New York Times

NEW YORK:&nbsp;A founding principle of the United States, enshrined in its constitution&rsquo;s opening amendment, is that the republic depends on citizens&rsquo; freedom to disagree with one another. They need to be able to do so intensely, on matters of life and death, including war and divisive modern issues like abortion, gun safety and health insurance.&nbsp; There are limits to free speech, yes, but they involve edge cases, like falsely shouting fire in a theater or inciting an imminent act of violence. If the American ideal of freedom means anything, it is that Americans can engage in an extremely wide range of political speech, including the tasteless and the offensive. The US President Trump is himself a purveyor of tasteless and even threatening language, speaking in ways that no previous president did.&nbsp;Yet his own exercise of his First Amendment rights&mdash;the constitutional protections guaranteeing freedom of speech&mdash;has not stopped him from encroaching on those of others.&nbsp;He has punished universities, immigrants, law firms, federal prosecutors, military leaders, national security officials and others for voicing opinions with which he disagrees. Now he is taking his campaign against free speech to a new level by using the assassination of Charlie Kirk as a justification to promise the repression of groups that he describes as liberal. Mr. Trump&rsquo;s aides are drafting an executive order that could come as soon as this week, The Times reported, and it will most likely target left-leaning organizations. On Monday, the country&#39;s&nbsp;Vice President JD Vance mentioned both the Ford Foundation and George Soros&rsquo;s Open Society Foundations, saying that they benefited from a &ldquo;generous tax treatment,&rdquo; the same tax treatment that benefits nonprofit groups like religious charities and the National Rifle Association Foundation. The intimidation campaign is already having an effect. Federal officials have urged companies to fire workers who have criticized Mr. Kirk, and some have done so. In a direct exercise of government influence, Brendan Carr, the chairman of the F.C.C., threatened Disney for remarks that Jimmy Kimmel made on his late-night ABC show. &ldquo;We can do this the easy way or the hard way,&rdquo; Mr. Carr said. He also urged television stations to stop broadcasting the show. Two major station owners quickly did so, and ABC has suspended the show indefinitely. As we wrote last week, we are horrified by the killing of Mr. Kirk, and we mourn his death. The evidence suggests that he was murdered for his views, which is the most fundamental violation of free-speech principles. We vehemently disagree with people who suggested that Mr. Kirk bore any responsibility for his own shooting. As Spencer Cox, Utah&rsquo;s Republican governor, said afterward: &ldquo;We need more moral clarity right now. I hear all the time that words are violence. Words are not violence. Violence is violence.&rdquo; Yet it is the Trump administration, not the left, now violating Mr. Cox&rsquo;s standard. Mr. Trump&rsquo;s promised crackdown depends on the false premise that liberal and nonpartisan groups are part of a far-left conspiracy that promotes violence against conservatives. In truth, the country has experienced a surge of political violence and plots that have targeted both Democrats and Republicans, including Mr. Kirk, Mr. Trump, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Representative Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and two state legislators in Minnesota. As this list suggests, the highest-profile targets show no clear partisan pattern. Mr. Trump and his aides tell a very different story &mdash; and a false one. They claim that political violence comes mostly from the left. &ldquo;The radicals on the left are the problem,&rdquo; the president said last week. In fact, multiple data sources show that neither side has a monopoly on political violence, but it is more likely to come from the right. Between 2015 and 2024, 54 percent of ideologically connected killings were committed by people on the far right, according to the Anti-Defamation League. By comparison, 8 percent came from the political left. Conservatives and progressives alike should reflect on whether the nasty and often personal rhetoric of today&rsquo;s politics may have contributed to an atmosphere in which unstable or angry people become more likely to commit violence. Still, even that scenario is very different from one in which political groups are organizing and helping commit the violence. There is zero evidence that left-wing groups played a role in Mr. Kirk&rsquo;s killing or in other recent violence against Republicans. &ldquo;Absent additional facts, there was one person responsible for Charlie Kirk&rsquo;s assassination,&rdquo; Mike Pence, Mr. Trump&rsquo;s former vice president, pointed out on Thursday. If anything, many elected Democrats and prominent progressives have clearly and consistently condemned Mr. Kirk&rsquo;s killing in ways that prominent Republicans failed to do after attacks on Democrats. After the attack at Ms. Pelosi&rsquo;s home, which included a brutal assault of her husband, Paul, Mr. Trump himself and other prominent Republicans mocked the victim and spread absurd conspiracies that the episode was staged. After the shooting of two Democratic legislators and their spouses in Minnesota, Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, bizarrely blamed &ldquo;Marxists,&rdquo; while Laura Loomer, an influential Trump confidante, falsely blamed &ldquo;goons&rdquo; working for Gov. Tim Walz, the Minnesota Democrat. These are terrible things to say. They are not crimes, however, and they are certainly not grounds for a government crackdown against conservative groups. The Trump administration is now targeting other groups for lesser sins and maybe no sins at all. Mr. Vance&rsquo;s specific (and tenuous ) claim about the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundations was that they helped to fund The Nation, which published an article lambasting Mr. Kirk after his death. If that article &mdash; whatever you think of it &mdash; is grounds for government punishment, the First Amendment has no meaning. We urge Mr. Trump and his aides to remember the free-speech criticisms that they and other conservatives have often made of progressives over the past decade. Republicans have excoriated the left for its attempts to conflate personal safety with contestable ideas and to quash political expression on Covid-19, race, trans issues and other subjects. Conservatives have been correct about some of these excesses, too. In his Inaugural Address in January, Mr. Trump promised to &ldquo;bring back free speech to America.&rdquo; Mr. Vance, while speaking in Munich in February, excoriated European countries for restricting speech and promised, &ldquo;Under Donald Trump&rsquo;s leadership, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square, agree or disagree.&rdquo; Instead of living up to these principles, the Trump administration and its allies are attempting to restrict speech in ways that are more extreme than anything that Democrats have done. Stephen Miller, a top White House aide, has claimed the existence of a &ldquo;vast domestic terror movement&rdquo; on the left and denigrated the Democratic Party as a &ldquo;domestic extremist organization.&rdquo; Attorney General Pam Bondi has suggested that a business that refused to print signs promoting vigils for Mr. Kirk deserved to be prosecuted. Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana called for permanent social-media bans on &ldquo;every post or commenter that belittled the assassination of Charlie Kirk.&rdquo; Mr. Higgins, it is worth noting, is one of the congressmen who previously criticized social-media companies for suppressing conservative speech &mdash; and who belittled the attack on Mr. Pelosi. If Mr. Trump refuses to stand up for the basic American right to disagree without fear of oppression, others still can. An executive order that follows through on the threats that he and his aides have made would be clearly unconstitutional. And it would deserve an immediate injunction from the federal courts and a swift rejection from the Supreme Court. The ability to disagree with other people on raw, difficult issues, without fear of repression, is the essence of American freedom.

