Attempted murder on camera: Kirk, 31, was shot at an event at a university in Utah while speaking to a crowd of hundreds. Videos from the scene showed him shot in the neck, with blood gushing from him, as the crowds fled. A suspect in the shooting was arrested, and the fire was fired from a nearby building. Trump:"We must all pray for Charlie," Netanyahu also tweeted: "Praying for him"

Daniel Adelson, New York

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Pro-Israeli right-wing activist

Charlie Kirk

He was shot this evening (Wednesday) at an event he attended at a university in the state of Utah in the United States, and according to reports from there, he was taken to a hospital in very serious condition. In the videos that documented the shooting, a bullet is seen hitting his neck, then a stream of blood gushes out of him, and he collapses.

President of the United States

Donald Trump

, of whom Kirk is one of his staunch supporters, issued a special statement following the event in which he said:"We must all pray for him. A good guy from head to toe. May God bless him!" The Prime Minister also

Benjamin Netanyahu

Tweeted on X-Net: "Praying for Charlie Kirk."

7 Viewing the gallery

Charlie Kirk. He is in very serious condition.

Kirk speaks to the audience a second before being shot in the neck.

Netanyahu's tweet: "Praying for him"

Kirk was shot while participating in a debate event in a tent set up on the university campus, and the shooting occurred about 20 minutes after he began his speech. Videos from the scene show hundreds of people listening to Kirk, when suddenly a bullet hits his neck. Kirk is filmed moving his hand towards his neck for a split second – and then falls from his chair. Immediately afterwards, students are seen and heard fleeing the scene with gunshots in the background. The university later said that the suspect in the shooting, who opened fire on Kirk from a nearby building, has been arrested.

Kirk, 31, a social activist and conservative radio host whose Christianity is a central part of his identity, is the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA. His organization hosted the debate where he was shot tonight, an event that was adorned with banners like"The American Comeback" and "Prove Me Wrong."

A suspect in the shooting has been arrested. Charlie Kirk (Photo: JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP)

In the US, they are reporting: This is the suspect in the shooting who was arrested. He managed to fire a single shot

The very holding of the Turning Point USA event has sparked controversy on the campus where it was held in recent days, and before it took place, a petition with nearly 1,000 signatories was published calling on the university administration to ban Kirk from appearing on its grounds. Last week, the university issued a statement emphasizing that the right to freedom of expression and constructive dialogue is enshrined in the First Amendment to the US Constitution, and therefore Kirk will be allowed in, and the event will take place.

The call issued this evening by President Trump to pray for Kirk's well-being was joined by senior figures in the conservative camp, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Attorney General Pam Bondi and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. The shooting also sparked strong condemnation from the Democratic side. Former Congresswoman

Gabby Giffords

, who was shot in the head in 2011 while serving as a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, wrote on X Network:"I was horrified to hear that Charlie Kirk was shot at an event in Utah. In democratic societies there will always be political divisions, but we must never allow America to become a country that deals with these divisions through violence."

"American Comeback" and "Prove Me Wrong." Kirk (Photo: AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who is considered a potential presidential candidate in the next election, also said that the shooting of Kirk was an act of"disgusting, evil and deserving of every reproach. In the United States of America, we must oppose politically motivated violence in any form." Former Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi

, also a Democrat, said:"Political violence has no place in our country."

The Kirk shooting comes at a time of rising political violence across the US. The violent attacks have included

Murder of a member of the legislature

of Minnesota and her husband at their home in June,

Molotov cocktail attack

in Colorado against participants in a march for the hostages held captive by Hamas, and

Burning his house

of Pennsylvania's Jewish governor, Josh Shapiro. All of these events came after President Donald Trump himself survived two assassination attempts last year, including

The attempted murder at a rally in Pennsylvania

Where he was wounded by a bullet in his ear.

The "Theft" from Trump and the Record with Israel

Charlie Kirk was born on October 14, 1993, in a suburb of Chicago and grew up in Prospect Heights, Illinois. He became involved in politics as a teenager, volunteering in Republican campaigns and appearing in the media on conservative civic and educational issues. In 2012, shortly before graduating from high school, he founded Turning Point USA with conservative activist Bill Montgomery, a student organization that aims to instill"the values of freedom, free markets and limited government on campuses across the United States." Within a decade, the organization had grown into a giant entity with hundreds of chapters, tens of thousands of activists, budgets in the millions, and support from major conservative donors.

Kirk currently heads several affiliated entities, working in parallel with youth recruitment, educational training, and media campaigns. He hosts a daily podcast and radio show with a huge audience, and gives speeches on campuses and at conferences across the United States. Through these platforms, he leads a distinctly conservative line, cultivates a young network of activists, and positions himself as an influential figure in the public discourse of the American right.

Kirk has stirred up quite a bit of controversy in the past: he has promoted controversial ideas and positions on climate, the coronavirus pandemic, immigration, and civil rights, and has been associated with campaigns such as Stop the Steal, which promoted the claim that the 2020 election victory was stolen from Trump through fraud. His critics accuse him of creating a hostile climate on campuses and reinforcing polarizing trends in American society. His supporters, on the other hand, see him as an authentic voice of a younger conservative generation, and a leader who succeeds in creating an infrastructure for political action outside the traditional establishment.

Kirk's positions on Israel are a prominent part of his public image. Kirk describes Israel as a critical ally of the United States, and repeatedly emphasizes his identification with the Jewish people and his opposition to anti-Semitism. In posts he published on social media, he wrote, among other things, that"perhaps there is no non-Jewish person my age with a clearer and longer record of support for Israel." In opinion pieces and speeches, he emphasized the importance of the strategic alliance between the countries and condemned boycotts of Israel. Kirk opposes legislative proposals against the activities of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, claiming that such legislation violates freedom of speech, but at the same time presents himself as someone who fights anti-Israel trends on campuses.

Kirk is also seen as a symbol of the internal tension within the American conservative camp – between a camp that continues to support Israel in a clear way and younger ones, who seek to focus on domestic policy and the"America First" ideology. His image and activity in Israel are also examined in the American media through this context, in which he tries to continue to recruit the younger generation to pro-Israel positions using contemporary conservative language. Yark, who identifies as an evangelical Christian, is married to Erica, and they have two children.