On September 10, 2025, Turning Point USA founder and political speaker Charlie Kirk was tragically and fatally shot on the campus of Utah Valley University during a speech. Kirk’s visit to Utah Valley marked the first date on his Prove Me Wrong tour, where he would speak at college campuses and debate students of these schools.
Charlie Kirk, who is both popular and controversial for his right-wing views, began speaking at the Orem, Utah campus at 12 PM. A student on the campus approached Kirk and began debating Kirk on the topic of mass shootings. While Kirk was speaking, a single shot was fired from 142 yards away, hitting him in the neck. Approximately 3,000 people, including his wife and children, gathered to listen to Kirk speak. Moments after the shooting, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began a manhunt aided by local and campus police officers. Utah Valley announced to students that the campus would be closed until September 15 to assist with the investigation.
A manhunt was launched on the day of Kirk’s death, with the only description of the suspect being a college-aged male. On September 10, the police arrested two suspects, but they later released both and deemed them innocent. However, the FBI announced on the morning of September 11 that they possessed the gun used as well as CCTV footage of the killer escaping from a rooftop. Furthermore, The Wall Street Journal reported that bullets engraved with antifascist and pro-transgender messages were found with the gun.
On September 12, a 22-year-old man named Tyler Robinson was turned in to the police after confessing to his family that he shot Kirk. Utah Governor Spencer Cox applauded Robinson’s family for “doing the right thing,” and police interviews have discovered that Robinson’s attack was motivated by his dislike for Charlie Kirk’s political views. According to a family member of Robinson, he believed that Kirk was “full of hate and spreading more hate.”
Kirk’s death was responded to with sympathy from many politicians across the world. President Donald Trump released a statement regarding Kirk in which he called out “radical left political violence” and claimed Kirk’s killing as an act of domestic terrorism. President Trump also ordered flags across the country to be flown at half-staff for four days.
The murder of Charlie Kirk is another tragedy in a recent uprise in political violence. Kirk’s death follows the assault of Paul Pelosi in 2022, the killing of Brian Thompson and assassination attempts on Donald Trump in 2024, and the assassination of Melissa Hortman and her husband in 2025. Both Democratic and Republican politicians condemned the killing of Kirk, but also expressed fear of expanded political violence.