 President Donald Trump speaking to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

Articles

Although Trump frequently uses offensive language himself, he has aggressively punished others—from universities to officials—who express views he opposes.

The Trump administration’s controversial approach to free speech enforcement

Reuters

ARIZONA: US President Donald Trump and the wife of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Erika, embraced on stage as the memorial service for her slain husband came to an end on Sunday.&nbsp; Trump hailed Charlie Kirk as a &quot;martyr for American freedom&quot; on Sunday and vowed at his memorial service to carry on the activist&#39;s work, while again suggesting the &quot;radical left&quot; was responsible for Kirk&#39;s murder. Erika, who has taken the helm of Turning Point, delivered an emotional tribute to her late husband, looking up at the heavens and mouthing, &quot;I love you,&quot; before speaking about his devotion to Christianity, his family, and his activism. The Kirks have two young children. She also offered forgiveness to the 22-year-old man who has been charged with Kirk&#39;s murder, citing the Bible&#39;s account that Jesus Christ urged his followers to forgive his tormentors while on the cross. The memorial, organized 11 days after he was assassinated by Kirk&#39;s conservative youth advocacy organization Turning Point USA, drew tens of thousands of mourners dressed in red, white, and blue who filled State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Americas

Donald Trump honored slain activist Charlie Kirk at Arizona memorial, calling him a martyr, as wife Erika offered forgiveness and emotional tribute.

