Shockwaves were sent across America yesterday (10 Sept) after right-wing activist and one of President Trump's closest allies, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated during a university rally.
The 31-year-old was joined by over 3,000 people on the campus of Utah Valley University (UVU) with plans to debate a number of topics. Seated under a white gazebo, Kirk was in the midst of responding to a question when a single shot rang out.
According to eyewitness accounts, as well as graphic videos which have since been circulating on social media, the bullet struck the conservative through the neck.
Kirk then recoiled in his chair and dropped his microphone, before his security team rushed to his aid.
Advert
Despite being taken to hospital, Donald Trump later confirmed that he had died.
Here's everything we know about the life of Charlie Kirk, as well as his shock assassination:
Who is Charlie Kirk?
Born in Arlington, Illinois, Kirk had always bore a passion for protest. In his childhood years, he not only served as a volunteer worker for the successful U.S. Senate campaign of local Republican leader Mark Kirk (no relation), but he objected against a price increase for cookies at his school, and wrote an essay accusing high school textbooks of sporting a liberal bias.
Advert
By 18, Kirk had founded Turning Point USA, a movement aimed at spreading right-wing ideals at more left-leaning educational facilities through debates with students.
He quickly garnered a controversial reputation for fielding rapid-fire questions with a 'change my mind' approach, challenging young Democrats on subjects including transgender rights, gay marriage, family values, climate change and political warfare.
As well as his open air debates, Kirk was also notorious online, sharing regular clips of his often-confrontational conversations on social media, and voicing his views on podcasts.
Advert
In 2020, he also hosted The Charlie Kirk Show a daily three-hour radio programme on Salem Media's channel The Answer.
Aside from politics, Kirk was a doting father-of-two, sharing a daughter (born August 2022), and a son (born May 2024) with wife Erika Frantzve.
Frantzve is a businesswoman, as well as a podcast host and philanthropist.
What were Charlie Kirk's beliefs?
Kirk's conservative views fell in life with the Christian principles he was raised on, having believed these values should forge part of US law and culture.
Advert
As such, he held traditional values on the likes of marriage, gender and sexuality. More specifically, Kirk had explicitly stated his belief that marriage solely describes the union of a man and a woman, and that there are only two genders.
Throughout his career as a debater, Kirk ceaselessly criticised 'woke' culture, taking aim at the likes of critical race theory, as well as transgender rights and other identity‑driven movements.
Kirk was anti-abortion, a disbeliever in white privilege, and a supporter of Israel with regards to the country's genocide attempt against Palestinian people living in Gaza.
Advert
He was also keen advocate for gun rights in America, telling his fans several months prior to his death: "It's worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment."
Relationship with Trump
A long-time Republican voter, Kirk's organisation Turning Point USA was vital in seeing Donald Trump elected over Kamala Harris for a second term in the White House last year.
More specifically, the movement contributed to the flipping of previously Democratic state Arizona for full support of Trump.
Following the 79-year-old's inauguration in January, their relationship only proved to grow stronger, with Kirk regularly visiting the presidential residence to engage in conversations regarding America's future.
His bond with the Trumps also extended to the politician's children, specifically his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, whom he accompanied to Greenland earlier this year to discuss the possibility the US taking ownership of the Arctic space.
At the beginning of each of Kirk's podcasts, a clip of the president would be playing, hearing him say: "I want to thank Charlie, he's an incredible guy, his spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organisations ever created."
Charlie Kirk's assassination
It was Trump that first confirmed the shocking news that Kirk had died, after the conservative was shot during a Turning Point USA rally at a Utah university yesterday.
After an attendee had been invited to debate with the Republican as part of the first day of his 'The American Comeback Tour', he was asked: "Do you know many transgender Americans have been shooters over the last 10 years?"
Kirk then replied: "Too many."
The same audience member then responded again, telling Kirk it was five, before asking how many mass shooters there had been in America over the last 10 years.
Kirk then queried back: "Counting or not counting gang violence?"
The question would prove to be his final statement. Seconds later, a bullet penetrated Kirk's neck, and he slowly fell to the ground.
The crowd of attendees quickly dispersed in fear of an active shooter, including Frantzve and Kirk's two children.
An eyewitness told reporters, as cited by the BBC: "I heard a loud shot, a loud bang and then I saw his body actually - in slow motion - kind of fall over."
Another attendee, Emma Pitts, a Deseret News journalist added: "We all dropped to the ground, and I want to say we sat like that for about 30 to 45 seconds, and then everyone around us got up and started running."
Taking to Truth Social, Trump later confirmed the father-of-two's passing.
"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 wrote.
"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!"
The politician has since blamed the 'radical left' for Kirk's murder, after was also described by Utah Governor Spencer Cox as a 'political assassination'.
Police - who have called the incident a targeted shooting - are still on the hunt for Kirk's killer, having conducted door-to-door checks in residential areas surrounding the campus.
The motive of the attack is not yet known, though authorities believe the shooter fired the fatal shot from the roof of a nearby building.
Topics: Crime, Donald Trump, News, Politics, US News, Charlie Kirk
Rhianna Benson