Cox stressed on several Sunday morning news shows that investigators are still trying to pin down a motive for the attack and said more information may come out once the suspect, Tyler Robinson, appears in court on Tuesday.
“There’s so much more that we’re learning, and so much more that we will learn,” Cox said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “There will be official charges filed on Tuesday, and there will be much more evidence and information available then. And again, we’re interviewing all kinds of people, everyone that knows him, and trying to learn more about what that motive actually was.”
Kirk, who co-founded the right-wing advocacy group Turning Point USA and was a confidant of President Trump, was shot and killed at Utah Valley University on Wednesday as he addressed a large crowd at an outdoor debate. He was 31 and is survived by his wife, Erika, and two young children.
Robinson was arrested Friday on charges of aggravated murder, obstruction of justice and felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, according to an inmate booking sheet from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials described the shootings as a “targeted attack,” and it drew condemnation from both sides of the political aisle
Cox, a Republican who has called on both the left and right to tone down their rhetoric after the attack, said: “I really don’t have a dog in this fight. If this was a radicalized MAGA person, I’d be saying that as well.”
The governor said investigations have unearthed that Robinson had left-leaning political beliefs and disliked Kirk.
“That information comes from people around him, his family members and friends,” he said on CNN.
Cox also said the suspect’s partner was transgender but that he was unsure if it was relevant to the case.
“The roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to female,” Cox said. “I can say that he has been incredibly cooperative, this partner has been very cooperative, had no idea that this was happening.”
State records show that Robinson registered as an unaffiliated voter. He is listed as an inactive voter in state records, meaning he didn’t vote in the last two elections. He was not old enough to vote in 2020.
Robinson had no prior felony or misdemeanor convictions and no prior violent offenses, according to a Public Safety Assessment Report filed in Utah state court.
Robinson grew up around St. George, in the southwestern corner of Utah. He became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at a young age, church spokesperson Doug Andersen told the Associated Press.
Ammunition found with the weapon used to kill Kirk was engraved with taunting, anti-fascist and meme-culture messages. Court records show that one bullet casing had the message, “Hey, fascist! Catch!”
Lucia Suarez Sang is an associate managing editor at CBSNews.com. Previously, Lucia was the director of digital content at FOX61 News in Connecticut and has previously written for outlets including FoxNews.com, Fox News Latino and the Rutland Herald.
White House requests emergency funds to protect government officials – CBS News
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The White House is requesting emergency funds to beef up security for government officials in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Willie James Inman has more.
Police are searching for a motive in Wednesday’s killing of conservative activist and influencer Charlie Kirk. Authorities say interviews with family and friends of the 22-year-old suspect suggest he could have been radicalized in the dark corners of the internet. Carter Evans is in Spanish Fork, Utah, with the very latest.
Utah police on Friday arrested Tyler Robinson for allegedly killing right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, although his potential motive remains hazy.
On Sunday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox suggested that Robinson, 22, may have been radicalized by “deep, dark internet” and gaming culture.
Bullet casings found at the scene and with the rifle police think Robinson used to shoot Kirk were etched with antifascist messages and internet memes, indicating he wanted to reach a specifically online audience, The Atlantic wrote.
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Robinson is due to be charged on Tuesday.
Politicians from both parties warned against further polarization, even as US President Donald Trump on Sunday decried the “radical left” — and as a growing number of people face retaliation for posting about Kirk’s death.
This week on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” House Speaker Mike Johnson joins to discuss the aftermath of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Meanwhile, Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware and James Lankford of Oklahoma join to talk about the rise of political extremism in the U.S.
Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said on Sunday that the 22-year-old who authorities say killed far-right commentator Charlie Kirk lived with his trans partner.
During an interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union, Cox said Tyler Robinson was romantically linked to his roommate, who was a trans woman.
“Yes. I can confirm that. I know that has been reported, and that the FBI has confirmed that as well – that the roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to female,” Cox told Bash.
Cox added that Robinson’s partner had been assisting authorities and was “incredibly cooperative, had no idea this was happening, and is working with investigators right now.”
The governor said it was “easy to draw conclusions,” adding that he wouldn’t speculate about Robinson’s motive.
“I know everybody wants to know exactly why, and point the finger. And I totally get that. I do too, and so I just want to be careful, as I haven’t read all of the interview transcripts, and so we’ll have to wait and see what comes out,” Cox said.
Cox said that charges will be filed against the suspect on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal walked back a report about “transgender ideology” being engraved on casings recovered near the scene of Kirk’s killing. Cox described some of the inscriptions on the casings as referencing an anti-fascist Italian song as well as internet culture memes.
After Kirk’s slaying, right-wing commentators and politicians initially blamed trans people for the shooting. Donald Trump Jr. said transgender people were worse than terrorists following Kirk’s assassination. It’s become a common theme after any high-profile shooting, even though trans people make up less than a percent of mass shooters. Indeed, they are most likely to be victims of violent crimes than perpetrators.
Worldwide vigils have taken place following the killing of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk. His close friend Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast, is urging mourners to remember him as he believes Kirk would have wanted.
“I want Charlie to be remembered for his great faith because that’s how he wanted to be remembered, for his courage and his faith,” Kolvet said Sunday on “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed Wednesday on a Utah college campus. He leaves behind his wife Erika and two young children.
An attendee wearing a U.S. flag joins a candlelight vigil in Seattle for Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was killed earlier that day at Utah Valley University.(David Ryder/Getty Images)
Much of his work focused on reviving what he saw as the traditional American family, a mission rooted in his Christian faith.
Kolvet urged supporters to channel their grief into that same commitment.
“If you [want to] honor Charlie today, it is Sunday… go back to church, open your Bible, pray, ask God to lead you. That’s what he wanted,” he said.
Vigils for Kirk have sprung up across the country, including at Turning Point USA campus chapters, on Capitol Hill, and even overseas. Demonstrators at a previously scheduled march in London carried pictures and banners of Kirk.