Memorial service for slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk

PROVO: The suspect accused of assassinating right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in Utah wrote a text message before the shooting that he planned to kill Kirk, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Monday.&nbsp;In an appearance on Fox News&#39; &quot;Fox &amp; Friends,&quot; Patel said investigators believe Tyler Robinson also wrote a physical note saying he had the &quot;opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk&quot; and would do so. The note was destroyed, Patel said, but investigators have collected forensic evidence that it had existed and confirmed its contents through interviews.&nbsp;Patel did not say who had received the text message or whether anyone had seen the written note before the attack.&nbsp;Investigators have not publicly identified a motive. Law enforcement authorities have said they believe Robinson acted alone when he shot Kirk, but are investigating whether anyone else had a role in plotting the killing.&nbsp;Separately, the Washington Post reported on Monday that Robinson had sent a message via the online platform Discord to friends, apparently confessing to the crime on Thursday night, shortly before he was arrested.&nbsp;&quot;It was me at UVU yesterday. I&#39;m sorry for all of this,&quot; read a message from the account belonging to Robinson, the newspaper reported, citing two people familiar with the chat as well as screenshots it had obtained. Kirk, an influential ally of U.S. President Donald Trump who co-founded the leading conservative student group Turning Point USA, was killed by a single rifle shot last Wednesday during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 40 miles south (65 km) of Salt Lake City.&nbsp;Court hearing by videoRobinson, 22, is expected to be formally charged on Tuesday, around the same time that he makes an initial court appearance by video from his jail cell.&nbsp;Patel told Fox News that DNA matching the suspect&#39;s was found on a towel that was wrapped around the rifle believed to be the murder weapon and on a screwdriver found on the rooftop that served as the shooter&#39;s sniper perch.&nbsp;Robinson has not cooperated with authorities, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said on Sunday. Still, investigators have been interviewing his friends and family in an effort to determine the motive for the shooting.&nbsp;The killing has shaken a country already gripped by a spike in political violence, fueled by deepening polarization between the right and the left.&nbsp;Both sides have universally condemned Kirk&#39;s slaying as an indefensible act of political violence, though partisan differences have emerged over the framing of that message.&nbsp;Some Republicans, including Trump, have blamed liberal groups for Kirk&#39;s murder despite a lack of evidence. At the same time, Democrats have noted that left-wing figures have also been the targets of political violence in recent years.&nbsp;The left and right also disagree over Kirk&#39;s legacy and how he should be remembered.&nbsp;Legacy dividedKirk&#39;s supporters cast him as an influential and charismatic figure who galvanized support for Trump among younger voters in 2024, and the Republican president has honored Kirk by ordering flags flown at half-staff on public buildings.&nbsp;Civil rights advocates and liberals have criticized Kirk as a divisive figure who embraced Trump&#39;s unsubstantiated claims of a stolen election in 2020 and has marginalized Blacks, women, the LGBT community, Muslims, and immigrants with derogatory rhetoric.&nbsp;In an appearance on Kirk&#39;s eponymous podcast on Monday, Vice President JD Vance said the &quot;incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism&quot; had helped lead to Kirk&#39;s killing.&nbsp;While Robinson was raised in a Mormon household by religious parents in a deeply conservative region of the state, &quot;his ideology was very different than his family,&quot; Cox said on Sunday on NBC&#39;s &quot;Meet the Press&quot; program, without going into specifics.&nbsp;State records show Robinson had registered to vote without choosing a party affiliation and did not vote in the 2024 presidential election. However, a relative told police that Robinson had become more politically active and had expressed a dislike for Kirk in a recent conversation.&nbsp;House Speaker Mike Johnson and three other top members of the House Republican leadership held a brief vigil on Monday for Kirk, attended by dozens of lawmakers, friends, and supporters in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol.&nbsp;Back in Utah, at the scene of Kirk&#39;s assassination, scores of mourners have flocked to makeshift memorials in recent days to leave flowers and handwritten notes, and to inscribe messages in chalk on campus sidewalks, many of them Bible verses.&nbsp;Dally Bronson, 22, a sheriff&#39;s dispatcher from neighboring Wasatch County who was on duty at the time Kirk was shot, said that as a devout Christian, she felt torn about what justice should look like.&nbsp;Describing herself as an admirer of Kirk, Bronson said she had been praying for both him and his accused killer.&nbsp;&quot;By all accounts, (Robinson) was a good kid until recently, when something went terribly wrong,&quot; she said, speaking through tears. Kirk&#39;s &quot;killing isn&#39;t about one political side or the other - it&#39;s about good and evil. The shooter encountered a darkness online; he went into some black hole on the internet, and it&#39;s something people our age fall into.&quot;

Suspect Tyler Robinson planned and confessed to killing activist Charlie Kirk; FBI cites evidence and messages, motive still under investigation.

