Orem, Utah – On Wednesday, September 10, 2025, at a TPUSA event at Utah Valley University (UVU), Conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), was fatally shot and killed on stage.

The shooting happened some 20 minutes after the event, dubbed as The American Comeback Tour, had started. It caused a shockwave in the political arena and also led to a national outburst of mourning and denunciation.

The incident took place at around 12:20 p.m. MST. Footage recorded at the moment of the shooting shows Kirk recoiling while speaking before blood began pouring from his neck, a tragic scene that was broadcast live to thousands. He was rushed to Timpanogos Regional Hospital in critical condition but was later declared dead in the afternoon of the same day. Kirk was 31 years old.

U.S. President Donald Trump was the first to announce publicly that he had died, posting it at 3:40 p.m. EDT in a post on Truth Social. The announcement was later confirmed by the official statement by the spokesperson of Kirk.

Investigation Underway

The shooting case is still being investigated, and it has undergone several developments. After the attack, the authorities of the university first mentioned that a suspect was arrested, but the person was subsequently found not to be the shooter.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel later that evening at 6:21 p.m. EDT released a statement on social media that a subject had been arrested.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox affirmed that it had one individual under arrest and that the investigators suspected that the attack was carried out by one person. This person was also set free after being interrogated, which made the investigation even more difficult.

At a press conference, FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls described the inquiry as “in its early stages” and urged members of the public to come forward with any information that could assist in identifying the shooter.

View of Security Analysts

The killing of a leading, pro-Israel, right-wing lobbyist in the center of the United States has prompted some security analysts to propose a broader geopolitical theory for the attack.

The assassination is considered a precision strike, similar to the 9/11 attacks, and has the fingerprint of Mossad playing its cards vigorously throughout the world.

The UNGA session was scheduled, where 20 countries were going to recognize Palestine. On the night before the scheduled vote, Israel allegedly attacked Doha, leading the UNGA to change the next day’s session to an emergency meeting on the Israel-Qatar issue.

This move, according to the analyst, diverted international attention away from the Palestinian recognition vote. The assassination of Charlie Kirk, a vocal supporter of Israel, is seen by some as a continuation of this pattern, a message sent through an act of extreme violence to manipulate political events.

Although these assertions have not been proven and are only speculative, they have become part of the discussion on the assassination online and indicate the obvious geopolitical undertones that are being applied to the tragedy.

Condemnations Pour In

The shooting of Charlie Kirk, a leading conservative political figure, saw immediate and bipartisan reactions by leaders worldwide. Before the news of his demise was announced, President Trump requested prayers on Truth Social.

A wide spectrum of politicians shared this feeling by denouncing the practice of political violence.

Statements of sorrow and outrage poured in from across the political spectrum, including from Vice President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and former presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.

Statements were also made by international leaders such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the Argentine president, Javier Milei.

President Trump gave a poignant tribute by ordering all the U.S. flags to be flown at half, on September 14, honoring Kirk until 6.00 p.m. Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent at The New York Times, wrote that “the atmosphere at the White House following the shooting was filled with shock and sorrow” and several people in the Trump administration admired Kirk.

Kirk’s Role in the Pro-Israel Movement

Kirk had a controversial reputation in numerous quarters and an extensive history of inflammatory and racist statements regarding Muslims, women, trans persons, and Palestinians.

Kirk not only emerged as a leading conservative youth organizer but also as one of the most zealous defenders of the Israeli apartheid regime in occupied Palestine. He was seen as an Islamophobe.

He led the mobilization of American college students to support the position of Israel and conducted a campaign to oppose the international boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement that highlights the atrocities of the occupation.

Although a number of scholars have alleged that Israel has starved the Palestinian people, Kirk always denied this claim. In July 2025, Kirk said, “No, Israel is not starving Gazans,”.

In the same month, he labeled photographs of starving children in Gaza as propaganda, which he termed as emotional, visual, and optical warfare.

In 2023, he also made racist comments against Muslims, saying, “Muslims who run Hamas are not going to stop until they believe they can kill every single Jew on the face of the earth. That is their goal.”