Killing of Trump ally and right-wing activist Charlie Kirk: What we know
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A woman at a vigil in a Utah park on Sept 11 following the fatal shooting of US right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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OREM, Utah - Mr Charlie Kirk, a right-wing activist and close ally of US President Donald Trump, was fatally shot during an event
More than 30 hours later on Sept 11, the authorities had failed to locate the gunman.
Here is what we know, as well as some of the main unanswered questions.
The shooting
Mr Kirk, head of the country’s largest conservative youth movement, which he co-founded in 2012 at the age of 18, was speaking at around noon on the campus of Utah Valley University.
Dressed in a white T-shirt with the word “freedom” across the front, Mr Kirk sat in a chair under a tent as he answered questions from the large audience.
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, who was at the event, told Fox News that Mr Kirk was responding to a question about “transgender shooters, mass shooters, and in the midst of that, the shot rang out”.
The 31-year-old collapsed and blood spurted from his neck, according to a video clip shot from a nearby location. He was announced dead soon after by Mr Trump.
The shooter
The authorities said the killer used a high-powered bolt-action rifle, firing from the roof of a building some 183m away from his target. They added that the killer was lying prone, a position that increases accuracy.
Pictures and video taken from security cameras
Officials said on Sept 11 that the shooter was wearing Converse-style tennis shoes with a white sole.
They found palm prints where he climbed down from the building to begin his getaway. They also found his rifle – a Mauser 30-06 caliber – discarded in an area of trees near a carpark.
The FBI has offered a reward of up to US$100,000 (S$128,210) for information leading to the suspect’s capture.
However, as the manhunt stretched on, the FBI and other law enforcement bodies appeared to be making slow progress in tracking him down.
The motive
Forensic evidence from the scene – which was being analysed by crime labs in several locations, according to the authorities – is all that has been made public.
No official suggestion has been made as to the motive.
In a briefing late on Sept 11, Utah Governor Spencer Cox warned that social media was filling with “a tremendous amount of disinformation”.
He said “our adversaries want violence”, and cited China in particular as using bots to spread discord online.
Mr Kirk was a star on the Republican right and a particularly close ally of Mr Trump, helping him to make surging gains in the youth vote when he won the presidential election in November 2024.
Mr Kirk espoused multiple far-right views, making him hugely controversial for Democrats.
He also fell out at times with fellow members of the Republican right, with some of them – like white nationalist leader Nick Fuentes – saying he was not hard-right enough.
The political reaction
Politicians on all sides quickly came out to condemn the killing, many of them calling on Americans to heal growing divisions.
Mr Trump’s first reaction on Sept 10 was to blame “the radical left
On Sept 11, he toned down his rhetoric
“That’s the way I’d like to see people respond,” he said.
Mr Kirk is being treated as a national hero by the Trump administration.
Governor Cox said Utah “will pursue the death penalty” when the shooter is captured.
Mr Trump announced on Sept 11 that he would posthumously decorate Mr Kirk with America’s highest civilian honour, the Medal of Freedom
The Republican President also told reporters that he would attend Mr Kirk’s funeral.
“I have an obligation to do that,” Mr Trump said. “Whenever it is, I’m going.”
Mr Kirk’s coffin was transported to his home city of Phoenix on US Vice-President J.D. Vance’s official plane.
Footage showed Mr Vance with his hands on the casket as it was carried to Air Force Two. AFP
