Charlie Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA, speaks before former President Donald Trump’s arrival during a Turning Point USA Believers Summit conference, July 26, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. Joe Raedle/Getty Images, FILE
(UTAH) — Just hours after an assailant gunned down conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus Wednesday, voice messages containing a torrent of expletive-laden insults were sent to Democratic members of the Utah state House, blaming them for Kirk’s killing, according to audio of two calls obtained by ABC News.
The calls came in just after 10 p.m. on Wednesday night to House Democrats’ staff work numbers from an unidentified male caller, who called the Democrats “demons” and “enemies to the American people.”
“You should find somewhere else to f—ing live. You murderous terrorist animals, you despicable f—ing subhuman, f—ing violent, disgusting f—ing animals. You murdered that man in front of his f—ing family, you evil f—ing pieces of s—, subhuman f—ing garbage,” the man said. “I don’t even want to see the f—ing color blue in the state of Utah ever again. I’m gonna burn everything blue in my entire f—ing house.”
In a second message, the same caller directly addressed a staff member by name and told them to “leave the f—ing state.”
“You murdered that man in front of his f—ing family,” the caller said, adding, Democrats nationwide belonged in “hell.”
Utah House Democrats have shared with law enforcement the threatening voicemails and emails they’ve received in the wake of Kirk’s assassination, House minority leader Rep. Angela Romero told ABC News.
Romero added that the calls were particularly intimidating at this raw time of heightened political tension and rhetoric.
“It made me feel uneasy, especially being a woman and a woman of color in a super red state — so it’s not like this is my first rodeo, but this really made me feel uncomfortable,” Romero said.
She said a separate caller told her, “I was despicable, I shouldn’t serve in office, it’s my fault that Mr. Kirk was murdered.”
Other lawmakers have said they received threats following Kirk’s killing. Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican who is running for governor in South Carolina, announced Friday her office had been “bombarded” with “threatening phone calls” — and accused Democrats for the “hateful” messages.
The vitriol levied at uninvolved lawmakers since Wednesday’s shooting has had a chilling effect on the American tradition of lawmakers’ community engagement — as well as the open debate and political discourse Kirk himself espoused.
Romero said she has canceled her own door-knocking that had been scheduled for this weekend. She had planned on canvassing and “getting people’s feedback” as they’re poised to go through redistricting. She has recommended that others in her caucus consider doing the same.
“I decided this probably wasn’t the best time, and I’d rather people be safe than be put in a compromising position,” Romero said.
“I don’t maybe agree with [Kirk’s] political ideology, but he still had a family that loved him, he still had a partner, he still had children. Just because you don’t agree with someone on their policy stances doesn’t mean that you silence their voice by murdering them, whether it was Mr. Kirk or whether it was Representative Hortman,” Romero said, referring to the Minnesota Democratic lawmaker gunned down on her doorstep with her spouse earlier this year in another act of political violence.
“At the end of the day, we’re all human. And it’s sad that we’ve gotten to this place in our country where people can’t even have conversations anymore,” Romero said.
(CHICAGO) — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a man who was resisting arrest and subsequently dragged the agent with his car, according an ICE spokesperson.
ICE officers were conducting a vehicle stop in a Chicago suburb on Friday morning when the suspect — identified by the Department of Homeland Security as Silverio Villegas-Gonzales — “resisted and attempted to drive his vehicle into the arrest team,” subsequently dragging the agent, ICE said.
DHS said the suspect dragged the ICE officer “a significant distance.”
“Fearing for his life, the officer discharged his firearm and struck the subject,” ICE said.
Both the officer and Villegas-Gonzales “immediately” received medical treatment and were transported to a local hospital.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the hospital, while the officer suffered serious injuries but is now in stable condition, ICE said.
“We are praying for the speedy recovery of our law enforcement officer. He followed his training, used appropriate force, and properly enforced the law to protect the public and law enforcement,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Villegas-Gonzales “entered the country at an unknown date and time” and has “a history of reckless driving,” DHS said in a press release.
ABC News’ Laura Romero contributed to this report.
(OREM, Utah) — After a suspect was arrested in the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, an emotional Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he is “as angry as I have ever been” and that this shooting marks a “moment” in the nation’s history.
“This is our moment. Do we escalate or do we find an off-ramp?” Cox told reporters during a press conference on Friday.
Cox confirmed that 22-year-old Tyler Robinson was allegedly the person who shot and killed Kirk on Wednesday while the conservative activist was speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 39 miles south of Salt Lake City.