Turning Point USA announced it will hold a public memorial for Kirk next weekend at the Arizona Cardinals’ stadium. The venue can host over 70,000 people.
Supporters display a large photo of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk as thousands marched in London at the “Unite the Kingdom” rally organized by Tommy Robinson.(Jaimi Joy/Reuters)
Kolvet said the worldwide response since Kirk’s death reflects his message’s authenticity.
“The reason he resonated, I believe, so widely and so broadly across the world… is because he himself was good. A message sown across the world out of a place of integrity and honesty and decency,” said Kolvet.
“You can’t emulate that. You can fake that. And it comes through. People can see just how straightforward and honest and good he was.”
Kolvet said the peaceful nature of the memorials have been especially meaningful to Kirk’s family, staff, and friends.
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, greets supporters during an event in San Diego, California, on May 1, 2025.(Michael Ho Wai Lee/Getty Images)
“The people that loved him most, they’re not rioting. They’re not burning down cities or businesses. They are praying, they’re lighting candles in his honor, and they’re expressing the grief that they feel, that we all feel, in their own way,” he said.
“That’s been amazing for me to see, but also for his wife, Erika, for the entire Turning Point team, for ‘The Charlie Kirk Show’ team. We’re honored by the way that the world has chosen to honor Charlie.”
Madison is a production assistant for Fox News Digital on the Flash team.
Several uniformed police officers stood side by side along the entrance of a public park where the Democratic candidate for New Jersey governor, Mikie Sherrill, met voters Friday to discuss measures designed to bring transparency to the state budget process.
The significant security presence was a sharp shift from Sherrill’s recent events.
Across the nation, it has been much the same for Republican and Democratic officials after another stunning act of political violence, with the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Politicians in both parties and at virtually every level of public service are suddenly being forced to deal with acute security concerns — and feelings of grief, anger and fear — as they move deeper into a fraught election season.
Some political leaders are canceling public appearances. Others are relying on a large police presence to keep them safe. And still others insist that the fallout from Kirk’s death won’t have any impact on their duties.
Even before the killing of Kirk, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania was struggling with the emotional toll of political violence.
In the middle of the night just five months ago, someone broke into his home and set it on fire. Shapiro, who is also a likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender, was asleep with his wife and children.
And in the weeks since his family fled the blaze, Shapiro has been forced to confront the vexing questions now consuming elected officials in both parties as they face the impact of Kirk’s assassination on their own public lives.
“The emotional challenge for me that’s been the hardest to work through is that, as a father, the career I chose, that I find great purpose and meaning in, ended up putting my children’s lives at risk,” Shapiro, a father of four, told The Associated Press. “Make no mistake, the emotional burden of being a father through this has been something that continues to be a challenge for me to this day.”
Indeed, even as Shapiro offered prayers for Kirk’s widow and children, the Democratic governor said he is undeterred in his duties as a leading figure in his national party and his state.
“I’m not slowing down,” he said.
On that, he and President Donald Trump appear to agree.
The Republican president was asked during a Friday appearance on Fox News if he would cancel any public appearances of his own.
“You have to go forward,” he said.
Violent rhetoric surges
Bellicose rhetoric and even death threats have surged in the days since Kirk was killed.
“The left is the party of murder,” Elon Musk, the tech titan and CEO of the social media platform X, wrote. “If they won’t leave us in peace, then our choice is to fight or die.”
To that, Fox News host Jesse Waters said during a broadcast, “They are at war with us. Whether we want to accept it or not, they are at war with us. What are we going to do about it?”
On Friday, a right-wing activist posted online a video outside Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s home, calling on followers to “take action.”
The charged environment prompted a number of public officials, largely Democrats, to postpone public appearances.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., canceled a Saturday town hall in Las Vegas “out of an abundance of caution for town hall participants, attendees, and members of the media.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., also postponed a weekend event in North Carolina due to security concerns.
Former Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, president of Young America’s Foundation, which works to attract young people to the GOP, said his group canceled a Thursday night event in California featuring conservative commentator Ben Shapiro out of respect for Kirk and his family.
And while officials in both parties acknowledged that new security precautions would be in place — at least for the short term — cancellations have been rare.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, another potential Democratic presidential prospect who recently announced his 2026 reelection campaign, said he would not change his public schedule because of the increased threat, even as political violence will be on his mind.
“It’s never something that completely leaves you, but I don’t think it can be something that debilitates you,” Moore told The Associated Press.
When asked if he expects a retaliatory attack against Democrats, the former Army captain insisted, “We are not at war with one another.”
“As someone who has seen war, as someone who knows what war looks like, as someone who will live with the realities of war for the rest of my life, I refuse to ever believe that we in the country are at war with one another,” he said. “And I refuse to believe that we as a country are devolving into some just kind of type of retaliatory tit for tat.”
“Resorting to violence is a remarkable sign of weakness,” Moore added. “It means you can’t win a political argument.”
And yet political violence is becoming more frequent in the United States.
Former Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in the head as she met with constituents in 2011. Republican Rep. Steve Scalise was shot at a congressional team baseball practice in 2017. Trump was grazed by a bullet last summer on the stump in Pennsylvania. And barely three months ago, the top Democrat in the Minnesota state house and her husband were gunned down at home.
What it looks like on the campaign trail.
In Illinois, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor Aaron Del Mar said he and other GOP candidates are discussing new security precautions, such as bringing events indoors, enhanced use of metal detectors and background checks on those who attend their events.
“There’s a lot of concern right now,” he said.
In New Jersey, 35-year-old Democrat Maira Barbosa attended Sherrill’s event on Friday with her 16-month-old son. She said she’s never been more resolved to show up to a political event in person, even as she admitted she had second thoughts.
“We’re seeing so much hate speech and we’re seeing people advocate for violence, so of course it makes me concerned, especially to the point of bringing my son,” she said. “If we don’t participate, if we don’t get involved, who is going to represent us?”
