It was not clear whether the suspect had been identified or arrested. FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post around 6:20 p.m. ET (2220 GMT) that the “subject” in the case was in custody. Minutes later, at a press conference that included an FBI agent, Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said the suspect remained at large.
Cellphone video clips of the incident circulating on social media showed Kirk, 31, addressing a large outdoor crowd at the school's campus in Orem, Utah, around 12:20 p.m. MT (1620 GMT), when a gunshot rang out. Kirk moved his hand toward his neck as he fell off his chair, sending the attendees running.
The shooting was the latest in a series of attacks on U.S. political figures, including two assassination attempts of Trump last year, that have underscored a sharp rise in political violence.
Kirk’s appearance on Wednesday was the first in a planned 15-event “American Comeback Tour” at universities around the country. He often used such events, which typically drew large crowds of students, to invite attendees to debate him live.
“Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America in the last 10 years?” Kirk was asked.
Police have not yet publicly released any details about a possible suspect.
Kirk and the group he co-founded, Turning Point USA, the largest conservative youth organization in the country, played a key role in driving young voter support for Trump in November.
“You had Turning Point’s grassroots armies,“ Trump said at a rally in Phoenix in December. “It’s not my victory, it’s your victory.”
He was part of an ecosystem of pro-Trump conservative influencers – including Jack Posobiec, Laura Loomer, Candace Owens and others – who helped to amplify the president's agenda. Kirk frequently attacked mainstream media and engaged in culture war issues around race, gender and immigration, often in a provocative style.
Trump said on social media he had ordered all U.S. flags flown at half-staff until Sunday in Kirk's honor.
While the motive for the shooting is unknown, the United States is undergoing its most sustained period of political violence since the 1970s. Reuters has documented more than 300 cases of politically motivated violent acts since supporters of Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
In April, an arsonist broke into Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's residence and set it on fire while the family was inside.
In 2022, a man broke into Democratic then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home and bludgeoned her husband with a hammer, leaving him with skull fractures and other injuries. In 2020, a group of right-wing militia members plotted unsuccessfully to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat.
“Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,“ Vice President JD Vance, who was close to Kirk, wrote on X.
REUTERS
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