Freedom

Opinion by bmetzger@insider.com

Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist who cofounded Turning Point USA, has died after a shooting at a college campus in Utah on Wednesday, his organization confirmed in a statement. He was 31.

Turning Point confirmed Kirk’s death in a statement published on X, which read that he had been “murdered by a gunshot.”

President Donald Trump had previously announced Kirk’s death on Truth Social.

“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. He also said he was ordering all American flags to be lowered to half-mast until Sunday evening.

Following the news of Kirk’s death, Trump ordered all American flags throughout the United States to be lowered to half-mast until Sunday evening — a gesture generally seen following the deaths of congressional leaders or cabinet members.

Kirk was known for his right-wing political ideology and social commentary through Turning Point, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the adoption of conservative political ideology in high school and on college campuses.

He regularly posted videos on social media of himself engaged in debate with liberal commentators, students, and activists on topics ranging from gay rights and abortion to international relations and trade policy.

Turning Point was a prominent supporter of Trump’s political campaigns. In 2024, Turning Point Action, an advocacy arm of the organization, spearheaded the Chase the Vote initiative, which hired around 1,000 individuals dedicated to voter outreach targeting young Republican voters in battleground states like Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika Frantzve, whom he married in 2021, and their two children.

Born in the Chicago suburbs, Kirk was the son of an architect and mental health counselor who showed an early interest in politics, the Chicago Tribune reported in 2018.

Kirk, who founded Turning Point in 2012 at age 18, said in a 2015 speech that he had wanted to attend West Point military academy, but had been rejected and lost out to “a far less-qualified applicant in my district that was of a different gender and a different persuasion,” the Tribune reported.

According to a profile of Kirk published by The Dartmouth Review in 2019, he later briefly attended classes at Harper College, a community college in Palatine, Illinois, but dropped out to pursue conservative activism.

Kirk’s political influence accelerated quickly, drawing high-profile attention from conservative figures and propelling him to become a prominent figure in Republican politics before his 20th birthday. He gave a speech at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and, in 2019, became CEO of Students for Trump.

In 2020, Kirk was a keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention, describing Trump as the “bodyguard of western civilization,” Fox News reported. Though Trump was not re-elected in 2020, Kirk continued to align himself with Trump’s political campaigns through 2024, including through the formation of AmericaFest, an annual conservative conference held in Pheonix and featuring speakers like Glenn Beck, Tucker Carlson, and Ben Shapiro.

Following Trump’s reelection in 2024, Kirk was credited with mobilizing young voters in support of the president and was included in helping to vet potential administration appointees, Politico reported.

Political leaders condemned the shooting and shared tributes to Kirk.

“There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now. Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones,” former president Joe Biden said on X.

Vice President JD Vance said in a X post that Kirk’s events were “one of the few places with open and honest dialogue between left and right.”

Rep. Mike Johnson, Republican speaker of the House, led the chamber in a moment of silence following the shooting.

“This is detestable what’s happened,” he told reporters. “Political violence has become all too common in American society. This is not who we are. It violates the core principles of our country.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.