Suspected gunman threatened Kirk, tied to scene by DNA: FBI

OREM: The Utah trade school student jailed on suspicion of fatally shooting United States conservative activist Charlie Kirk faces formal charges next week, according to the state governor.&nbsp;The act of violence is widely seen as a foreboding inflexion point in American politics.&nbsp;Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested on Thursday night after relatives and a family friend alerted authorities that he had implicated himself in the crime, Governor Spencer Cox said on Friday, opening a press conference with the words, &ldquo;We got him.&rdquo;&nbsp;The arrest capped a 33-hour manhunt for the lone suspect in Wednesday&rsquo;s killing, which U.S. President Donald Trump has called a &ldquo;heinous assassination.&rdquo;&nbsp;Kirk gunned downKirk, co-founder of the conservative student group Turning Point USA and a staunch Trump ally, was gunned down by a single rifle shot fired from a rooftop during an outdoor event attended by 3,000 people at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 65 kilometers south of Salt Lake City.&nbsp;The sniper made his getaway in the ensuing pandemonium, captured in graphic detail in video clips that circulated widely on the internet and television news reports.&nbsp;A bolt-action rifle believed to be the murder weapon was found nearby, and police released images from surveillance cameras showing a &ldquo;person of interest&rdquo; wearing dark clothing and sunglasses.&nbsp;A break in the case came when a relative and a family friend alerted the local sheriff&rsquo;s office that he had &ldquo;confessed to them or implied that he had committed&rdquo; the murder, Cox said.&nbsp;&ldquo;I want to thank the family members of Tyler Robinson, who did the right thing in this case and were able to bring him into law enforcement,&rdquo; the governor said.&nbsp;Security camera footage and evidence gathered from the suspect&rsquo;s profile on the chat and streaming platform Discord also helped investigators link him to the crime, Cox added.&nbsp;&lsquo;Watershed in American history&rsquo;The killing has stirred outrage among Kirk&rsquo;s supporters and condemnation of political violence from across the ideological spectrum.&nbsp;&ldquo;It is an attack on all of us,&rdquo; Governor Cox said, calling Kirk&rsquo;s murder a &ldquo;watershed in American history&rdquo; and comparing it to the rash of US political assassinations of the 1960s.&nbsp;Cox declined to discuss possible motives for the killing. But in describing inscriptions investigators found on ammunition recovered from the scene, he said one of the casings bore the message: &ldquo;Here fascist! Catch!&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;I think that speaks for itself,&rdquo; he said in response to reporters&rsquo; questions. Right, left or crazy?Rachel Kleinfeld, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the symbology found on the bullet casings suggests the shooter was part of the so-called Groyper movement, associated with far-right activist and commentator Nick Fuentes.&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an eclectic ideological movement marked by video game memes, anti-gay, Nick Fuentes white supremacy and irony,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;&ldquo;It certainly leans right, but it is quite eclectic. In a way, the ideological beliefs of the shooter don&rsquo;t matter,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;&ldquo;What matters is how they&rsquo;re taken by society. And if our society chooses to keep pointing fingers, whether the person turns out to be right, left or just unstable, then the violence will grow from the pointing of fingers, regardless of the act itself.&rdquo;&nbsp;Kleinfeld said most perpetrators of political violence were not clearly on one ideological side or another but typically driven by &ldquo;a hodgepodge of conspiracy beliefs and mental illness.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;So, it wouldn&rsquo;t be surprising at all if this person were a person of the far right, if this person was a person who held a variety of different beliefs and was sort of unclassifiable,&rdquo; she added.

The Utah trade school student jailed on suspicion of fatally shooting United States conservative activist Charlie Kirk faces formal charges next week, according to the state governor.

