Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed today while speaking in Orem, Utah. The conservative activist, who relocated his political organization to Phoenix in 2018, was struck in the neck by a single bullet. It remains unclear whether a suspect is in custody.
Late this afternoon, TPUSA put out a statement confirming Kirk died from his wounds.
“It is with a heavy heart that we confirm that Charles James Kirk has been murdered by a gunshot that took place during Turning Point USA’s ‘The American Comeback Tour’ campus event at Utah Valley University,” read the statement. “May he be received into the merciful arms of our loving Savior who suffered and died for Charlie.”
President Donald J. Trump weighed in, saying, “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie.” The president has ordered U.S. flags to be lowered to half-staff through Sunday evening.
Arizona Senate Republicans said they were “incredibly saddened” by the news. In a statement on X, the caucus condemned the slaying and said they were lifting Kirk and his family up in prayer. “This cowardly act of political violence is an attack on free speech and democracy itself, and it must be condemned without hesitation,” the statement said.
Conservative attorney Brian Blehm called the day “dark,” telling InMaricopa, “I worry that they’re about to get darker.”
Kirk’s group had been in Maricopa just yesterday, one day before the shooting, working with grassroots Republicans and connecting statewide candidates with voters, according to local Maricopa Republican Club Chair Marty Hermanson.
Meeting with some rural Ballot Chasers in Maricopa City today and YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE what number we got for our order!
🇺🇸4️⃣7️⃣🎇
GOD is doing work in RURAL AZ! Its undeniable! Let’s go!! @TPAction_ pic.twitter.com/Vv9wyGYbG8
— Robert Contreras (@R0bertEdward) September 8, 2025
“Meeting with some rural Ballot Chasers in Maricopa City today,” wrote TPUSA’s Robert Contreras on X from Maricopa’s Barro’s Pizza yesterday. “GOD is doing work in RURAL AZ! It’s undeniable! Let’s go!!”
Hermanson said TPUSA has helped bring more candidates into local GOP meetings to energize the grassroots.
“We’ve had more candidates coming to town. Corporation commission candidates recently came to town. An AG candidate spoke. Another [attorney general] candidate will speak at our next meeting. TPUSA is helping us,” he said.
“[TPUSA] is getting more and more involved. They’re trying to get really in grassroots campaigns to really get the excitement from young Republicans and even older Republicans to go out and vote in 2026 because notoriously our midterm elections, it’s a low turnout,” added Hermanson.
He described today’s killing as both shocking and reflective of the country’s growing political hostility. “This is a shakeup. Unfortunately this was not surprising. There has been a line drawn, a hatred drawn between the two parties,” he said. “There needs to be a prayer going out for our country. We have to stop this. We can’t kill each other for having different opinions.
“Politically, this country should never have gotten to where we’re at right now,” added Hermanson. “It could get worse before it gets better. The greatest country on earth is at a crossroads.”
