Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot at Utah college event
Charlie Kirk, CEO and co-founder of the Conservative Youth Organization Turning Point USA, was in critical condition in a UTAH hospital on Wednesday after being shot down during a university event, a law enforcement at the Associated Press said. A suspect was in detention, said the college.
Videos published on social networks of the University of Utah Valley show that Kirk was expressed in a portable microphone when he was sitting in a white tent sporting the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove me wrong”. One blow rings and Kirk can be seen reaching the right hand while a large volume of blood springs from the left side of its neck. The amazed spectators are heard haleter and howl before people start to run away. The PA was able to confirm that the videos were taken in the courtyard of Sorensen Center on the campus of the University of Utah Valley.
“We confirm that he was shot dead and that we pray for Charlie,” said Aubrey Laitsch, public relations manager for Turning Point USA.
Kirk was expressed during a debate organized by his non -profit political organization. The event had encountered divided opinions on campus. An online petition calling on university administrators to prevent Kirk from appearing has received nearly 1,000 signatures. The University published a statement last week by quoting the rights of the first amendment and affirming its “commitment to freedom of expression, an intellectual investigation and a constructive dialogue”.
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of clips of news showing that his visit to the colleges of Utah caused controversy. He wrote: “What’s going on in Utah?”
The college said that a “single shot” had been shot on Kirk and a suspect was in detention.
President Donald Trump and a host of elected representatives of republicans and democrats have criticized the shooting and offered prayers for Kirk on social networks.
“We all have to pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A big guy from top to bottom. May God bless him! ” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The shooting comes in the middle of a peak of political violence in the United States in all parts of the ideological spectrum. The attacks include the assassination of a legislator of the state of Minnesota and her husband at home in June, the fire bomb of a Colorado parade to demand hostages of Hamas, and a fire which takes place in the chamber of the governor of Pennsylvania, which is Jewish in April. The most notorious of these events is Trump’s shooting during a campaign rally last year.
The former member of the Utah Congress, Jason Chaffetz, a republican who was at the event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he had heard a blow and saw Kirk go back.
“It seemed to be a shot,” said Chaffetz, who seemed to be shaken while speaking.
He said there was a light police presence at the event and that Kirk had security but not enough.
“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have that kind of thing.”
Turning Point was founded in the suburbs of Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18 years old, and William Montgomery, a TEA Party activist, to proselytize on university campuses for the low taxes and the limited government. It was not an immediate success.
But Kirk’s zeal to face the liberals in the academic world has finally won an influential set of conservative financiers.
Despite the first reluctance, Turning Point supported Trump enthusiastically after winning the appointment of the GOP in 2016. Kirk was a personal assistant to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general electoral campaign.
Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable television, where he looked at cultural wars and praised the president of the time. Trump and his son were just as scrutiny and often talked during turning conferences.
This is a story in development and will be updated as more details become available.
