Charlie Kirk was in his factor.
The 31-year-old conservative firebrand had arrange store within the middle of Utah Valley University for his nationwide “The American Comeback” tour, the primary cease at 10 faculty campuses across the US. His plan, as all the time: To rally his powers of persuasion and “own the libs” who got here ahead to problem his views, all for the enjoyment of an engaged viewers and tens of millions of on-line followers.
Wearing a white shirt with the phrase “FREEDOM” in black letters, Kirk basked within the cheers of his 3,000-strong flock of admirers and would-be adversaries, casually flinging purple and white “Make America Great Again” and “47” caps into the group.
Then he took a seat underneath a tent studying “PROVE ME WRONG,” and commenced the present.
About 20 minutes in, a younger viewers member stepped as much as the microphone to attempt to just do that.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” he requested.
“Too many,” Kirk quipped. The crowd clapped and cheered.
Five, the viewers member claimed. “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?” the person continued.
Kirk leaned ahead and picked up his mic earlier than setting again into an upright place. “Counting or not counting gang violence?” he mentioned.
A loud “pop” all of the sudden rang out.
Kirk lurched again and to the left. Blood splashed from his neck onto his white shirt. Voices gasped, exhaled for a beat, then rose up in screams of horror.
The present was over.
Kirk’s “The American Comeback” tour kicked off at Utah Valley University, the biggest public college in Utah, with future tour dates set from Montana to Virginia, Mississippi to Minnesota.
His path to Orem, Utah, started greater than a decade earlier.
In 2012, at simply 18 years outdated, Kirk, a faculty dropout, co-founded Turning Point USA to arrange and rally younger folks into the conservative populist motion. With a trollish insouciance that became his trademark, he tossed out brash views on hot-button partisan points and pressed for liberals to take him on.
Abortion? Murder. Gun rights? Sacred. Transgender rights? A delusion of “woke” ideology.
Disagree? OK, effectively then debate me, he mentioned.
“We play offense with a sense of urgency to win America’s culture war,” Turning Point USA’s web site quoted Kirk saying.
It was a technique honed for the politics and social media second of our time. He arrange tables on faculty campuses, urging folks to debate him, creating rhetorical clashes he then posted to YouTube with titles like “Charlie Kirk Schools College Atheist” and “Charlie Kirk Cooks Fool Claiming Republicans Are the Problem.”
Before he arrived at Utah Valley University, a petition calling to prevent Kirk from talking there was signed by just below 1,000 folks. However, the college posted a statement final week affirming its dedication to free speech and institutional neutrality.
“The university respects the rights of student clubs and organizations to invite various speakers to campus,” the college mentioned. “As a public institution, UVU upholds First Amendment rights and fosters an environment where ideas — popular or controversial — can be exchanged freely, energetically, and civilly.”
On Wednesday, Kirk arrived on the campus courtyard space, simply outdoors the Hall of Flags, ready for debate. A tent together with his “PROVE ME WRONG” branding rested on the backside of the tiered outside auditorium, surrounded by a group of personal safety, college and native police and two rows of security limitations labeled with the tour’s title.
Video evaluation: How Charlie Kirk’s homicide unfolded
Blue sky and solar bore down on the group as the joy started to construct.
Former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz mentioned he went to the event together with his household and described the scene in a cellphone interview with Fox News.
“People were there. And there were lots of them. You know, he came out, he was throwing hats, riling up the crowd,” he mentioned.
Former Utah state Rep. Phil Lyman mentioned he directed Kirk’s consideration to a close by disabled one who wished a hat.
“He saw him and he came right over and handed him a hat, and it was really very kind,” Lyman mentioned. “I was sitting there watching, thinking, ‘He’s taller than I thought he was, and he’s so energetic, and he’s so happy throwing these hats out, and the crowd is just going nuts.’”
Once Kirk took his spot underneath the tent, the desk in entrance of him bore his instruments of the commerce: A microphone, a number of bottles of water and two Starbucks cups with tea bag labels protruding.
“We’re gonna be here for a couple hours. Get comfortable,” Kirk mentioned in a video posted to his TikTok. “Bring the best libs that Utah has to offer,” he mentioned, cheers drowning out his subsequent few phrases.
Deseret News reporter Eva Terry told NCS the environment on the occasion was “really happy, excited.” The college students current have been “excited to be around other conservatives,” she added.
Chaffetz mentioned that Kirk took a first query, which he described as a “religious question.”
The second query, he mentioned, was about transgender mass shooters. The loud “pop” interrupted their back-and-forth.
The violent nature of the noise was instantly evident to many on scene.
Eyewitnesses describe what they noticed at Charlie Kirk capturing
Emma Pitts, one other reporter for Deseret News, instructed NCS she heard the noise and noticed Kirk go limp. “His neck kind of turned, and we saw blood immediately,” she mentioned.
Raydon Dechene, who attended the occasion, mentioned she noticed blood coming from Kirk’s neck and realized the noise was a gun.
“At that point, I kind of turned my head to look uphill because it felt like it came from up behind me,” she mentioned. “And then I saw everybody dropping so I dropped down. Then I heard someone say ‘run,’ so I took off running.”
Chaffetz mentioned he heard the shot and noticed Kirk fall backward and to his left.
“As soon as the shot went out, everybody hit the deck and everybody started scattering and yelling and screaming, as you might imagine,” Chaffetz mentioned. “And I went from watching Charlie Kirk to looking over to make sure our daughter and our son-in-law were OK.”
Dallin Smith, one other witness, mentioned he ran after the loud noise.
“Some people were standing there still taking videos, so I went back out to look over the railing to see, like maybe someone just did some firecrackers or something like that. But more and more people were screaming, crying, dispersing super quickly from the scene,” he mentioned. “Just pure craziness.”
Jeremy King, 45, mentioned he momentarily thought the capturing was half of an act or efficiency earlier than realizing in any other case.
“Everyone around me dropped to the ground. I immediately stood over my wife,” he mentioned. “You don’t know if this is a single shot or if it’s going to turn into a mass shooting. And so you’re scanning.”
They fled to the closest exit and ran out of the courtyard. There, they got here throughout a group of bodyguards carrying Kirk out to an SUV. Kirk was moved to a personal car and brought to Timpanogos Regional Hospital.
A manhunt for the suspect, a mysterious determine on a close by rooftop, was on.
Shortly after, President Donald Trump introduced the dying of the political activist he credited with profitable over so many younger voters.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” he wrote.
In the Utah Valley University courtyard, a photograph instructed the aftermath. The tent remained as a replacement, now surrounded by yellow police tape. Red and white caps sat neatly stacked on the desk, as did a wired microphone. Water bottles, napkins and flyers have been strewn on the garden.
And a chair within the center of the tent was turned over.