No Kings protest
In interviews, governors Shapiro and Moore largely avoided casting blame for the current era of political violence, although they were critical of Trump’s immediate response to Kirk’s shooting.
The Republican president highlighted only attacks against Republicans during his Oval Office address on Thursday and blamed “the radical left” for Kirk’s shooting, even before the suspect was arrested.
Shapiro said Trump “misused the power of an Oval Office address.”
“To be clear, the political violence has impacted Democrats and Republicans, and the rhetoric of vengeance and the language that has created division has come from both sides of the political divide,” Shapiro said. “No one party has clean hands, and no one party is immune from the threat of political violence.”
Moore called for everyone to tone down the rhetoric.
“I just think it’s important for the president and anyone else to understand that your words matter, and leadership is how you lift us up in darkness, not how you use it as a moment for opportunism and to introduce more darkness and finger-pointing into an already horrific situation,” he said.
“I’m praying for our country,” Moore continued. “I’m praying that the legacy of this moment is we got better — not that we got worse.”
NJ Advance Media contributed to this report.
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In the wake of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that “I think this could be a turning point” for the country, while urging leaders to “turn down the rhetoric” amid a divisive political climate.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that lawmakers should stop treating policy disputes as an “existential threat to democracy or the Republic,” while urging them to stop “calling one another names.”
“Calling people Nazis and fascists is not helpful,” Johnson said. “There are some deranged people in society, and when they see leaders using that kind of language so often now increasingly, it spurs them on to action. We have to recognize that reality and address it appropriately.”
The speaker told CBS News’ chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett that he’s “heartened to know” that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle “are stepping up and saying that and addressing it.”
Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University last week in what authorities have described as a “targeted attack.” Authorities have arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson on charges of aggravated murder, obstruction of justice and felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, according to an inmate booking sheet from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Sunday that the suspect is not cooperating with authorities as they try to “to learn more about what that motive actually was.”
The speaker outlined how Kirk’s assassination has been felt on Capitol Hill, saying there’s “a mixture of anger and sadness and fear, frankly, on the part of a lot of people — it cast a large shadow across the country, and the nation’s capital.”
“My good friend Charlie would not want any of us to be consumed by despair,” Johnson said. “He would want us to go forward boldly, that was his message, and to do it in love. And I think that, I hope, is the message that continues in the days ahead.”
Johnson described the efforts to honor Kirk’s memory in Congress, including a moment of prayer and silent reflection on the House floor Wednesday, shortly after Kirk’s death, while outlining that a prayer and reflection vigil will be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington later Sunday, along with a moment for members’ reflection and prayer that he will lead Monday.
“This will continue,” Johnson said. “I think that the country needs to see leaders in Congress and leaders with platforms all around the country speaking truth and bringing calm to the situation.”
Johnson invoked President Abraham Lincoln’s appeal to the nation’s “better angels,” while urging the adoption of “the manner of Charlie Kirk.”
“While he loved vigorous debate and he believed in the free marketplace of ideas and advancing truth boldly, he also was motivated by love for his fellow man, because he never hated the person on the other side of the table,” Johnson said. “And I think everyone would do well to be reminded of that model.”
The speaker said he’s been speaking with members in recent days about the fear that those holding public office are feeling in the aftermath of Kirk’s death and has been “trying to calm the nerves to assure them that we will make certain that everyone has a level of security that’s necessary.”
Meanwhile, the White House is sending a $58 million request to Congress to increase security for the executive and judicial branches in the wake of Kirk’s assassination, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Saturday. And the Trump administration expressed support for increased funding to protect congressional lawmakers, but may defer to the legislative branch.
Johnson said House GOP leaders are “evaluating all the options” to ensure resources will be available for lawmakers’ residential security and personal security. And he added that “it does take a certain measure of courage to step out and to lead,” saying first responders, members of the military and political figures do it every day.
Turning Point USA has seen a massive surge in inquiries for new college chapters as the organization works to advance Charlie Kirk’s vision following his assassination last week.
Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” said Sunday that, in the past 48 hours, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) has received more than 32,000 inquiries from people wanting to start new campus chapters.
“To put that in perspective, TPUSA currently has 900 official college chapters and around 1,200 high school chapters, with a presence of 3,500 total,” Kolvet, who is also a TPUSA spokesman, wrote on X.
“Charlie’s vision to have a Club America chapter (our high school brand) in every high school in America (around 23,000) will come true much, much faster than he could have ever possibly imagined,” Kolvet added, calling the response to expand Kirk’s mission “truly incredible.”
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event Thursday in Utah.(Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via Reuters)
In a separate post, Kolvet wrote, “This is the Turning Point.”
Kirk was assassinated during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday afternoon. The event was the first in what was supposed to be a series called “American Comeback Tour.”
Kirk, the charismatic 31-year-old founder of the conservative youth activist group, gained recognition for his signature political debates on college campuses.
On Thursday evening, the second family escorted Kirk’s casket and family from Utah to their home state of Arizona on Air Force Two. A video of the moment showed his wife, Erika Kirk, visibly emotional on the tarmac as the casket passed before her. The couple have two young children.
Kirk’s celebration of life ceremony is scheduled for next Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
President Donald Trump said he will attend Kirk’s funeral.
On Friday evening, Kirk’s widow galvanized the TPUSA movement and vowed to carry on her husband’s mission.
“To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die,” Kirk said. “I refuse to let that happen. No one will ever forget my husband’s name. And I will make sure of it. It will become stronger. Bolder. Louder and greater than ever,” Kirk said.
She also said that TPUSA’s annual “AmericaFest” conference in Phoenix this December will continue as scheduled.
Erika Kirk delivers an emotional speech two days after Charlie Kirk’s killing with a tribute message and photo of him displayed on the podium.(Courtesy: Turning Point USA)
Judah Waxelbaum, a former campus activist at Arizona State University for Republican causes, said that the assassination likely awoke a “sleeping giant” and will likely see an increase in members.