The governor said he could not confirm that the suspect was cooperating with law enforcement and does not believe there are any more suspects.
During his emotional speech, Cox, who has served as Utah’s governor since January 2021, said Kirk’s murder is “much bigger than an attack on an individual” and that is is an “attack on all of us.”
“It is an attack on the American experiment. It is an attack on our ideals. This cuts to the very foundation of who we are, of who we have been and who we could be in better times,” Cox said.
He also emphasized that violence is not the answer.
“We can return violence with fire and violence. We can return hate with hate. And that’s the problem with political violence, is it metastasizes, because we can always point the finger at the other side, and at some point we have to find an off-ramp, or it’s going to get much, much worse. These are choices that we can make,” Cox said.
While Cox said this is a “terrible day for the state of Utah,” he said he is “grateful that at this moment, we have the opportunity to bring closure to this very dark chapter in our nation’s history.”
“History will dictate if this is a turning point for our country. But every single one of us gets to choose right now,” Cox said.
He also pleaded to the younger generation, saying they have an “opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now.”
“To my young friends out there, you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. But through those words, we have a reminder that we can choose a different path,” Cox said.
Toward the end of his speech, Cox said he still believes in the country.
“I still believe that there is more good among us than evil, and I still believe that we can change the course of history. I’m hopeful because Americans can make it so,” Cox said.
He also thanked the federal agencies involved, including the FBI, and “everyone who worked together in such a short amount of time to find this person and to bring justice.”
Cox said state officials are already moving to pursue the death penalty if the case goes to trial.
The Utah Department of Public Safety released new images of the person of interest in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk. (Utah Department of Public Safety)
(SALT LAKE CITY) — A suspect has been arrested in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials announced Friday.
Tyler Robinson was allegedly the person who shot and killed Kirk on Wednesday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed at a press conference in Utah on Friday.
“We got him,” Cox said at a press conference Friday.
The press conference came soon after President Donald Trump confirmed they had the suspected shooter in custody.
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends” earlier Friday morning.
He later added, “Subject to change but the facts are the facts we have the person that we think is the person we’re looking for.”
Trump said he was told just five minutes before he went on air for the prescheduled interview that someone was in custody.
“Essentially, somebody that was very close to him turned him in,” Trump said.
Trump said the father of the suspect went to authorities and convinced the son “and this is it,” the president said.
The father of the suspect identified his son as the person being sought by police in photographs distributed by authorities, according to sources.
The father told his son to turn himself in, sources said. The son initially said no, but later changed his mind.
Trump reiterated in the interview that the shooter should get the death penalty.
“In Utah, you have death penalty, and a good governor there, I have gotten to know him,” Trump said of Gov. Spencer Cox. “The governor is intent on the death penalty in this case and he should be.”
In the latest video of the suspect, which was played during a news conference with state and federal officials Thursday evening, the apparent gunman can be seen climbing down from the roof of a building on the campus of Utah Valley University where authorities believe he fired the fatal shot and fled rom the scene.
The FBI said it was offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person responsible for Kirk’s murder.
Utah authorities released photos of the person of interest in the shooting on Thursday in which the individual can be seen walking up the stairs to the top of the building where the shooting took place while carrying a black backpack and wearing a shirt with what appeared to be an American flag print on it.
So far authorities have received more than 7,000 tips and leads and completed some 200 interviews, Cox said Thursday.
Amid the manhunt for the shooter, officials said Thursday they are working “around the clock” to locate the person of interest, who is believed to be college-aged.
The FBI also said Thursday it has recovered what is believed to be the weapon used in the deadly shooting. A “high-powered bolt action rifle” was recovered in a wooded area near where the shooting took place, according to Salt Lake City FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls.
The rifle is an older model imported Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle wrapped in a towel, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News. The location of the firearm appears to match the suspect’s route of travel, the sources said.
The spent cartridge was still chambered and three unspent cartridges contained wording on them expressing what some law enforcement officials described as “transgender and anti-fascist” writing, according to preliminary information shared with agencies. It’s unclear what that means and authorities are still working to determine the meaning or whether the markings were intended as misdirection for investigators.
Officials said that at 11:52 a.m. on Wednesday, the suspect arrived on the Orem campus and then proceeded to travel through the stairwells up to the roof of a building near the where the outdoors event was taking place, before the shooter fired down at Kirk, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said on Thursday.
