The American right -wing political activist Charlie Kirk was recognized for the basis of President Donald Trump among young voters, galvanizing young conservatives and achieving international importance through a group he founded at the age of 18.
Kirk, originally from Illinois who founded the Conservative student group Turning Point USA and became a rising star of the Republican Party under Trump, had just returned to the United States of a tour abroad when he was shot down on Wednesday. He was 31 years old.
The shooting came while Kirk, the president of Turning Point USA, addressed a large outdoor crowd on the University of Utah Valley campus in Orem, Utah.
The Governor of Utah described Kirk’s death as a “political assassination”. The reason is unknown and it was not clear if a suspect had been arrested.
On Sunday, Kirk titled an event in Tokyo organized by the Farm Festival of Sanseeito, which produced large gains during the election of the Japan Superior Chamber in July. He also recently spoke in South Korea.
Kirk had 5.3 million followers on its X account and attracted an audience of more than 500,000 monthly listeners to podcasts from its radio program, “The Charlie Kirk Show”. He also wrote or contributed to several books, including “Time for a turning point” and “The College Scam”.
Influence built on university campuses
In addition to founding Turning Point USA in 2012 with the conservative activist Bill Montgomery, Kirk launched Turning Point Action in 2019 as a defense of non -profit lawyers supporting conservative candidates to his functions.
Turning Point USA, an organization dedicated to advancing conservative causes on university campuses, played a decisive role in the support of young people in Trump in the November 2024 elections.
The events of Kirk Turning Point have been noisy, a mixture of a political rally, a trial revival, a rock concert and a professional wrestling match. The speakers would take the scene supported by hymns that turn the ears and a lively pyrotechnics before often very spiritual crowds of thousands.
“No one understood or had the hearts of young people in America better than Charlie,” wrote Trump on his online Truth Social platform, announcing Kirk’s death. “He was loved and admired by all, especially me, and now he is no longer with us.”
Trump ordered that flags have stolen from half of the staff in honor of Kirk.
Kirk was provocative, targeting Muslim politicians, notably the candidate for the mayor of Minneapolis, Omar Fateh and Islam as a whole. He said in April: “Islam has conquered values. They seek to take control of the land and the territory, and Europe is now a conquered continent.”
He repeated popular conspiracy theories among white nationalists. During an episode of the August podcast, Kirk accused the Democratic legislator Jasmine Crockett, which is black, of being part of an “attempt to eliminate the white population in this country”.
The son of a advisor in a mental health clinic and architect, Kirk saw his political career powered by a 2012 editorial that he wrote for the Breitbart conservative media which drew the attention of Fox News, according to a February New York Times report.
Fox then reserved Kirk to discuss the national debt, Times reported. This appearance led to a speech at Benedictine University, where he met Montgomery, a Tea Party activist.
Montgomery encouraged Kirk to disseminate his message to university campuses and recorded the name Turning Point USA for Kirk in July 2012.
Kirk is survived by his wife Erika, a former winner of the Miss Arizona USA beauty contest, and their two children.
Source link
#Trump #Ally #Charlie #Kirk #shot #dead #Utah #Valley #University #event