“Turning Point’s not going anywhere. Turning Point, I think, will probably actually get significantly larger in the wake of what happened to Charlie,” he told Fox News Digital in an interview on Saturday. “You couldn’t do youth politics in Arizona, really anywhere in the United States without coming across Charlie Kirk.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve woken up a sleeping giant.”
Fox News Digital’s Cameron Arcand contributed to this report.
Amanda covers the intersection of business and geopolitics for Fox News Digital.
The Utah governor, Spencer Cox, on Sunday told national talkshows that the man suspected of killing Turning Point USA executive director Charlie Kirk was living with and in a relationship with a person “transitioning from male to female” as investigators continue exploring a possible motive in the attack.
The Republican politician’s comments came four days after Kirk – a critic of gay and transgender rights – was shot to death from a distance with a rifle during an event at Utah Valley University while speaking with a student about mass shootings in the US and trans people. Nonetheless, Cox stopped short of saying that officials had determined the suspect’s partner’s alleged status was a factor in Kirk’s killing.
In comments to NBC’s Meet the Press, Cox said that Kirk’s accused killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was not cooperating with authorities. Yet authorities are gathering information from family members and people around him, Cox said.
Cox said that what investigators had gathered showed Robinson “does come from a conservative family – but his ideology was very different than his family”.
Citing the content of investigators’ interviews with people close to Robinson, Cox said “we do know that the [suspect’s] roommate … is a [partner] who is transitioning from male to female.
“I will say that that person has been very cooperative with authorities,” Cox remarked to Meet the Press host Kristen Welker, referring to the roommate. “And … the why behind this … we’re all drawing lots of conclusions on how someone like this could be radicalized. And I think that those are important questions for us to ask and important questions for us to answer.”
The governor did not elaborate on the evidence that investigators were relying on to establish Robinson’s relationship to his roommate with whom he shared an apartment in Washington county, Utah, about 260 miles from where Kirk was killed.
Robinson’s arrest was announced on Friday after he surrendered to authorities to end a two-day manhunt in the wake of the 31-year-old Kirk’s killing.
At the time of his arrest, Robinson was a third-year student in an electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College.
Utah records show both of his parents are registered Republicans who voted in the 2024 election that gave Donald Trump, their party’s leader, a second presidency. But publicly available information offers little if any insight into Robinson’s personal beliefs.
Cox made it a point to tell NBC that “friends that have confirmed that there was kind of that deep, dark internet … culture and these other dark places of the internet” where Robinson “was going deep”. The governor did not elaborate – though on Saturday, citing the work of law enforcement, he told the Wall Street Journal that “it’s very clear to us and to investigators that this was a person who was deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology.”
On Sunday, in a separate interview, CNN’s Dana Bash asked Cox to elaborate on his comments to the Journal.
“That information comes from the people around him, from his family members and his friends – that’s how we got that information,” Cox told CNN. “There’s so much more that we’re learning, and so much more that we will learn.”
Bash also asked Cox whether the roommate’s status was relevant to the investigation and a potential motive. The governor replied, “That is what we are trying to figure out right now.”
“I know everybody wants to know exactly why, and point the finger,” Cox said. “And I totally get that. I do, too.”
Yet Cox said he had not read all interview transcripts compiled by investigators, “so I just want to be careful … and so we’ll have to wait and see what comes out.”
Cox said he expected the public would learn more when formal charges were filed against Robinson. The governor said he expected that to happen on Tuesday.
After Robinson’s arrest, Utah officials said that inscriptions were found on bullet casings within a rifle found near the scene where Kirk was killed.
One reportedly read: “Hey fascist! Catch!” Another purportedly read, “Oh, Bella ciao” – a reference to an Italian anti-fascist resistance song. A third reportedly said: “If you read this, you are gay, LMAO.”
During his CNN appearance, Cox also said that investigators were looking into a potential note left by Robinson.
Officials at the group chat app Discord recently said that they had identified an account on the platform associated with Robinson – but found no evidence that the suspect planned the incident on the platform.
The spokesperson for Discord did say that there were “communications between the suspect’s roommate and a friend after the shooting, where the roommate was recounting the contents of a note the suspect had left elsewhere”.
When asked about the note, Cox said that “those are things that are still being processed for accuracy and verification”. He suggested additional details about the note could be “included in charging documents”.
The FBI director, Kash Patel, posted a link Sunday on social media to an article that the conservative Fox News network published a day earlier that first relayed details of Robinson’s alleged partner, citing senior-level agency officials. The FBI on Saturday declined to comment to the Guardian on that report and other similar ones.
In an unrelated matter from three years earlier, Kirk had attacked Cox on social media over the topic of trans women in sports, and called for him to be expelled from the Republican party.
Members of both of the US’s major political parties on Sunday reiterated condemnations of Kirk’s killing and political violence in general.
“Every American is harmed by this – it’s an attack on an individual and an attack on a country whose entire purpose, entire way of being is that we can resolve what we need to resolve through a political process,” Pete Buttigieg, a Democrat who served as the US transportation secretary during Joe Biden’s presidency, said to Welker.
Republican US senator Lindsey Graham, meanwhile, told Welker: “What I’m asking everybody to do is not to resort to violence to settle your political differences.”
Mike Johnson on Charlie Kirk assassination: “I think this could be a turning point” for country – CBS News
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House Speaker Mike Johnson told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that he thinks Charlie Kirk’s assassination “could be a turning point” for the country as he called on lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to “turn down the rhetoric.”
DENVER (AP) — From the moment conservative activist and icon Charlie Kirk was felled by an assassin’s bullet, partisans began fighting over which side was to blame. President Donald Trump became the most prominent to do so, tying the attack to “the radical left” before a suspect was even identified.
It was part of a new, grim tradition in a polarized country — trying to pin immediate responsibility for an act of public violence on one of two political sides. As the nation reels from a wave of physical attacks against both Republicans and Democrats, experts warn that the rush to blame sometimes ambiguous and irrational acts on political movements could lead to more conflict.
