Charlie Kirk, influential voice for young conservatives, killed at 31
Washington — Charlie Kirk, a right-wing political activist and influential voice for young conservatives in the digital age, died Wednesday after he was shot in the neck at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. He was 31.
Kirk, a father of two, was shot as he was speaking to students at an event for Turning Point USA, an organization for young conservatives he co-founded in 2012.
"The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead," President Trump wrote. "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."
According to video shared on social media, an audience member asked Kirk about mass shootings in the U.S. before Kirk was hit in the neck and slumped in his chair. Two eyewitnesses told CBS News a large volume of blood poured from his neck. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
The gunman is still at large, according to police.
In a news conference earlier, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said there was a "person of interest in custody" in connection with Kirk's shooting. That person was later released following an interrogation with police.
Separately, a different person was taken into custody "shortly after the shooting," but he was released "after we identified that he did not match the shooting suspect and was not an accurate person of interest," according to Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason. That person was later booked into county jail for obstruction of justice, Mason said.
"There are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals. There is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter," the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a news release Wednesday night.
Mr. Trump, who survived an assassination attempt at an outdoor political event last year, told the New York Post, "He was a very, very good friend of mine and he was a tremendous person." Democrats and Republicans alike expressed their outrage, prayers and concern on social media upon news of the shooting.
Kirk, a close Trump ally, was the key to energizing and mobilizing the youth vote for the president throughout his campaigns. He was critical to the Trump ground game effort for voter turnout and built out significant parts of the Trump campaign in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Kirk stood by the president during what could be described as his political winter, soon after he announced his second presidential campaign, when skeptics doubted he could become president again.
Kirk also made it his mission to engage more young people in politics, and register them to vote. Kirk was also a close friend of the president's son, Donald Trump, Jr.
Kirk spoke at Mr. Trump's inauguration parade in January, and the president appointed him to the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors in March.
"For those of you that have always had the president's back throughout these last couple of years, when we were at our darkest moment four years ago, this is your victory," Kirk said as he opened his speech at Mr. Trump's inaugural parade.
But Kirk's politics weren't without controversy. Kirk pushed false claims about voter fraud after Mr. Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, stoked skepticism about the COVID-19 pandemic and spread anti-trans rhetoric. He also amplified the "Great Replacement" conspiracy, which is based on the belief that there's a plot to replace White people with minorities.
After casting doubt early on about mail-in voting, Kirk pushed GOP voters to embrace the methods in 2024.
He pointed to Kari Lake's loss in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race as a moment where he realized that Republicans must embrace "Election Month," as he put it, not just Election Day.
"It triggered a lot of introspection on our team. And I was like, why are we not embracing, you know, this sort of methodology, we might not love it, but losing feels a lot worse," Kirk said. "I think that the movement is looking at it the same."
Born Oct. 14, 1993, Kirk grew up in the Chicago suburbs and briefly attended community college, but dropped out to pursue political activism full time.
Kirk was the host of "The Charlie Kirk Show," a daily conservative talk radio show and amassed millions of followers on social media.
Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika, and their two young children.
Jacob Rosen and Olivia Rinaldi contributed to this report.
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
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