Accused US sniper jailed in Charlie Kirk killing awaits formal charges

Web Desk

OREM: The suspect arrested in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk had expressed political opposition to the victim and is believed to have acted alone, authorities said Friday, in a killing that has renewed national concerns over political violence.&nbsp;Tyler Robinson, 22, was taken into custody early Friday morning in connection with the fatal shooting of Kirk, who was killed during a campus event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. Law enforcement officials said key evidence, including engraved bullets and private chat messages, helped identify Robinson as the gunman.&nbsp;&ldquo;This was a targeted attack,&rdquo; said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican. &ldquo;It was an attack on the American experiment.&rdquo;&nbsp;According to investigators, Robinson had become &ldquo;increasingly political&rdquo; in recent months and had voiced disapproval of Kirk&rsquo;s views to family and friends. After the shooting, he reportedly told a family friend he was responsible. A roommate later turned over messages from a chat app that also implicated him.&nbsp;Authorities said a high-powered, bolt-action rifle believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered near the scene. The suspect allegedly fired a single shot from a rooftop as Kirk spoke at a Turning Point USA event and then fled into nearby woods.&nbsp;The shooting was captured on video, which circulated widely on social media. In the footage, Kirk can be seen speaking into a microphone when the gunshot rings out. He grabs his neck as blood pours from the wound, and panicked attendees scream and scatter. Kirk was rushed to a hospital but was pronounced dead hours later.&nbsp;President Donald Trump confirmed Robinson&rsquo;s arrest during a Fox News interview Friday morning, saying, &ldquo;With a high degree of certainty, we have him.&rdquo; He also called the killing &ldquo;a disgrace&rdquo; and said Kirk &ldquo;didn&rsquo;t deserve this.&rdquo;&nbsp;Trump said he plans to attend Kirk&rsquo;s funeral and will posthumously award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation&rsquo;s highest civilian honor.&nbsp;The FBI and state officials had released images and video of the suspect just hours before the arrest, signaling a wide-reaching manhunt. Over 7,000 tips were submitted, officials said.&nbsp;Kirk, 31, was a prominent conservative figure known for co-founding Turning Point USA, a nonprofit aimed at engaging young Republican voters. He was often at the center of heated political discourse, particularly on college campuses.&nbsp;Just before the shooting, Kirk had been answering a question about gun violence during the first stop of his &ldquo;American Comeback Tour.&rdquo; The event had sparked controversy on campus, drawing an online petition with nearly 1,000 signatures calling for his appearance to be canceled. University officials defended his right to speak, citing First Amendment protections.&nbsp;In Salt Lake City, Vice President JD Vance and his wife visited Kirk&rsquo;s family. Vance praised Kirk&rsquo;s influence, crediting him with helping organize support for the administration and staffing government positions after the 2024 election. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t just help us win &mdash; he helped us govern,&rdquo; Vance wrote on social media.&nbsp;Kirk&rsquo;s body was flown aboard Air Force Two to Phoenix, Arizona, where Turning Point USA is headquartered. Funeral details have not yet been announced.&nbsp;The shooting has drawn bipartisan condemnation, with both Republican and Democratic leaders warning of rising political violence nationwide. &ldquo;This can&rsquo;t be the path we choose,&rdquo; said Governor Cox. &ldquo;We must be better than this.&rdquo;

Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested for the targeted killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Authorities say Robinson acted alone, had political motives, and was identified through bullet engravings and chat messages.