“What you’re seeing now is exactly how the spiral of violence occurs,” said Robert Pape, a political scientist and director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats at the University of Chicago.
On Friday, authorities announced they had arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Washington, Utah, in the shooting. While a registered voter, he was not affiliated with any party and had not voted in the last two general elections. Even so, officials said Robinson had recently grown more political and expressed negative views about Kirk.
There was other initial evidence of Robinson’s potential influences. According to court papers, he carved taunting phrases into his ammunition — including one bullet casing marked with “Hey, fascist! Catch!” — and others from the irony-laden world of memes and online video games.
Nihilistic Violent Extremism is a new FBI category
Experts say political assassins don’t always fall into neatly sorted partisan categories. In some cases, like that of Thomas Mathew Crooks, who shot Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally last year, there is little record of any political stances whatsoever. The FBI has said Crooks also had researched then-President Joe Biden as a possible attack target.
Bruce Hoffman, who studies terrorism at Georgetown University, noted that the FBI has created a new category, Nihilistic Violent Extremism, to track the increasing number of attacks that seem to have no clear political motivation.
“Extremism is becoming a salad bowl of ideologies where you can pick whatever you want,” Hoffman said, adding that the increasing number of lone wolf attacks means violence is increasingly unmoored from organizations with clear political goals.
What’s more important than the attackers’ state of mind, experts stressed, is the broader political environment. The more heated the atmosphere, the more likely it’ll lead unstable people to commit violence.
“What they all share is a political ecosystem that’s very permissive about violence towards political rivals,” Arie Perlinger, a professor of security studies at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, said of recent perpetrators of political violence. “Because politicians are incentivized to use extreme rhetoric and extreme language, that leads to demonization of political rivals.”
Some call for calm, others for ‘war’
That certainly happened after the Kirk killing. The 31-year-old father of two young children was an icon on the new, populist right, especially among young conservatives, and a key ally of Trump. While some conservatives called for calm, others, such as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and podcaster and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, called for “war.”
In a speech on the House floor on Thursday, Rep. Mary Miller, an Illinois Republican, said Kirk’s “death was not an isolated tragedy. It is part of a disturbing trend in political violence in our country, encouraged by the radical left and amplified by a corrupt media that has gone from being fake to totally evil.”
Many prominent Democrats issued statements urging calm on both sides. Among them were California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband was gravely injured by a hammer-wielding attacker who broke into their house in 2022 in an assault that Trump, among other Republicans, mocked.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, also called for lowering the temperature across the board.
Trump declares radical leftists ‘the problem’
Still, the most prominent practitioner of polarized attacks remains Trump. Friday morning, shortly after announcing the arrest on Fox News, he said “the radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime. … The radicals on the left are the problem.”
The Anti-Defamation League found that from 2022 through 2024, all of the 61 political killings in the U.S. were committed by right-wing extremists. That changed on the first day of 2025, when a Texas man flying the flag of the Islamic State group killed 14 people by driving his truck through a crowded New Orleans street before being fatally shot by police.
Hoffman said that in modern history, the right has been responsible for more political attacks on people than the left. He said that’s because left-wing radicals are more likely to target property rather than people, and because the extreme right boasts organizations such as militias.
He added that after Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people convicted of crimes during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to overturn his election loss, “there’s a belief in certain quarters that, if you engage in violence, the slate can be wiped clean.”
There’s no question there’s also been political violence from the left. In 2017, a 66-year-old man who had supported leftist causes opened fire at a congressional Republican baseball practice, critically wounding Rep. Steve Scalise, who eventually recovered.
In 2022, an armed man angry over a leaked ruling from an coming case that would limit abortion rights tried to enter the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The man backed off when he saw U.S. Marshals guarding the justice’s house, called his sister, and was persuaded to call 911 and surrender to police.
What can take people ‘over the edge’
Pape, of the University of Chicago, said those who engage in political violence are often not the same as the partisans who stoke debates online. He said about 40% of those who perpetrate political violence have a mental illness.
“When there is strong support in the public for political violence, that nudges people over the edge because they think they’re acting in community interest,” he said.
He said he worried about Trump’s one-sided condemnation of left-wing violence, saying it will only inflame the conflict. He compared it to when some liberals condemn all Trump voters as racists.
“The constituents of whoever is doing this, it emboldens them,” Pape said. As for the group being tarnished as uniquely violent, “it creates a bigger sense of defiance,” he added. “What we need to do is convince Trump to do more restraining of his side because we’re really in a tinderbox moment.”
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For Jon Meacham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, and author of “The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels,” this past week has been disturbing – and all too familiar. Asked what is the state of America’s soul today, he replied, “I think that we are in a dangerous place. There’s never been a once-upon-a-time in American history. There’s not going to be a happily-ever-after. But there are moments that you and I could agree we would like to see replicated – and this is not one of them.
“Political violence erupts in America when there is an existential question – who is an American? Who deserves to be included in ‘We the people,’ or ‘All men being created equal’?” he said. “When that is in tension, when we don’t have common agreement about that, then, if you look at it historically, violence erupts.”
And on Wednesday, it did.
At Utah Valley University, the crack of a gunshot once again rattled America. Charlie Kirk, a prominent 31-year-old conservative activist, was assassinated as he engaged in public debate.
Kirk had a fervent following on the right, and was a key organizer in President Donald Trump’s movement. [At the 2020 GOP Convention, Kirk referred to Trump as “the bodyguard of Western civilization.”] He also had his critics, who called him an incendiary voice [as when, on his eponymous show, he exclaimed, “The entire Democrat Party project is how quickly we can turn America into a third-world hellhole”].
His death has become the latest convulsion in a divided country.
Meacham told Robert Costa that, “We do not want to be in a place where because you disagree with someone, you pick up a gun. That is not what the country can be. And if it is, then it’s something different.”
It’s not America? “It’s not the America we want,” he said.
Costa asked Meacham, “Are we in a particular time in America when all of this seems to keep happening?”
