On Sept. 10, Charlie Kirk, a conservative commentator, was shot dead at Utah Valley University during a debate with a student.
This comes at a time when politically motivated killings are becoming more common in the U.S., with the murders of former Minnesota House of Representatives’ speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband on June 14 and the planned killings of more Minnesota lawmakers by the same perpetrator.
In previous years, politically motivated assassination attempts were made on President Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, and Sept. 15, 2024, at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida.
Both took place within a year of Melissa Hortman’s murder, and the latter occurred almost a year before Kirk’s.
Police took two suspects into custody and released them before finding and arresting their current suspect, Tyler Robinson, a third-year electrical apprentice at Dixie Technical College in his home state of Utah.
According to a member of his family, Robinson had become “more political” in recent years and did not like Kirk’s views.
The suspect’s father turned him in to the police after Robinson admitted to him that he had killed Kirk.
He also allegedly admitted to the murder in a Discord group chat before his arrest, according to CNN.
Robert Bohls, a special agent in charge of the FBI’s Salt Lake City field office, said that Kirk’s killer used a high-powered bolt-action rifle to shoot Kirk in the neck from 200 yards on the roof of a nearby building on campus.
Kirk was a conservative political commentator and founded the organization Turning Point USA after being rejected from West Point military academy in 2012, according to PBS.
After some time, Turning Point began to gain traction, and the organization, along with Kirk himself, started holding rallies at schools where Kirk would debate students on political issues.
In a recorded address following Kirk’s murder, Erika Kirk, his wife, publicly said, “I will never let your legacy die.”
“My husband’s voice will remain,” she said, suggesting that Turning Point USA would stay active.
Many politicians have come forward with statements about the murder, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who posted his remarks on X. “The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible. In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form,” he wrote.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who led press briefings to relay updates on the case, also condemned the attack. “Violence has no place in our public life. Americans of every political persuasion must unite in condemning this act,” Cox wrote on X.
On Sept. 12, Kirk’s body was transported from Utah to his home state of Arizona on Air Force 2, accompanied by Vice President JD Vance, according to Associated Press.
Kirk’s funeral will be held on Sept. 21 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ.
Trump and Vance are expected to attend the funeral along with other high-ranking members of the Republican Party, according to CBS News 8.
