Conservative activist and Donald Trump ally Charlie Kirk was answering a question about mass shootings in the United States on September 10, 2025, at Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem, Utah, when a single shot fired from a distance of some 175 yards (160 meters) hit Kirk in the neck, killing him. Video of the shooting spread quickly on social media, exposing millions of people to the gruesome killing.
Even as a manhunt was underway for the killer, reaction to the latest incident of political violence in the United States included horror and calls for unity, condemnations of social media, the spread of conspiracy theories, some celebration from those on the far left, and false declarations from the far right that such violence is perpetrated only by liberal actors.
Shortly after noon on September 10, Kirk was fielding questions from a group of some 3,000 spectators in an open-air amphitheater at the UVU campus. The event was organized by Turning Point USA, a conservative grassroots group founded by Kirk to mobilize conservative young people.
The single shot, later determined to have been fired from a nearby building on campus, caused panic among those in the crowd and prompted a lockdown of the university. In the immediate wake of the shooting there were questions about security for the event. Kirk had his own security team and campus police had assigned officers to the event, but there was no security screening at the campus.
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