Conservative influencer Charlie Kirk shot dead at Utah University

US right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk, an influential ally of President Donald Trump, was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday at an event at a Utah university in what the governor described as a political assassination.

Authorities had not yet publicly identified a suspect by Wednesday evening, nearly six hours after the shooting. FBI Director Kash Patel said an unnamed "subject" had been detained for questioning and then released.

"Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency," he wrote on social media.

Governor Spencer Cox had said at an earlier press conference that police were interviewing a "person of interest," without providing further details about the person's identity. At the same press conference, however, Beau Mason, the Utah Department of Public Safety commissioner, said the shooter remained "at large."

Cellphone video clips of the killing posted online showed Kirk, 31, addressing a large outdoor crowd at Utah Valley University 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.

In another clip, blood could be seen gushing from Kirk's neck immediately after the shot.

The suspect likely fired from a rooftop at a significant distance, authorities said, adding that there were about 3,000 people gathered at the event. Jeff Long, chief of the university police department, said that he had six officers working the event, and that he coordinated with the head of Kirk's private security team, which was also on site.

Trump ordered all government US flags flown at half-staff until Sunday in Kirk's honor.

"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," Trump wrote on social media.

The killing was the latest in a series of attacks on US political figures, including two assassination attempts of Trump last year, that have underscored a sharp rise in political violence.

"This is a dark day for our state, it's a tragic day for our nation," Cox said at the press conference. "I want to be very clear that this is a political assassination."

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.

Seconds before he was shot, Kirk was being questioned by an audience member about gun violence, according to multiple videos of the event posted online.

"Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America in the last 10 years?" Kirk was asked.

He responded, "Counting or not counting gang violence?" He was shot moments later.

FAR-REACHING INFLUENCE

Kirk and the group he co-founded, Turning Point USA, the largest conservative youth organisation in the country, played a key role in driving young voter support for Trump in November.

After winning his second presidential term, Trump credited Kirk for mobilizing younger voters and voters of color in support of his campaign.

"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."

Kirk had 5.3 million followers on X and hosted a popular podcast and radio program, "The Charlie Kirk Show." He had also recently appeared as a guest co-host on Fox News' "Fox & Friends."

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.

At the White House, staff members, many of them young and admirers of Kirk, were ashen-faced as news of the shooting spread. Kirk was married and had two young children.

POLITICAL VIOLENCE ON THE RISE

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 US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

In July 2024, Republican Trump was grazed by a gunman's bullet during a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania. A second assassination attempt two months later was foiled by federal agents.

In April, an arsonist broke into Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's residence and set it on fire while the family was inside.

Earlier this year, a gunman posing as a police officer in Minnesota murdered Democratic state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and shot Democratic Senator John Hoffman and his wife. And in Boulder, Colorado, a man used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to attack a solidarity event for Israeli hostages, killing one woman and injuring at least six more.

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.

Both Republican and Democratic politicians expressed dismay over the shooting.

"Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord," Vice President JD Vance, who was close to Kirk, wrote on X.

"I am shocked by the murder of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University," Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement. "Political violence of any kind and against any individual is unacceptable and completely incompatible with American values. We pray for his family during this tragedy."