls back, blood gushing from his neck.

Before he was shot in the neck, he was asked about mass shootings.

“Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?” an audience member asks.

“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk responds.

Almost immediately, Kirk is shot in the neck. One video shows blood pouring out from the wound. As the crowd realized what had taken place, people are heard screaming and running away.

A source familiar with the investigation told the Times that a bullet struck Kirk’s carotid artery. He was listed in critical condition, the source said.

Utah Valley University Police said in an alert that “a single shot was fired on campus toward a visiting speaker,” and that it was investigating the shooting. The department said a suspect was in custody.

Law enforcement sources said Kirk was from a considerable distance, perhaps 200 yards away, and university security almost immediately apprehended the gunman.

Videos shared on X, shows an older man in handcuffs on the ground that witnesses claimed was the alleged gunman. The man is heard saying “I have the right to remain silent.” In another video, police escort the man while the crowd jeers him. One woman is heard screaming: “How dare you!”

On Wednesday afternoon, Trump posted a message about the incident on Truth Social.

“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” he said.

Mike Lee, a Utah senator, posted on X shortly after videos circulated online that he was “tracking the situation at Utah Valley University closely.”

“Please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk and the students gathered there,” he said.

The shooting drew immediate words of support and calls for prayers for Kirk from America’s leading conservative politicians.

“Say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good guy and a young father,” Vice President J.D. Vance posted on X.

Leading Democrats also moved swiftly to condemn the attack.

“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on X. “In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.”

Gabrielle Gifford, a former Arizona congresswoman who survived a political assassination attempt in 2011 and is a gun violence prevention advocate, said on X that she was horrified to hear that Kirk was shot.

“Democratic societies will always have political disagreements, but we must never allow America to become a country that confronts those disagreements with violence,” she wrote.

Kirk, a conservative political activist, was in Utah for his “The American Comeback Tour” tour, which began at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.

The tour, as many of his events, have drawn both supporters and protesters. Kirk’s wife and children were at the university when he was shot, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin posted on X.

Kirk, 31, is one of the Republican Party’s most influential power brokers.

The founder of the influential conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, Kirk has a vast online reach: 1.6 million followers on Rumble, 3.8 million subscribers on YouTube, 5.2 million followers on X, and 7.3 million followers on TikTok.

During the 2024 election, he rallied his online followers to support Trump, prompting conservative podcast host Megyn Kelly to say: “It’s not an understatement to say that this man is responsible for helping the Republicans win back the White House and the U.S. Senate.”

Just after Trump was elected for a second time to the presidency last November, Kirk frequently posted to social media from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he had first-hand influence over which MAGA loyalists Trump named to his cabinet.

Kirk is known for melding his conservative politics, nationalism and evangelical faith, casting the current political climate as a state of spiritual warfare between a righteous right wing and so-called “godless” liberals.

He has declared that God is on the side of American conservatives and that there is “no separation of church and state.” And in a speech to Trump supporters in Georgia last year, he said that “the Democrat Party supports everything that God hates” and that “there is a spiritual battle happening all around us.”

Kirk is also known for his memes and college campus speaking tours meant to “own the libs.” Videos of his debates with liberal college students have racked up tens of millions of views.

Matthew Boedy, a professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia, has written a forthcoming book about Christian nationalism that prominently features Kirk and his influence.

The book, “The Seven Mountains Mandate,” comes out Sept. 30.

“Today is a tragedy,” Boedy said in an interview with The Times on Wednesday. “It is a red flag for our nation. And I hope he survives.”

Boedy said the shooting — following the two assassination attempts against Trump on the campaign trail last year — is a tragic reminder of “just how divisive we have become.”

Kirk’s presence at the Utah campus was preceded by petitions and protests. But, Boedy noted, that is typical with his appearances, and it is shocking to see this violence carried out.

“Charlie Kirk is, I would say, the most influential person who doesn’t work in the White House,” he said.

Boedy said Kirk reaches a vast array of demographics through his radio show and social media accounts and “obviously is in conversation with President Trump a lot.”

Kirk has said his melding in recent years of faith and politics has been influenced by Rob McCoy, the pastor of Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park in Ventura County. Kirk calls McCoy, who often speaks at his events, his personal pastor.

Boedy said McCoy turned Kirk toward Christian nationalism, specifically the Seven Mountains Mandate — the idea that Christians should try to influence the seven pillars of cultural influence: arts and religion, business, education, family, government, media and religion.

Boedy said Kirk has “turned Turning Point USA into an arm of Christian nationalism. There’s a strategy called the Seven Mountains Mandate, and he has put his TPUSA money into each of those.”

Boedy said Kirk is a vocal Second Amendment supporter and that the shooting likely will further the desire among his conservative followers who tout the idea of having good guys with guns “to have more guns everywhere, which is sad.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency was closely monitoring reports of the shooting.

“Our thoughts are with Charlie, his loved ones, and everyone affected,” he said on X. “Agents will be on the scene quickly and the FBI stands in full support of the ongoing response and investigation.”

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Times staff writer Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.

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