Charlie Kirk, a political activist and founder of Turning Point USA, has died at the age of 31. He succumbed to his injuries hours after a shooting in Utah that was most likely a planned attack. Kirk's death was confirmed by his spokesman, as well as by President Donald Trump, who had worked with the conservative.

"The great and legendary Charkie Kirk has passed away. No one understood the hearts of young Americans better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by all, especially me, and now he is no longer with us. Melania and I extend our deepest condolences to his beautiful wife, Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you," Donald Trump said in his status on the social network X in the evening.

5 photos in gallery

Around the same time, a shooting at a Colorado high school killed three people. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patal said the FBI was investigating both attacks. The gunman who killed Kirk by shooting him from a nearby building was arrested Friday afternoon.

The murderer is a student

According to a preliminary internal ATF report, investigators found a rifle in a nearby forest with bullets engraved with transgender and anti-fascist ideology, suggesting the shooter did not share Kirk's views.

The first suspect was arrested by police shortly after the attack. As it turned out, it was a false lead. The real perpetrator was tracked down and arrested on Friday afternoon. He is 22-year-old Tyler Robinson from Utah.

5

According to the New York Post, it was his father who reported him to the police:"Tyler was reported by his own family, who said he was full of hate. He confessed to being the killer to his father."Discord conversations with his roommate also showed that he arranged for the rifle to be hidden in a towel near the sniper's nest, where it was found shortly after Kirk's murder," the website reports.

Who is Charlie Kirk and why did Trump love him?

Charles James Kirk was born into a middle-class family in Chicago. He became interested in politics that promoted conservative values as a teenager. He was particularly influenced by the show of former political commentator Rush Limbaugh."I started listening to him when I was in high school. I thought, this guy is incredible! Because in high school, you're looking for someone who shares your values. I'll never forget it: during lunch, from 12-17 to 12:55, I listened to him. Just me. I completely surrendered to Rush," Kirk admitted retrospectively in an interview with The New York Times. Motivated by Limbaugh, he was at odds with his closest friends, which ultimately led him to express his views publicly. In 2012, he sent an essay under his own name to the conservative daily Breitbart, from where it was subsequently picked up by Fox News.

The young student became a center of interest for Republicans, and on the recommendation of conservative activist Bill Montgomery, he too began his activism. At the age of 18, he founded the organization Turning Point USA, through which he promoted the values of the Young Republicans.

5

His charisma and skills naturally attracted influential investors, which eventually pleased Donald Trump himself. In 2019, he appointed him president of the group supporting his candidacy. When Trump lost the presidential election, Kirk's organization provided transportation for protests in front of the Capitol, writes the Washington Post. The gathering of angry voters eventually resulted in an attack in which five people lost their lives.

Charlie Kirk was also among Trump's closest associates in previous elections. He used his talent mainly in gathering financial support. One of his tactics was to present Republican support as a profitable investment. He was not lying - according to experts, Kirk's perception of the atmosphere, communication skills and overall presentation of the company Turning Point USA increased the value by hundreds of millions of euros. Thanks to her, he visited 25 university campuses, where he lectured as part of his discussion tour You're Being Brainwashed (free translation: You were manipulated). In addition, he had a strong fan base on social networks, where he has more than 9 million fans. Among them, young people dominate, especially men, who are impressed by the figure of the traditional male breadwinner.

"For the first time I've done this, the bad guys are at a disadvantage. High school students are the most conservative they've been in 50 years. The votes of young voters helped Trump get into the White House," he said on his show recently.

5

He was shot while defending weapons.

According to media reports, the shooting took place on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, shortly after 12:00 p.m. Several users managed to capture it on short videos that immediately appeared on social networks. From them, it is clear that the shooting came from above and came at a time when Charlie Kirk was answering a question from one of the participants in the discussion, who asked him if he knew how many Americans had picked up a gun and shot people in the last 10 years."Including or excluding gangs?" asked Kirk, who was immediately shot. The attacker fired only a single bullet from the gun, which he then threw away in a nearby forest.

Kirk believed that owning a gun was a fundamental right. “I am willing to take, unfortunately, some casualties in shootings every year so that we can preserve the Second Amendment, which also protects our other God-given rights,” the NY Times quotes. The activist also encouraged people to get guns. On his show The Charlie Kirk Show, which mainly addressed young people, he used himself as an example and admitted that they were kept in large quantities in the Turning Point organization:

"Buy guns, I keep saying it. Buy guns. Buy ammo. When you go into a public place, take a gun with you, and if you live in a state where it's not allowed, I can't help you with that, buddy. Luckily, in Arizona we can carry guns - and we do."

"We have more weapons at Turning Point than you can imagine. If anyone ever tried to get in there, it wouldn't end well for them. There is enough stockpile of weapons there to protect the country."

Charlie Kirk also believed that the climate crisis was not a real threat but an artificially created problem to scare people. He also had reservations about the Jewish faith, LGBTIQ+ people, and black people. In a video on his YouTube channel, he explains that he doubts and fears the professionalism of people with darker skin, as their inclusion is allegedly artificially exaggerated and they may not be sufficiently qualified to perform their duties.