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Former President Barack Obama weighed in shortly after the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative youth activist group Turning Point USA.
It appeared that Obama attempted to downplay the severity of the situation after someone fatally shot Kirk while he was speaking at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
“We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy. Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children,” Obama tweeted.
The FBI said it is working with state and local police “to fully investigate and seek justice in the fatal shooting” of Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative youth activist group Turning Point USA, at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
The FBI sought the public’s help in identifying the person responsible, asking anyone with information, images, or videos related to the crime to submit it to the police.
FBI Director Kash Patel said earlier that the agency “stands in full support of the ongoing response and investigation.”
Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason called the shooting a “targeted attack,” and said the scene is a “very large area.”
Mason said the “only information” they have on the possible shooter was taken from CCTV on campus, and that the person was dressed in all dark clothing. The shot was fired on campus from a “longer distance,” potentially from a roof, he said.
Separately, authorities said they are also looking at security camera video depicting someone dressed in all dark clothing and that “the shooter is believed to have fired from the roof of a building down to the location of the public event in the student courtyard,” according to a statement from law enforcement officials last night.
In a video posted to social media, Trump said, “It’s a long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree.”
“For years, those on the radical Left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,” he added. “This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”
Kirk, who was 31 and had two kids, was thought to be a close friend of Trump and a powerful figure in the conservative youth movement.
At 18, he started the conservative group Turning Point USA in 2012. In the 2024 elections, he was credited with getting a lot of young voters to favor Trump.
He was shot with one bullet at an outdoor gathering on the university’s Orem campus shortly after noon. They took Kirk to the hospital, but he died later.
Support and calls for prayers poured in across social media, including from President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible. In the United States of America, we must reject political violence in EVERY form,” Newsom tweeted.
The shooting occurred at approximately 12:20 p.m., according to a statement made by Ellen Treanor, Associate Vice President, Strategic Communication Management at Utah Valley University, to Fox News.
In a statement on X, Vice President J.D. Vance wrote: “Say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good guy and a young father.”
Utah Senator Mike Lee posted to X shortly after news of the shooting broke, writing, “I am tracking the situation at Utah Valley University closely. Please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk and the students gathered there.”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wrote: “Prayers for Charlie Kirk. An incredible Christian, American, and human being. May the healing hand of Jesus Christ be upon him.”