Political motive behind Charlie Kirk killing — authorities

ISLAMABAD: Prominent U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday during a campus event at Utah Valley University. &quot;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,&rdquo; Trump wrote on social media.&nbsp; A spokesperson for Utah Valley University said police do not currently have a suspect in custody. Earlier reports had indicated someone had been detained, but officials later clarified no arrests had been made. &lsquo;Martyr of truth&rsquo;: Trump condemns Kirk&#39;s assassinationIn a separate video message, Trump said he was &ldquo;filled with grief and anger&rdquo; after the &ldquo;heinous assassination&rdquo; of right-wing influencer, calling it a &ldquo;dark moment for America.&rdquo;&nbsp;He said Charlie was an inspiration for millions, and those who loved him are united in shock and horror.&nbsp;&ldquo;He fought for liberty, democracy, justice and the American people. He&#39;s a martyr for truth and freedom. And there&#39;s never been anyone who was so respected by youth.<img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/76b10215-addd-44de-b2bf-39ffd74903a7.jpeg" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Knowledge; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;" id="isPasted">A screengrab from a social media video shows U.S. right-wing activist, commentator,<span style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-gradient-from-position: ; --tw-gradient-via-position: ; --tw-gradient-to-position: ; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-color: rgba(59,130,246,.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-contain-size: ; --tw-contain-layout: ; --tw-contain-paint: ; --tw-contain-style: ; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant-emoji: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Knowledge; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 170); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"> Charlie <span style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-pan-x: ; --tw-pan-y: ; --tw-pinch-zoom: ; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-gradient-from-position: ; --tw-gradient-via-position: ; --tw-gradient-to-position: ; --tw-ordinal: ; --tw-slashed-zero: ; --tw-numeric-figure: ; --tw-numeric-spacing: ; --tw-numeric-fraction: ; --tw-ring-inset: ; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-color: rgba(59,130,246,.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-blur: ; --tw-brightness: ; --tw-contrast: ; --tw-grayscale: ; --tw-hue-rotate: ; --tw-invert: ; --tw-saturate: ; --tw-sepia: ; --tw-drop-shadow: ; --tw-backdrop-blur: ; --tw-backdrop-brightness: ; --tw-backdrop-contrast: ; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: ; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: ; --tw-backdrop-invert: ; --tw-backdrop-opacity: ; --tw-backdrop-saturate: ; --tw-backdrop-sepia: ; --tw-contain-size: ; --tw-contain-layout: ; --tw-contain-paint: ; --tw-contain-style: ; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant-emoji: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; font-family: Knowledge; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 170); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Kirk<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Knowledge; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump speaking during an event at Utah Valley University, moments before being fatally shot, in Orem, Utah, U.S., September 10, 2025. Kevin/via REUTERS The US president said violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible&nbsp;He called on the Americans to commit themselves to the American values for which Charlie Kirk lived and died.&nbsp;&ldquo;An assassin tried to silence him with a bullet, but he failed. Because together we will ensure that his voice, his message, and his legacy will live on for countless generations to come,&rdquo; he added. Shot from a building rooftopMultiple sources said the fatal shot was fired from an academic building approximately 100&ndash;200 yards away. According to BBC, Kirk&rsquo;s wife and two young children were present on campus at the time. A source told CBS that the shooter appeared to have fired from the roof of the university&#39;s Losee Center. Cellphone footage circulating online shows Kirk, 31, addressing a large outdoor crowd at the university&#39;s Orem campus when a single gunshot rang out. He is seen reaching for his neck and collapsing from his chair as panic spreads among the attendees, Reuters reported. In another clip, blood is seen spurting from Kirk&#39;s neck immediately after the shot. Reuters noted that it has not independently verified the authenticity of the footage. The incident is the latest in a disturbing trend of political violence in the U.S., which includes two assassination attempts against Trump last year. Kirk shot while discussing gun violenceKirk&rsquo;s appearance was part of a nationwide &quot;American Comeback Tour&quot; targeting U.S. universities. The tour was meant to engage students in political debate, a hallmark of Kirk&rsquo;s style. Seconds before the shooting, Kirk was addressing a question about gun violence from an audience member, according to multiple videos posted online. &ldquo;Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America in the last 10 years?&rdquo; the attendee asked.Kirk responded, &ldquo;Counting or not counting gang violence?&rdquo; &mdash; moments later, the shot rang out. Authorities have not released any information about a possible suspect or motive. Influence and legacyKirk was the CEO and co-founder of Turning Point USA, the largest conservative youth organization in the U.S. The group played a pivotal role in mobilizing support for Donald Trump, particularly among young and minority voters during the 2024 election. Following his re-election, Trump credited Kirk for his influence: &ldquo;You had Turning Point&rsquo;s grassroots armies... It&rsquo;s not my victory, it&rsquo;s your victory,&rdquo; Trump told a crowd in Phoenix last December. Kirk had a wide-reaching platform, with 5.3 million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter, and was host of the popular &quot;Charlie Kirk Show&quot; podcast and radio program. He had recently co-hosted Fox &amp; Friends on Fox News. Kirk was widely seen as part of a new generation of conservative influencers, including figures like Jack Posobiec, Laura Loomer, and Candace Owens, who amplified Trump&rsquo;s message through digital platforms. Trump announced on social media that all U.S. flags would be flown at half-staff until Sunday in Kirk&rsquo;s honor. Bipartisan condemnationLeaders from across the political spectrum expressed shock and condemnation over the attack. &ldquo;Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,&rdquo; wrote Vice President JD Vance, a close friend of Kirk, on X. California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said before Kirk&rsquo;s death was confirmed: &ldquo;The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible. In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.&rdquo;

Trump condemned Charlie Kirk's assassination, calling him a martyr for truth and freedom, and vowed his legacy would live on despite the violence.

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