“We are, self-evidently,” Meacham replied. “And I think it’s because we are experiencing an era in which we are debating, not only the means of politics, but the purpose of politics.”
Meacham says the purpose of America is an urgent cause for leaders, and for citizens: “When we lose the capacity to engage in argument and dissent and debate peaceably, we are breaking faith with the American covenant,” he said. “And the American covenant is that we live in contention with each other, but we’re not at each other’s throats.”
Asked what our political leaders can do to keep that covenant, Meacham said, “Make the case. Tell the story. What do you want the country to be? This is why history matters, I think, more than ever, because there’s not a hell of a lot going on in the present that you want to say, ‘Yeah, we want more of that,’ right?
“You want to tell the story of Omaha Beach. You want to tell the story of the Pettus Bridge. You want to tell the story of Gettysburg. Because those were moments where imperfect people actually created a more perfect union. It’s not that they were superhuman. Quite the opposite,” he said.
They got through it, Meacham said, “barely.”
But even if Americans can just barely carry on this weekend, Meacham says we must: “If they could do it, then we can, too, if we decide that this country is about a more perfect union, it is about dissent, it is about respecting each other, and it is not about hunting each other down.”
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Story produced by Sara Kugel. Editor: Chad Cardin.
A close friend and colleague of Charlie Kirk says the conservative leader and media star “was one of one” and doubts he’ll ever be replaced.
But asked about a void in the conservative movement, Andy Surabian, who’s a top political adviser to both Vice President JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr., told Fox News Digital that Kirk “inspired a generation of young conservatives who have the potential to grow into being somebody like Charlie Kirk.”
Kirk, who was shot and killed this past Wednesday during a college campus event in Utah, was a top conservative activist, culture warrior, and media rockstar for millions of MAGA and right-wing followers.
A crucial ally to President Donald Trump, Vance, and Donald Trump Jr., Kirk transformed the Turning Point USA conservative youth organization that he co-founded at age 18 into an extremely influential political powerhouse and a voter turnout machine for Trump in last year’s presidential election.
From left to right: Vice President JD Vance, Donald Trump Jr., Republican strategist Andy Surabian, and Turning Point USA co-founder and conservative leader Charlie Kirk.(JD Vance social media post)
“I don’t think there’s any singular person who will ever replace Charlie Kirk,” Surabian said.
But pointing to Kirk’s inspiration to a generation of younger conservatives, Surabian said, “This is the thing that Charlie would be proudest of, it’s the thing that makes me so proud of Charlie.”
Surabian said he and Kirk first met in 2018 and quickly became “generational piers.”
“We would constantly gut check things with each other….both of us respected the political instincts of the other,” Surabian said. “There was an implicit trust.”
In a social media post, Surabian wrote that he and Kirk “bonded quickly over our similar political views and closeness in age, and ultimately developed a close friendship. We always had each other’s back. If I needed help, I knew he would always be there for me. If he needed anything, I was always there for him. If there was a candidate for office he vouched for, that was all I needed. If there was a candidate for office I vouched for, that was all he needed.”
Surabian said Kirk was the person who introduced him to Vance, ahead of Vance’s successful 2022 campaign for the Senate in Ohio.
Vice President JD Vance walks toward Air Force Two alongside Charlie Kirk’s casket on the tarmac in Salt Lake City on Thursday.(Fox News / Pool)
“I was skeptical, but since Charlie was vouching for him, I was on the phone with JD within the hour. 90 minutes later, after JD and I had hit it off and decided to work together, Charlie excitedly told me I wouldn’t regret it — and he was certainly right about that,” Surabian wrote.
Speaking with Fox News, Surabian listed off Kirks’ numerous political attributes.
“Charlie was a terrific fundraiser. He was beloved by donors. Charlie was extremely charismatic and was extremely impressive in debates. Charlie was very talented at doing media. He was a great talk show host. Charlie understood how to organize students. Charlie understood messaging and how to deliver a message in a way that even some of the top PR experts in the country couldn’t touch with a 10-point pole. Charlie understood how to organize in politics. Very rarely do figures come along who can put all those things together the way Charlie put it together,” Surabian highlighted.
“Never mind the fact that, in addition to all that stuff, he was highly intelligent. And most important of all, he was a fundamentally decent person,” Surabian added.
Arizonans mourn Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk outside of the Turning Point USA headquarters on September 12, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that the suspect had been taken into custody over the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk after a massive manhunt. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
While Kirk had already accomplished much by age 31, Surabian predicted that his friend would have had many chapters to come.
“Despite how influential he became, despite how famous he was, I do absolutely believe that he was still at the start of his rise and not at the end of it,” he said.
And Surabian said that Kirk “was getting to a place where in a few years I think he had the potential to be the next Rush Limbaugh, and when I say that, anyone who understands the influence that Rush Limbaugh had on the conservative movement knows what a big statement that is.”
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.”
Authorities are still trying to learn more about what motivated the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at a college in Utah, as the conservative activist’s family plans a memorial next week to his life and legacy.
Tyler James Robinson, 22, of Washington, Utah, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder and other felony offenses. Prosecutors are drawing up formal charges that could be filed early next week, when he will make his first court appearance.
Investigators have spoken to Robinson’s relatives and carried out a search warrant at his family’s home in Washington, about 240 miles (390 kilometers) southwest of Utah Valley University, where the shooting took place.
Here are things to know about the killing:
What do we know about motive?
Authorities have not provided many details about why they think Robinson carried out the attack on Kirk.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said family members told authorities that Robinson “had become more political in recent years.” They recounted to authorities a dinner table conversation in which he mentioned Kirk’s upcoming visit to Utah Valley University and they discussed whether the activist was spreading hate.
State records show Robinson is registered to vote but not affiliated with a political party and is listed as inactive, meaning he did not vote in the two most recent general elections. His parents are registered Republicans.
Ammunition found with the weapon used to kill Kirk was engraved with taunting, anti-fascist and meme-culture messages. One bullet casing had the message, “Hey, fascist! Catch!” Cox said.
