Orem, Utah – Authorities searched Thursday a sniper who assassinated President Trump’s conservative activist and close ally Charlie Kirk, a bullet, and then slipped away amid the chaos caused by the latest acts of political violence to make the United States the United States.
Kirk was killed by gunfire on a distant roof of the Utah Valley University campus and he spoke Wednesday, authorities said. Federal, state and local authorities are working on what they call “multiple active crime scenes.” As the search extends into the next day, they provide little information about the identity, motivation, location or evidence of the shooter and are reviewing a grainy security video of a mysterious man in dark clothes.
“It’s a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our country,” said Utah Governor Spencer Cox. “I want to be very clear that it’s a political assassination.”
Public safety officials said two people were detained Wednesday, but both were identified as related to the shooting and both were released.
The shootings have attracted escalating attention to the threat of political violence in the United States, that in the past few years, people have crossed the ideological range. The assassination has drawn condemnation from both parties, but the way the nation has prevented political dissatisfaction from manifesting as deadly violence seems elusive.
Videos posted on social media at Utah Valley University show Kirk is sitting in a handheld microphone sitting under a white tent with “America comeback” and “Prove me wrong.” The shot rang and Kirk could be seen reaching out with his right hand as blood gushed out from the left side of his neck. Shocked audience gasped before people started running away.
Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha will visit with Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City on Thursday. According to a person familiar with the Vance program but without authorization to speak publicly about them, Vance will visit Utah instead of New York, a destination where they plan to hold an outdoor ceremony on Sept. 11.
Vance celebrates the origins of X’s friendship, dating back to the initial message in 2017, passing Vance’s Senate campaign and finally praying after hearing the shooting. Vance wrote that over the years, Kirk has signed in and played a key role in establishing the second Trump administration.
“The success we have achieved in this administration directly explores Charlie’s organization and convening capabilities,” Vance wrote. “He not only helped us win in 2024, but also helped us participate in the entire administration.”
Kirk speaks during a debate held at Turning Point USA, Arizona, on the Sorensen Center Courtyard on campus. He was asking listeners questions about gun violence before the shooting.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have become mass shooters in the past 10 years?” the man asked. Kirk replied: “Too many.”
The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in the United States over the past decade?”
“Count or not count gang violence?” Kirk asked.
Then shot.
Cox promised the shooter would be held liable under death penalty, wearing dark clothes and firing some distance from the roof of the building.
Madison Lattin only looked at Kirk’s left dozens of feet when she heard the bullet hit him.
“The blood is falling down, dripping down, and you’re so scared, not only for him, but for your own safety,” she said.
She said she saw people fall to the ground in the creepy silence that the cry immediately pierced. She ran away while others splashed into the decorative pool to escape. Some people fell down and were trampled.
She said when Lattin later learned Kirk was dead, she cried, describing him as a role model, showing her how to be identified and fight for the truth.
According to a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety, about 3,000 people were present. Authorities said the University Police Department had six police officers as well as Kirk’s own security details.
Trump announced Kirk’s death on social media and praised 31-year-old co-founder and CEO Turning Point as “great, even legendary.” Later, he released a video of the White House in which he called Kirk “a martyr of truth and freedom.”
Utah Valley University said the campus was evacuated immediately after the shooting and officers escorted people safely. Campus will be closed until Monday.
Meanwhile, armed personnel walked around the border of campus, knocking on the door, asking residents to provide any information on the shooting. The helicopter buzzed overhead.
Wednesday’s event was the first stop for Kirk’s “America Comeback Tour”, which sparked a polarized campus response. An online petition asked university administrators to ban Kirk from appearing, obtaining nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and confirms its “commitment to freedom of speech, intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted his visit on X-images from the news clip, which sparked controversy. He wrote: “What happened in Utah?”
The shooting has drawn bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered the flag to be lowered to half and issued a presidential announcement, and sent Kirk’s other Republican allies to condemn the violence.
“Charlie Kirk’s murder broke my heart. My deepest sympathy was for his wife, two young children and friends,” said former Democratic lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords, who was injured in a 2011 shooting in Arizona.
The shooting appears to be expected to be part of a surge in political violence that touches a range of ideologies and representatives of two major political parties. The attacks included the assassination of Minnesota lawmakers and her husband at their home in June in a Colorado parade in June demanding Hamas to release hostages and shoot at the governor of Pennsylvania (the Jews are all Jews). The most notorious of these incidents was the shooting at Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last year.
Turning Point was founded in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, in suburbs of Chicago, while Tea Party activist William Montgomery sentenced low taxes and limited government on university campuses. This is not a direct success.
But Kirk’s enthusiasm for fighting liberals in academia ended up winning a series of influential conservative financiers.
Despite early doubts, the turning point enthusiastically supported Trump after receiving the Republican nomination in 2016. Kirk served as an aide to Donald Trump Jr. during the election.
Soon Kirk was on regular attendance on cable TV, where he leaned over the Cultural War and praised the then-President. Trump and his son are equally interested and often speak at turning point meetings.
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Richer and Sherman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver; Michael Biesecker, Brian Slodysko, Lindsay Whitehurst and Michelle L. Price; Jesse Bedayn of Orem, Utah; Hallie Golden in Seattle and Meg Kinnard of Chapin, South Carolina contributed to the report.
