US President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed grief after Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist, was shot and killed at a Utah college event. Calling him a "martyr for truth", Trump pledged to go "after those who perpetrate political violence."
In video message that was shared by the White House, Trump said for years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals.
Watch the video message from Donald Trump
The US President also claimed that "rhetoric" of the radical left was directly responsible for the terrorism in America, and "it must stop right now."
He further said in the video message, "My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organisations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country.”
Charlie Kirk shot dead at Utah college event
Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in what the governor called a political assassination carried out from a rooftop. A person of interest was in custody, officials said.
Dark day for our state: Utah Governor
“This is a dark day for our state. It's a tragic day for our nation," said Utah Governor Spencer Cox. "I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”
However, the authorities did not immediately identify the person in custody, a motive or any criminal charges, but the circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to an escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum.
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.”
A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away.
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his non-profit political organisation. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.
The shooter, who Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a roof on campus some distance away.
The death was announced on social media by Trump, who praised the 31-year-old Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organisation Turning Point USA, as “Great, and even Legendary.” “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account.
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Charlie Kirk, Trump's close ally, dies after being shot at Utah college event