Kirk was hit by a single shot at approximately 12:20 p.m. and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.
After the shooting, the suspected shooter traveled to the other side of the building, jumped off and fled off-campus into a neighborhood, Mason said. Officials are working through nearby neighborhoods, contacting people with doorbell cameras and speaking to witnesses to identify any leads, Mason said.
“I want to make it crystal clear right now to whoever did this, we will find you. We will try you, and we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law,” Cox said during a press briefing Wednesday, calling the fatal shooting a “political assassination.”
He said state officials are already moving to pursue the death penalty if the case goes to trial.
(OREM, Utah) — A suspect has been arrested in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials announced Friday.
Tyler Robinson was allegedly the person who shot and killed Kirk on Wednesday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed at a press conference in Utah on Friday.
“We got him,” Cox said at a press conference Friday.
The press conference came soon after President Donald Trump confirmed they had the suspected shooter in custody.
“I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends” earlier Friday morning.
He later added, “Subject to change but the facts are the facts we have the person that we think is the person we’re looking for.”
Trump said he was told just five minutes before he went on air for the prescheduled interview that someone was in custody.
“Essentially, somebody that was very close to him turned him in,” Trump said.
Trump said the father of the suspect went to authorities and convinced the son “and this is it,” the president said.
The father of the suspect identified his son as the person being sought by police in photographs distributed by authorities, according to sources.
The father told his son to turn himself in, sources said. The son initially said no, but later changed his mind.
Trump reiterated in the interview that the shooter should get the death penalty.
“In Utah, you have death penalty, and a good governor there, I have gotten to know him,” Trump said of Gov. Spencer Cox. “The governor is intent on the death penalty in this case and he should be.”
In the latest video of the suspect, which was played during a news conference with state and federal officials Thursday evening, the apparent gunman can be seen climbing down from the roof of a building on the campus of Utah Valley University where authorities believe he fired the fatal shot and fled rom the scene.
The FBI said it was offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person responsible for Kirk’s murder.
Utah authorities released photos of the person of interest in the shooting on Thursday in which the individual can be seen walking up the stairs to the top of the building where the shooting took place while carrying a black backpack and wearing a shirt with what appeared to be an American flag print on it.
So far authorities have received more than 7,000 tips and leads and completed some 200 interviews, Cox said Thursday.
Amid the manhunt for the shooter, officials said Thursday they are working “around the clock” to locate the person of interest, who is believed to be college-aged.
The FBI also said Thursday it has recovered what is believed to be the weapon used in the deadly shooting. A “high-powered bolt action rifle” was recovered in a wooded area near where the shooting took place, according to Salt Lake City FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls.
The rifle is an older model imported Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle wrapped in a towel, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News. The location of the firearm appears to match the suspect’s route of travel, the sources said.
The spent cartridge was still chambered and three unspent cartridges contained wording on them expressing what some law enforcement officials described as “transgender and anti-fascist” writing, according to preliminary information shared with agencies. It’s unclear what that means and authorities are still working to determine the meaning or whether the markings were intended as misdirection for investigators.
Officials said that at 11:52 a.m. on Wednesday, the suspect arrived on the Orem campus and then proceeded to travel through the stairwells up to the roof of a building near the where the outdoors event was taking place, before the shooter fired down at Kirk, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said on Thursday.
Kirk was hit by a single shot at approximately 12:20 p.m. and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.
After the shooting, the suspected shooter traveled to the other side of the building, jumped off and fled off-campus into a neighborhood, Mason said. Officials are working through nearby neighborhoods, contacting people with doorbell cameras and speaking to witnesses to identify any leads, Mason said.
“I want to make it crystal clear right now to whoever did this, we will find you. We will try you, and we will hold you accountable to the furthest extent of the law,” Cox said during a press briefing Wednesday, calling the fatal shooting a “political assassination.”
He said state officials are already moving to pursue the death penalty if the case goes to trial.
(NEW YORK) — College campuses across America are experiencing an epidemic of hoax calls about bogus shootings and other emergencies following the shooting death of Charlie Kirk this week.
These calls — known as swatting — panicked at least a dozen schools as police rush to campuses, chasing phantom threats with many of them being racially motivated and targeting historically Black colleges and universities.
Activities froze in places like Virginia State University after a swatting call and at Southern University in Louisiana, where classes have already been cancelled through the weekend, another swatting call put the entire campus on high alert.
