Just weeks into the fall semester, a crowd gathered around a white canopy on a grassy college courtyard. They were eager to hear what the speaker beneath it had to say. It was a typical university scene, with its promise of the exchange of ideas and debate, except in one way: its size.
This speaker was Charlie Kirk, one of the most influential voices in President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, and the event Wednesday at Utah Valley University drew more than 3,000 people. Backpack-toting students watched from surrounding buildings as Kirk, wearing a white T-shirt that said “Freedom,” tossed red MAGA caps, Frisbee-style, to his fans.
He took his place beneath the canopy, the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong” emblazoned across it. He picked up a handheld microphone and he began to address the audience.
As he answered a question about gun violence, a single shot cracked.
Campuses were Kirk’s frequent stops
Kirk, 31, a podcaster, founded the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA. He embraced notions of Christian nationalism and often made provocative statements about gender, race, religion and politics. He had insisted that it was worth it to have “some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
Often he brought those ideas onto college campuses, where they were especially controversial. Kirk was known for openly debating progressives and challenging audiences to stump him on political points.
His campus appearances often drew protests, and Wednesday’s was no different. Online petitions signed by thousands of people had called for his talk at Utah Valley University, as well as another, scheduled for Sept. 30 at Utah State University, to be canceled.
“As students at Utah Valley University, we have come to cherish an environment that strives for inclusivity and diversity,” one said. “Yet, the planned speaking engagement of Charlie Kirk threatens this ideal. Kirk’s presence and the messages he delivers stand in contrast to the values of understanding, acceptance, and progress that many of us hold dear.”
The university responded by affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
No metal detectors or bag checks
As was typical for Kirk’s events, security was light. There were six university police officers assigned to the event, plus some private security. There were no metal detectors or bag checks, students told The Associated Press. Some attendees said no one even checked their tickets.
As Kirk arrived, cheers rose. The crowd packed a terraced courtyard, and students, including some protesters, watched from nearby buildings or overlooks.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience member asked.
Kirk responded, “Too many.”
The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.
Those were his last words before the bullet struck him. The shot came from a figure in dark clothing on a distant roof on campus, authorities said.
Blood gushed from Kirk’s neck. He held the microphone a moment, then slumped over.
Shock, followed by chaos and escape
“No! Charlie!” screamed an audience member.
“Go! Run! Go!” yelled another.
The crowd fled the plaza in multiple directions, some slipping and falling or leaping over benches as they did.
Cari Bartholomew, state director of Utah Moms for America, said she had taken her 17-year-old son out of school so he could attend Kirk’s event. They were joined by other women from the group and their kids. Bartholomew’s son was in line waiting to ask a question when Kirk was shot. Chaos ensued and she couldn’t find him as people ducked for cover and started running. She later learned her son was unharmed.
“All of us, we were trying to grab the little kids and getting them as near to us as possible,” she said.
Ryan DeVries, a 25 year-old who works in property management and volunteers as a first responder, said he was surprised by the lack of a security presence at the event; he left his firearm in his car as he anticipated having to walk through metal detectors.
He was weaving his way through the tightly packed crowd to pose a question to Kirk when he heard what sounded similar to a “popping” firework. Glancing at the stage after the shot was fired, DeVries saw Kirk’s head slumped.
A stampede rife with terror and panic soon erupted, said DeVries. Some attendees darted to a nearby building and ran through a water fountain to escape, he said. Others ducked and hid.
“People definitely feared for their lives. I could see it in their eyes. I could hear it in their voices. People were crying. People were screaming,” DeVries said.
After the panic subsided, Erynn Lammi, a 35-year old student who heard the gunshot, saw AirPods, phones, keys and trash strewn across the courtyard. When she returned home, she said, she cried her eyes out, feeling for Kirk’s wife and children as she was reminded of the loss of her own father when she was 13.
“Powerlessness,” Lammi said.
In hours, his death echoed across the country
The shooting drew condemnation from across the political spectrum as an example of the escalating threat of political violence in the United States, including the assassination of a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband in June and the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington in May. President Donald Trump was shot in the ear on the campaign trail in western Pennsylvania last year.
“Today, a young man was murdered in cold blood while expressing his political views,” said former President George W. Bush. “It happened on a college campus, where the open exchange of opposing ideas should be sacrosanct. Violence and vitriol must be purged from the public square.”
Democratic former President Joe Biden posted his condolences on X. “There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now,” he wrote. “Jill and I are praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones.”
Late Wednesday night, the shooter remained at large. Police helicopters still circled over Orem in the early evening, and roadblocks caused congestion on the streets surrounding the campus. Armed officers walked around in small groups.
Just off campus, a man stood on a street corner holding a sign that read “R.I.P. Charlie.” A parade of trucks drove through town flying American flags in his honor.
At a nearby vigil, a few dozen people gathered, holding electric candles in the slanting afternoon light. As quiet attendees looked on, a chaotic afternoon behind them, speakers read Bible verses.
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Johnson reported from Seattle. AP reporters from around the country contributed.
