Grief And Anger After Charlie Kirk Is Slain In Utah Usa Today

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 19, 2025, 12:41 AM

grief and anger after charlie kirk is slain in utah usa today

OREM, UT − Grief and anger flowed from the White House across the country as the assassination of conservative youth leader Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus brought somber mourning and calls for... Kirk, 31, a close political ally of President Donald Trump, was killed by a single shot from a still-unknown gunman on Sept. 10 during an outdoor debate attended by 3,000 students at Utah Valley University. Trump called Kirk “a martyr for truth and freedom,” and ordered flags flown at half-staff in his honor. Kirk wasn't a Trump aide. He didn't have a college degree.

But the conservative phenom built what he called "the largest pro-American student organization in the country," Turning Point USA, over the last decade, helping propel Trump to the White House. Kirk became a Republican hero for motivating and organizing young conservatives through debates and a podcast that criticized Democrats and the left. As news of the death of Charlie Kirk broke yesterday, conservative journalist Megyn Kelly was interviewing Glenn Beck, a prominent political commentator on the right. "There are news outlets reporting the worst now Glenn," Kelly said, choking back tears. "They're reporting that Charlie has died." "There's no way he survived that," said Beck of the bullet that struck Kirk in the neck as he spoke at a college campus in Utah.

He then began weeping. Across social media conservative influencers have exploded with a mix of grief and rage. Some mourned the loss of Kirk as a martyr, while others quickly blamed the left and Democrats for, at the very least, provoking the unknown shooter. Some went further still, suggesting without evidence that malevolent forces had orchestrated the killing. Their feelings were echoed by President Trump himself, who on Wednesday released a brief video that began by praising Kirk, before wheeling to attack. "For years those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murders and criminals," Trump said.

"This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today." Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed by a single shot in a targeted attack during an outdoor event Wednesday at Utah Valley University, authorities said. Frightened students and others at Utah Valley University raced for shelter after a gunman fired a fatal shot at conservative youth activist Charlie Kirk during an outdoor speaking event at the school Wednesday. People were seen running, as screams rang out of the Sorensen Center courtyard where the youth organization Turning Point USA was holding the event. Law enforcement had cleared the area that included the white tent where Kirk was sitting when he was shot. People attend a vigil at Timpanogos Regional Hospital for Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of Turning Point USA who was shot and killed, on Wednesday, Sept.

10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (AP Photo/Alex Goodlett) CORRECTS PHOTOGRAPHER LAST NAME FROM CROEWLEY TO CROWLEY - Law enforcement tapes off an area after Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot at Utah... 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP) • Charlie Kirk, a conservative US political activist and campaigner for President Donald Trump, has been fatally shot at an event at Utah Valley University.

• The shooter – who is still at large – is believed to have fired once from a nearby roof in a “targeted attack,” according to the Utah Department of Public Safety, which is... • A manhunt is underway. Two people who were considered suspects were later released, the department said. • There has been an outpouring of condemnation from both sides of the aisle. Trump described Kirk’s death as a “dark moment for America” and blamed rhetoric from the “radical left” for causing political violence. • As Trump remade the Republican Party over the past decade, Kirk embodied the GOP’s newfound populist conservatism in the social media age.

Trump has credited Kirk with galvanizing and mobilizing the youth vote for him. Updated on: September 13, 2025 / 9:54 AM EDT / CBS News Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika, vowed Friday to continue her husband's conservative activism work, saying, the "movement my husband built will not die." She said Turning Point USA will still host its fall college campus tour, and its AmericaFest conference in December will still take place. "The evildoers responsible for my husband's assassination have no idea what they have done," she said. "They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith and of God's merciful love.

They should all know this: If you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before, you have no idea … what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world." "The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry," she said. Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of the city where a vigil was held Wednesday night. It has been corrected to Orem, Utah. We regret the error. LATEST UPDATES: Authorities search for Charlie Kirk’s shooter

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed by a single shot in a targeted attack during an outdoor event Wednesday at Utah Valley University, authorities said. Kirk co-founded the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA and was a close ally of President Donald Trump. WATCH: Prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk killed at event in Utah Here are five things to know about Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and media personality. One student holed up in his house for two days after witnessing Charlie Kirk’s assassination, nervous about going back to the Utah college campus where the conservative activist was shot. Another, unable to sleep or shake what she saw and heard, called her dad to come take her home.

As investigators spend the weekend digging deeper into suspect Tyler James Robinson ahead of his initial court appearance Tuesday, students who witnessed Wednesday's shooting at Utah Valley University are reckoning with trauma, grief and... Robinson’s arrest late Thursday calmed some fears. Still, questions persist about the alleged shooter’s motive and planning, as well as security lapses that allowed a man with a rifle to shoot Kirk from a rooftop before fleeing. The university has said there will be increased security when classes resume on Sept. 17. (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) People try to leave flowers at the sign for Utah Valley University before being dissuaded by law enforcement after the shooting death of Charlie Kirk during a...

Students, experts say, are likely to be processing the trauma of the day for years to come. Utah Valley University student Kira Goldberg first sensed something was off when she saw the police cars whip past the building where she and classmates were working on a project. Rattled, another girl in the group volunteered to investigate the commotion. She soon returned with the news. Goldberg recalled, “She was like, ‘Stay calm. There’s a shooter.

We should probably go somewhere where there aren’t any windows.’ ” A few minutes later, the students were barricaded inside a faculty member’s office, their phones buzzing as they texted back and forth with loved ones, letting them know they were safe. Still unclear at the time, Goldberg said, was whether it was “a shooter or a shooting.” Meaning: They had no idea if this was a targeted killing, as it turned out to be, or...

Grief And Anger After Charlie Kirk Is Slain In Utah Usa Today

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10, 2025, In Orem, Utah. (AP Photo/Alex Goodlett) CORRECTS PHOTOGRAPHER