Police say they must respond to these hoax calls about campus shootings as if they are real as the shootings become more and more common.
The concern, authorities say, is twofold. Swatting wastes law enforcement resources but also ends up sending heavily armed officers into student spaces with guns drawn, a problem highlighted just this week when a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, was shot during a swatting response and had to be flown by helicopter to the hospital.
While these hoaxes mostly ended up being false alarms, experts note that these types of hoaxes are not only a serious crime with substantial penalties for those involved but can also put first responders and bystanders at risk.
“Swatting is not a benign endeavor. Law enforcement is taking it seriously…when they are identified, they are arresting them and prosecuting them,” said John Cohen, an ABC News contributor and a former acting undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
Bob Boyce, an ABC News contributor and retired NYPD chief of detectives, said these calls can range from a “simple prank” to revenge, or even a pursuit of notoriety. But regardless of the motive, there are serious penalties at stake for those placing these swatting calls, Boyce said.
Federal charges can include false information and hoaxes; which could lead to up to five years in prison with a “substantial fine;” interstate transmission of threat; which could lead to up to 20 years in jail if there is an injury involved; and wire fraud, which constitutes a “substantial penalty, incarceration and fines,” Boyce said.
In a statement to ABC News last month, the FBI said they are aware of the recent swatting incidents and are “working with our law enforcement partners.”
“The FBI is seeing an increase in swatting events across the country, and we take potential hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk. Knowingly providing false information to emergency service agencies about a possible threat to life drains law enforcement resources, costs thousands of dollars, and, most importantly, puts innocent people at risk,” the agency said.
ABC News’ Megan Forrester contributed to this report.
Martin County Sheriff’s Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
(FORT PIERCE, Fla.) — Jurors in the criminal trial of the man accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump on his golf course last year are set to hear testimony Friday from five law enforcement witnesses, concluding a chaotic start to the case that could send the alleged assassin to prison for the rest of his life.
While prosecutors originally estimated needing about three weeks to conclude their case against 59-year-old Ryan Routh, they signaled on Thursday that their case might conclude sooner than planned because of the quick pace of the first few witnesses’ testimony.
Routh, who is representing himself despite not being a lawyer or having any legal training, has not yet objected to any of the questions posed by prosecutors during the direct examination of witnesses, and his cross-examinations have been usually short.
“I’m very simple-minded, yes,” Routh told U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon Thursday when she inquired about his plans to cross-examine future witnesses.
Routh has been rebuked several times by Cannon after making unexpected and off-topic comments. During opening statements Thursday, Routh launched into a speech about the origin of the human species, global conflicts, and his political grievances, before the judge cut him off after about six minutes for making arguments that she said have “absolutely nothing to do with the evidence in this case.”
Jurors at the trial in Fort Pierce, Florida, heard Thursday from the Secret Service agent who confronted an armed Routh on the golf course before Routh fled, and a witness who identified Routh to police.
Prosecutors allege that Routh put together a methodical plan — including purchasing a military-grade weapon, researching Trump’s movements, and utilizing a dozen burner phones — to kill Trump based on political grievances.
Hiding in the bushes of Trump’s Palm Beach golf course and armed with a rifle, Routh allegedly came within a few hundred yards of the then-presidential nominee before a Secret Service agent spotted his rifle poking out of the tree line.
Routh allegedly fled the scene but was later arrested by a local sheriff’s office on a nearby interstate.
He faces five criminal charges, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, using a firearm in furtherance of a crime, assaulting a federal officer, possessing a firearm as a felon, and using a gun with a defaced serial number.
Desmond Holly in a photo released by police. Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
(EVERGREEN, Colo.) — A 16-year-old student — who authorities say opened fire at his Colorado high school on Wednesday, wounding two classmates and then turning the gun on himself — was believed to be “radicalized by some extremist network,” officials with the local sheriff’s office said.
The gunfire at Evergreen High School broke out at about 12:24 p.m. local time, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Three students were taken to the hospital in critical condition following the gunfire, including the suspected shooter, who was injured by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office confirmed the suspect died in a post on social media Wednesday evening.
The suspect was identified as 16-year-old Desmond Holly, Jefferson County Sheriff officials said during a press conference on Thursday. An image of the shooter was also released by officials.
Officials determined the weapon was a revolver that was “fired a lot.” Shots could be seen fired at windows and lockers, authorities said on Thursday.
