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Charlie Kirk, Founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, was assassinated today at a Turning Point event at Utah Valley University.
Twenty minutes into the event, Charlie was shot on the left side of his neck. He was transported to a nearby hospital and passed away early this evening. The shooter remains unknown.
Charlie was martyred for his life’s work: promoting free speech. He empowered everyone to speak, regardless of their political views. The first thing Charlie would say to students attending his events after opening the floor to questions was encouraging those who disagreed with him to come forward and discuss. Many of the values Charlie stood for are those we hold dearly at the Review–open discourse and honest, well-intentioned debate.
Charlie built Turning Point USA from the ground up to promote peaceful dialogue and discussion. His voice supported the youth vote, brought faith and truth to high school and college students, and facilitated constructive conversation on college campuses across the United States.
Charlie gave voice to those afraid to share their faith and political opinions. He made marginalized conservatives across America, young and old, realize that their faith and their opinions should be heard, too. He was not divisive or confrontational. He spoke with strength and conviction about his beliefs and challenged others to think deeply about the issues that touch our nation.
Today’s horrific political assassination was pure evil at work against a good man, a devoted father, loving husband, and faithful Christian. It was a vile attack against the freedom of speech, independent thought, and meaningful dialogue that Charlie stood for. And it was political violence against all Christians and conservatives, meant to intimidate us into silence.
There is no place for celebrating murder - not at Stanford, not in America, not on any social media outlet. There is no place for killing a man and leaving a forever heartbroken family behind because you disagree with his religious and political beliefs. That is barbaric, discriminatory, pure evil, and unacceptable, and those who make those comments should be held accountable on Earth as they will be before God.
This is not a gun violence issue. The gun does not shoot by itself. The problem is that ever-larger swathes of Americans believe that it is acceptable and justifiable to murder someone based solely on the fact that they disagree with them. This is an issue of hate against a man of peace who loved God and America.
Today, America has lost not only a titan of modern conservatism and a defender of free speech, but also an incredibly kind, humble, and empathetic human being. Having attended Turning Point USA’s Leadership and Student Action Summits this summer, I had the honor of meeting and speaking with Charlie many times. He cared deeply about students. At an organized breakfast, Charlie visited every single table in the room, listened to every single student there, and pushed us to think deeper and more critically to understand our “why.” He wanted to know us personally. Charlie valued our thoughts; he even invited a group of us to appear on his podcast to talk about issues affecting our respective schools. He wanted students to be the voice of the Turning Point movement, and he always went above and beyond to ensure that our voices were heard.
There are no words to describe the emotions of today. Silence is an admission of defeat. Silence will teach the forces of evil that they can avoid hearing the truths that they do not want to hear by committing murder. Charlie believed in us and gave us the voice and tools to spread the truth, and we cannot allow today’s terrorism to silence those who share his values and beliefs. We will speak up louder and clearer than ever before; we will fight the good fight even harder; we will discuss the truth and win hearts to the ends of the earth. This is what Charlie would want from us.
We seek to honor Charlie’s death in the way he would want us to. We will continue to support goodness and love in America, and support freedom of speech as Charlie always has. Our prayers go out to Charlie’s wife, Erika Kirk, and his two beautiful children. Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk.