What do we know about Robinson?
He grew up around St. George, in the southwestern corner of Utah between Las Vegas and natural landmarks including Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks.
Robinson became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church, at a young age, church spokesperson Doug Andersen said.
Robinson has two younger brothers, and his parents have been married for about 25 years, according to social media posts. Online activity by Robinson’s mother reflects an active family that took vacations to Disneyland, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Alaska.
Like many in that part of Utah, they frequently spent time outdoors – boating, fishing, riding ATVs, zip-lining and target shooting. A 2017 post shows the family visiting a military facility and posing with assault rifles. A young Robinson is seen smiling as he grips the handles of a .50-caliber heavy machine gun.
A high school honor roll student who scored in the 99th percentile nationally on standardized tests, he was admitted to Utah State University in 2021 on a prestigious academic scholarship, according to a video of him reading his acceptance letter that was posted to a family member’s social media account.
But he attended for only one semester, according to a university spokesperson. He is currently enrolled as a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St. George.
What has the fallout from the assassination been?
It prompted calls for greater civility in the country’s political discourse, especially on social media. But many people have made comments about the Kirk and the shooting that brought consequences, including firings.
MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd lost his job shortly after on-air comments about Kirk, one of the first of many figures to experience similar fallout.
Office Depot said Friday that it fired a worker at a Michigan store who was seen on video refusing to print flyers for a Kirk vigil and calling them “propaganda.”
Several Delta Air Lines employees were also suspended after social media posts that “went well beyond healthy, respectful debate,” CEO Ed Bastian said in a message to the company.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ education commissioner warned teachers in the state that making “disgusting” statements about Kirk’s assassination could draw sanctions, including the suspension or revocation of their teaching licenses.
A conservative internet personality who is embedded with immigration agents in Chicago filmed a video outside Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s private home in which he urged viewers to “take action” after Kirk’s assassination. Pritzker’s office said his security has been increased in recent days.
Memorial to be held in Arizona
Turning Point USA, Kirk’s conservative organization, will hold a memorial for him Sept. 21 at State Farm Stadium outside Phoenix, where the Arizona Cardinals play.
Kirk’s casket arrived Thursday in his home state aboard Air Force Two, accompanied by Vice President JD Vance.
His widow, Erika Kirk, vowed to continue his campus tour and his radio and podcast shows.
“To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die,” she said Friday in a livestreamed video. “It won’t. I refuse to let that happen.”
Flowers, U.S. flags and handwritten messages were left at a makeshift memorial for Kirk at Utah Valley University’s main entrance. The school has said there will be increased security when classes resume Sept. 17.
Whenever Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th) walks into a room, he’s usually greeted with hugs, handshakes, kisses on the cheek and gratitude for his more than 40 years in Congress.
Whenever Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th) walks into a room, he’s usually greeted with hugs, handshakes, kisses on the cheek and gratitude for his more than 40 years in Congress.
But one longtime colleague stood out when she offered those same accolades Friday during the congressman’s 23rd annual Women’s Equality Day Luncheon in College Park attended by a few hundred people.
“Thank all of you for being here and supporting Steny Hoyer over the years,” said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, (D-Calif.), who served as keynote speaker at the event. “When I talk about things that relate to women in the world … [and] having fairness in our society, we can be sure that Steny will be on the forefront.”
Without mentioning President Donald Trump (R) and other Republican leaders by name, Pelosi said there’s been efforts to restrict the women’s right to choose and to appoint women to leadership positions.
“Know that there’s nothing more wholesome for our country, whether it’s in politics and government, whether it’s in the academic world, whether it’s in the military, nothing is more enhanced than by the increased leadership and participation of women,” Pelosi said. “When women succeed, America succeeds.”
Women’s Equality Day is celebrated Aug. 26, to commemorate the 19th Amendment that granted women the right to vote and was ratified in 1920.
Hoyer has three daughters and two of his three grandchildren and three of his four great grandchildren are females. After the death of his first wife, Judy Pickett Hoyer, he remarried two years ago to Elaine Kamarck.
“I have been blessed with a lot of women in my life,” Hoyer said to some laughs and applause in the audience.
Hoyer, who turned 86 on June 14, and Pelosi, 85, have served in Congress together since the 1980s, but have known each other even longer, briefly working together in the early 1960s for U.S. Sen. Daniel Brewster (D-Md.). So when Hoyer makes an appearance these days, he is inevitably asked whether he plans to seek a to 24th term in Congress next year.
“We’re thinking about it,” Hoyer said in a brief interview after the luncheon. “I’m in this fight. This is a fight that is worth having. What is being done in Washington is making America less fair, [there’s] less investment in our future. I’m very concerned about it.”
But those concerns stop at violence, said Hoyer, reflecting on Wednesday’s shooting death of 31-year-old conservative activist, Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley State University.
“We know that there are people who think violence is an alternative — violence is an alternative that will cause chaos and death and diminish our democracy,” Hoyer said. “We need every one of us [to] reject the use of violence, particularly when it comes to political speech. Our democracy believes that debate resolves our differences, not violence.”
In the wake of Kirk’s death, bomb threats were made Thursday to Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City), House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) and several historically Black colleges and universities. On the same day, the U.S. Naval Academy was locked down after false reports of a gunman on campus led to the accidental shooting of a midshipman. Morgan State University said Friday that it received a bomb threat, that it determined was not credible, but still informed the FBI “out of abundant caution.”
Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-3rd) — who once. interned for Hoyer — attended Friday’s luncheon and also reflected on the recent events, including a school shooting Wednesday in Colorado.
“I don’t want to keep going down this course, and I just ask everybody to reflect on this moment and the choice that we have here,” said Elfreth, who plans to go forward with an open telephone town hall Monday that was scheduled before the Kirk shooting. “The only way to get through this is to recognize that we all have a part to play in fixing this.
NASCAR driver Christopher Bell dedicated his NASCAR Cup Series victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, on Saturday to conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was murdered earlier in the week in Utah.
