Charlie Kirk has died after being shot at an event in Utah.
He is survived by his wife, Erika Lane Frantzve, and their two young children.
The 31 year old Conservative activist and and co-founder of Turning Point USA was shot and killed at an event he was hosting at Utah Velley University in Orem, just north of Provo.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox described Kirk’s killing as “a political assassination” He said Kirk’s death was a “dark day for our state” and “tragic day for our nation.”
He added: “Nothing I can say can unite us as a country. We just need every single person in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be … ‘Is this it? is this what 250 years has brought upon us?’ I pray that’s not the case.”
According to law-enforcement and security, who were at the scene, Kirk was killed by a high-powered rifle shot to the neck.
A manhunt for Charlie’s killer continues as President Trump says it is ‘dark moment for America’
Following his address to the nation, President Trump ordered American flags to be lowered to half mast: The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!
NBC news reports: While politicians of both parties largely coalesced to mourn Kirk after he was shot and killed today, Trump blamed the “radical left” for his death.
“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 said in a video message tonight. “This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”
Trump called 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” — but he then called out “radical-left political violence,” without paying tribute to any Democratic politicians who have been targeted.
Was Kirk starting to change his opinion on Israel?