The suspect allegedly went through the school trying to “find new targets,” but came upon “roadblocks” as doors were locked and he could not keep shooting victims, the sheriff’s department said.
While authorities are still looking into the shooter’s motive, they believe he was “radicalized by some extremist network,” and that he had a “mission,” officials said. Authorities said they are trying to better understand that network, and are searching his phone, home and locker to learn more on who he was communicating with before the shooting.
The sheriff’s office said on Thursday “no one has been released” from the hospital, despite earlier reports from hospital officials saying one of the injured had been released.
Previously, authorities said on Wednesday a fourth student was also transported to the hospital with an unknown injury, but the sheriff’s office said on Thursday they “think it’s just three” who were injured.
The families of the victims are expected to release photos and statements on Thursday, officials said.
In a statement on Wednesday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he was “devastated” by the shooting.
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families as they grapple with this senseless act of violence,” Polis said.
After the shooting, the school was placed in a lockdown and officials swept the campus.
“This is the scariest thing you’d think could ever happen,” said Jefferson County sheriff spokesperson Jacki Kelley at a news conference on Wednesday.
“Students and staff were amazing. They did their job and they did it well. Lives were saved yesterday,” Kelli said on Thursday.
(NEW YORK) — Multiple historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are on lockdown after receiving potential threats on Thursday, including Alabama State University, Virginia State University, Hampton University in Virginia, Southern University in Louisiana, and Clark Atlanta University in Georgia.
Spelman College, located near Clark Atlanta University, has also implemented shelter-in-place protocols as a precautionary measure due to its proximity.
Hampton University ceased all “nonessential” activity, including athletic events, on Thursday for the remainder of the day and Friday, according to the school’s website.
In a post on the Virginia State University Facebook page, the school said, “out of an abundance of caution, VSU remains on lockdown.”
Southern University in Louisiana is on lockdown, according to the school’s post on X. The school said the lockdown applies to its entire Baton Rouge landmass, which includes its Law Center. The community is encouraged to “shelter in place until further notice.”
ABC News obtained an email that was sent to the Virginia State University community on Thursday. In the message, VSU students, faculty and staff are asked to remain on lockdown while campus police, and local, state and federal law enforcement investigate the credibility of the threat that was received.
According to the email, no injuries have been reported, outdoor movement has been limited to essential activities, classes and extra-curricular activities have been canceled for the afternoon, and additional security personnel are monitoring VSU locations.
The lockdown measures come in the wake of the shooting at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, where 31-year-old right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk was killed at his speaking engagement on campus.
School officials at Hampton and Alabama State confirmed to ABC News that there have been no physical incidents toward students and faculty. It is unclear what type of threat was made to the schools at this time. The schools stressed “if you see something, say something,” asking for their communities to alert the authorities to any suspicious activity.
The alleged threats follow a history of threats to HBCUs in the past several years. In 2022, multiple schools received anonymous bomb threats, causing shelter-in-place notices or evacuations of the majority-Black institutions.
However, no real bombs were found after each incident. At the time, the FBI identified one juvenile believed to be responsible for a “majority” of the “racially motivated” threats.
(SALT LAKE CITY) — The FBI has released images of a person of interest sought in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative youth activist organization Turning Point USA, during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
“We are asking for the public’s help identifying this person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University,” the FBI’s Salt Lake City office said on X on Thursday while sharing two images of the individual, who is wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses and was captured in a stairwell in one of them.
The FBI said it is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person responsible for Kirk’s murder.
The manhunt for the suspect, who is believed to be college-aged, continues, with officials working “around the clock” to locate the individual, officials said during a press conference on Thursday.
The FBI also said Thursday it has recovered what is believed to be the weapon used in the deadly shooting. A “high-powered bolt action rifle,” which officials believe was the weapon used in the shooting, was recovered in a wooded area near where the shooting took place, according to Salt Lake City FBI Special Agent Robert Bohls.
The rifle is an older model imported Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle wrapped in a towel, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News. The location of the firearm appears to match the suspect’s route of travel, the sources said.
The spent cartridge was still chambered and three unspent cartridges contained wording on them expressing what some law enforcement officials described as “transgender and anti-fascist” writing, according to preliminary information shared with agencies. It’s unclear what that means and authorities are still working to determine the meaning.
The firearm and ammunition have been taken by the FBI for DNA analysis and fingerprint impressions. Upon completion of forensics, the firearm will be disassembled for additional importer information.
