Orem, Utah — Charlie Kirk, a nationally known conservative activist who is well known and the founder of the student organization, Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck on September 10, 2025, and killed while giving a speech at Utah Valley University. He was 31 years old.

The officials said that the shooting occurred around 20 minutes into Kirk’s tour of the university during a nationwide speaking tour. One shot was fired from the top of an elevated rooftop, killing him in an instant. He was then rushed to Timpanogos regional hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. 

Police arrested Tyler James Robinson, 22, two days after the attack. Robinson is accused of aggravated murder, felony, discharge of a firearm that resulted in great bodily injury, obstruction of justice, tampering with a witness, and violent crime in the presence of a child. The incident was referred to by officials as a potential political assassination, but the motive remains unclear. 

Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA in 2012, was a celebrated young conservative voice. He was everywhere on university campuses and in the media, where he developed notoriety for rapid fire debating about politics and culture.

His murder has provoked blanket condemnation of political violence on both sides of the political divide. Political figures, and pundits, have also had their say on security at public functions as well as the broader significance of polarization in US society. 

There was a public memorial on September 21 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, with attendance by tens of thousands. Fans greeted him as a zealous defender of conservative ideology, while others wrote of the dishonesty of his public life. The probe into the shooting continues as officials work to sift through potential motivations and motives for the attack.