Moments after climbing out of his car, Bell announced that his win was dedicated to Kirk.
“It wasn’t pretty there at the end, but we got her done,” Bell, the driver of the #20 DEWALT Toyota, said after the win.
“Most importantly, this week’s obviously been a very tough week. You know, there’s a lot on our minds,” he continued.
Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DEWALT Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.(Getty Images)
“This one’s for Charlie,” Bell added.
Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed on the campus of Utah Valley University on Wednesday afternoon. He was transported to a hospital in critical condition before he was later pronounced dead.
The alleged gunman was identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, whose family persuaded him to turn himself in after a two-day manhunt.
Other major figures in sports have paid tribute to Kirk since his assassination on Wednesday.
Christopher Bell dedicated his NASCAR Cup Series victory to conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was murdered earlier in the week.(Getty Images)
Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Blake Treinent, during Friday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants, wore a hat on the mound that featured Kirk’s name alongside a cross.
The inscription on his hat read “Charlie Kirk” and a cross was also prominently featured.
The Chicago Cubs also paid tribute to Kirk before the team’s game on Friday. Describing him as a lifelong Cubs fan, the team held a “moment of reflection” and called for an end to “all political violence.”
The New York Yankees were the first pro sports team to honor Kirk, holding a moment of silence to commemorate the influencer ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers.
Charlie Kirk speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah, prior to the assassination.(Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the NFL released a statement on Friday addressing a tribute to Kirk ahead of its most recent game, and said teams will be left to make their own decisions about whether to follow suit this Sunday.
Thursday night’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Washington Commanders featured a moment of silence in honor of Kirk before kick-off.
“Last night’s moment was the league’s decision. It’s up to the clubs for this Sunday’s games,” the league’s statement read.
BELVIDERE, Ill. (WTVO) — Representatives from Turning Point USA are scheduled to speak at a candlelight vigil in Belvidere, in honor of slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, on Sunday.
The Boone County Republican Central Committee and activist group Rockford Family Initiative said the vigil, held by the Turning Point USA chapter of Belvidere North would take place Sunday, September 14th, at 6 p.m., in Aberdeen Park, 1417 Orth Road.
“Please join a prayer vigil being held this Sunday evening (September 14) to pray for and honor Charlie Kirk and his family, and to pray for our country,” organizers wrote.
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed on Wednesday during a speaking event at Utah Valley University.
He was the founder of Turning Point USA, a movement that mobilized students to vote. The organization has chapters on more than 850 college campuses.
A 22-year-old Utah man, Tyler Robinson, has been arrested as the suspect in Kirk’s murder. Authorities have yet to reveal a motive.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Friends and colleagues of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk remember a remarkable life on “Charlie Kirk: An American Original.”
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Friends and colleagues of late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk honored his humble beginning, fierce faith and extraordinary life on the primetime special “Charlie Kirk: An American Original.”
The program wove their anecdotes with flashbacks of Kirk’s own words, including his recounting of what happened after his dream of going to West Point fell through at age 18.
“I remember that summer of 2012, I had no money, no connections and no idea what I was doing,” Kirk said in a 2018 interview. “But I had relentless energy and a vision, and I was willing to take a risk. Only in America is that possible.”
Kirk, a married father of two, was assassinated on Sept. 10 while speaking to students at Utah Valley University.
He credited his own feeling of “isolation” in high school for what inspired him to start a conservative nonprofit to connect like-minded students, and he went viral for debating students on their campuses around the country.
“When Charlie started out with this, this was never about attention or getting on TV or having a show,” OutKick host Tomi Lahren said. “What he wanted most, was he just wanted to spread the message.”
Fox News host Will Cain praised Kirk’s influence in educating college students, arguing he was, in theory, “one of the most influential professors” in the nation.
“If we took a survey right now of 17-, 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds on college campuses and asked them who were the most influential people in their own education, I would probably put Charlie Kirk against any one of their professors,” Cain said.
Kirk’s impact reached voters of all ages, with late businessman and GOP donor Foster Friess describing what Turning Point USA meant to him.
“What Turning Point means to me is, these young people love America, where people on the Left, I don’t think they really think about all this investment — that soldiers had died, and sailors had died, and all these people that made our country what it is.”
Kirk’s friends found different ways of commending his intelligence, and agreed on what was “central” to his life.
“Charlie lived the ethos of His will be done,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham said. “’If my actions and my words aren’t pleasing ultimately to my Creator, I’m not successful.’”
“He made me understand the freedoms that we are so blessed to have here in America,” Gaines said.
Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz, who witnessed Kirk’s assassination, shared a heartfelt message for Kirk’s widow Erika and their two young children, noting what he found “admirable” about him.
Charlie Kirk and his wife Erika Lane Frantzve during the Turning Point USA Inaugural-Eve Ball at the Salamander Hotel on Jan. 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
“When they get older, and they can only watch their dad on video, they’re gonna look at that time at UVU as the place that took their dad’s life, but I want his wife and I want his kids to know that the first question that he got was about his religion,” Chaffetz said.
“And he was so eloquent in saying, ‘Look, I don’t expect everybody to agree with me. We’re all on our own journey of faith.”
“He loved young people, he wanted to help young people, and he didn’t deserve this,” President Donald Trump told “Fox & Friends” after Kirk’s assassination. “He was truly a good person.”
In 2018, Kirk described Turning Point USA not as a think tank, but a “battle tank” that will fight the “culture war.”
“Our generation is going to have a very big decision, whether we are going to go down the path of socialism or we embrace the foundational principles of free market capitalism and smaller government,” Kirk had warned. “I know that I am going to be fighting with every ounce that I have to save the greatest country ever to exist.”
Fox Nation subscribers can stream “Charlie Kirk: An American Original” on Sept. 14.
Stephanie Samsel is a digital production assistant at Fox News Digital. She has previously written for Campus Reform and the Media Research Center, covering political bias in education and entertainment. Follow her on X @StephSamsel.
