US right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk, an influential ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday at an event at a Utah university, Trump said.
"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," Trump wrote on social media.
A university spokesperson said police did not have a suspect in custody after the school initially reported that someone had been taken into custody.
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Mr Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong”.
Cellphone video clips of the incident circulating on social media showed Kirk addressing a large outdoor crowd at the campus in Orem, Utah, when a loud crack that sounded like a gunshot rang out. Kirk moved his hand toward his neck as he fell off his chair, sending the attendees running.
A single shot rings out, and Mr Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck.
Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away.
The AP was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Centre courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.
Mr Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his non-profit political organisation.
The event had been met with divided opinions on campus. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Mr Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures.
The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue”.
Last week, Mr Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit to Utah colleges, was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
The college said a “single shot” had been fired at Mr Kirk, and a suspect was in custody.
President Donald Trump and a host of Republican and Democratic elected officials decried the shooting and offered prayers for Kirk on social media.
“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” Mr Trump posted on Truth Social.
The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence in the United States across all parts of the ideological spectrum.
The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state politician and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April.
The most high-profile of these events is the shooting of Mr Trump during a campaign rally last year.
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at the event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Mr Kirk go back.
“It seemed like it was a close shot,” Mr Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.
He said there was a light police presence at the event and Mr Kirk had some security, but not enough.
The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible. In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 10, 2025
“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”
Turning Point was founded in Chicago in 2012 by Mr Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a Tea Party activist, to proselytise on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.
But Mr Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Mr Trump after he clinched the Republican nomination in 2016.
Mr Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.
Soon, Mr Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president.