Tracking the shooter’s movements
Officials said they have been able to track the movements of the shooter and have “good” video footage of the individual, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said on Thursday. The video footage will not be released to the public at this time, Mason said.
At 11:52 a.m. on Wednesday, the suspect arrived on the Orem campus and then proceeded to travel through the stairwells up to the roof of a building near the where the outdoors event was taking place, before the suspect fired down at Kirk, Mason said.
Kirk was hit by a single shot at approximately 12:20 p.m. and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.
After the shooting, the suspect traveled to the other side of building, jumped off and fled off-campus into a neighborhood, Mason said. Officials are working through nearby neighborhoods, contacting people with doorbell cameras and speaking to witnesses to identify any leads, Mason said.
Along with recovering the weapon, Bohls said investigators have also collected a footwear impression, palm print and forearm imprints for analysis.
Officials emphasized the shooting was a “targeted” attack and they are “exhausting every lead.”
“We will not stand for what happened yesterday,” Mason said. “We are investing everything we have into this and we will catch this individual.”
The FBI asked for tips from the public as the manhunt for the perpetrator continues, urging anyone with information, photos or video from the incident to share it with investigators.
Trump blames political rhetoric
As the search for the suspect continued, President Donald Trump and prominent MAGA personalities sought to tie the killing to Democratic political rhetoric.
In a video posted to social media on Wednesday, Trump said, “It’s a long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree.”
“For years, those on the radical Left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,” he added. “This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”
Trump’s son Eric, meanwhile, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity he was “sick and tired of seeing the bullets — they are only going one way.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox got emotional Wednesday as he delivered a message mentioning recent attacks on both Democrats and Republicans.
“Our nation is broken,” Cox said. “We’ve had political assassinations recently in Minnesota. We had an attempted assassination on the governor of Pennsylvania. And we had an attempted assassination on a presidential candidate and former president of the United States — and now current president of the United States. Nothing I say can unite us as a country. Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken. Nothing I can say can bring back Charlie Kirk. Our hearts are broken.”
Controversial campus visit
Kirk — a 31-year-old father of two — was considered a confidant of Trump and highly influential in the conservative youth movement.
He founded the conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA in 2012 at the age of 18, and in the 2024 elections was credited with building significant support for Trump among young voters.
The Utah event was expected to include a “prove me wrong” table, according to the tour’s website.
Ahead of the conservative political activist’s visit to Utah Valley University, some students started an online petition asking university administrators to stop him from coming.
Though Kirk’s visit was controversial on campus, police were tracking no specific or credible threats before the fatal shooting, Utah law enforcement sources told ABC News.
More than 3,000 people were estimated to be at the event, according to the university’s police chief, Jeff Long. There were six police officers, along with Kirk’s private security, according to Long.
UVU will be closed until Sept. 14, according to a notice posted on the university’s website.
One suspect sought
There is no evidence that anyone else was involved, according to authorities.
The Utah Department of Public of Safety said in an update Wednesday night that two people were initially taken into custody after the shooting but later released.
The first was released and later charged with obstruction by university police. The second person was taken into custody and released after an “interrogation” by law enforcement, the department said.
Utah authorities said “there are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals.”
Tributes from both parties
Trump was among those who paid tribute to Kirk.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” Trump said on social media. “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
“It’s horrific. It’s one of the most horrible things I’ve ever seen,” Trump told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl.
“He was a great guy,” Trump said. “He was a good man. He was an incredible guy. Nobody like him.”
Trump ordered all American flags throughout the country to be lowered to half-staff through Sunday evening in Kirk’s honor. On Thursday, he also announced he will posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, saying he was a “giant of his generation.”
Cox called the fatal shooting a “political assassination.”
“Those responsible will be held fully accountable. Violence has no place in our public life. Americans of every political persuasion must unite in condemning this act,” he said on X following the attack.
Vice President JD Vance called Kirk “a genuinely good guy and a young father” while urging prayers in the aftermath of the shooting.
Condemnation came from both sides of the political spectrum.
“There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now,” Former President Joe Biden said. “Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones.”
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is horrifying and this growing type of unconscionable violence cannot be allowed in our society,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said on X.
Fellow Democratic governor, California’s Gavin Newsom, said on X that the “attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible. In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form.”
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Luke Barr, Josh Margolin, Ivan Pereira, Lalee Ibssa, Isabella Murray, Katherine Faulders, Jack Date, Chris Looft and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.
