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Trump ally and activist Charlie Kirk shot dead at Utah university

Trump ally and activist Charlie Kirk shot dead at Utah university
By Nils Adler, Joseph Stepansky and Brian Osgood
Published On 11 Sep 2025

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11 Sep 2025 - 23:55
 (23:55 GMT)

That’s a wrap from us

Thanks for joining us.

Read more about the assassination of Charlie Kirk and law enforcement’s hunt for the killer here.

A drone view shows the scene where US right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah, on September 11, 2025. [Cheney Orr/Reuters]
11 Sep 2025 - 23:45
 (23:45 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

Before we close, here’s a recap of the latest updates:

  • The shooter remains at large more than a day after Kirk’s killing, with the FBI sharing images of a person of interest in the case and offering a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the identification and arrest of those involved.
  • Utah police cancelled a planned press conference, citing “rapid developments” in their investigation, but have not offered additional updates. Officials earlier stated they had found a high-powered, bolt-action rifle near the crime scene.
  • President Trump, who blamed Kirk’s killing on members of the “radical left” and threatened punitive measures against political rivals, has called on his supporters to remain nonviolent.
  • Trump said he will posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, tracing his administration’s success to Kirk’s “ability to organise and convene”.
  • Trump also said he is hopeful progress is being made to find the “sniper” who killed Kirk, adding that he feels he has an “obligation” to attend the right-wing commentator’s funeral.
  • The State Department has said foreign visa applicants could face consequences if they make light of Kirk’s killing.
11 Sep 2025 - 23:40
 (23:40 GMT)

VP Vance accompanies Charlie Kirk’s coffin to Air Force Two

US Vice President JD Vance has escorted Charlie Kirk’s coffin from a hearse to the Air Force Two aircraft at an airfield in Utah.

The moment was captured in a short video posted to social media by Republican activist Tyler Bowyer, who works with Kirk’s campaign group, Turning Point Action.

Kirk’s body was to be flown to his home in Arizona.

11 Sep 2025 - 23:31
 (23:31 GMT)

US State Department says foreigners who justify Kirk killing not welcome

The US State Department has warned foreigners of consequences if they justify the violence in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X that “in light of yesterday’s horrific assassination of a leading political figure, I want to underscore that foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country.”

Landau said he was “disgusted” that some social media users had sought to justify or downplay the act, and that he had instructed consular officials to take action, without giving specifics.

He also urged people to report comments by foreigners to him directly so the State Department could “protect the American people”.

11 Sep 2025 - 23:05
 (23:05 GMT)

What is the status of the search for the attacker?

More than a day after Kirk’s killing, the shooter remains at large, and law enforcement has offered only a handful of updates.

  • The FBI shared first images of a person of interest in the case, offering a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the identification and arrest of those involved in the shooting.
  • Officials stated earlier that they had found a high-powered, bolt-action rifle near the scene of the crime.
  • Utah police cancelled a planned news conference earlier in the day due to “rapid developments” in their investigation, but have not offered additional updates.
  • The Utah Department of Public Safety said it has received more than 200 public tips related to its investigation, but it is unclear how much of that information, if any, was actionable.
  • Trump said that he hopes law enforcement can catch the attacker “soon”.
11 Sep 2025 - 22:50
 (22:50 GMT)

Bernie Sanders says violence threatens to ‘hollow out’ public life

Leftist Senator Bernie Sanders has shared a video of himself warning against the perils of rising political violence, saying that it threatens to foreclose the possibility of political and civic action.

“The murder of Charlie Kirk is part of a disturbing rise in political violence that threatens to hollow out our public life,” Sanders said. “A free society relies on the premise that people can speak out without fear or humiliation. No more political violence.”

11 Sep 2025 - 22:35
 (22:35 GMT)

Trump says Kirk’s widow ‘devastated’ by his death

“She’s devastated, she’s absolutely devastated, as you can imagine,” Trump told reporters of a conversation he had with Erika Kirk, the slain activist’s widow.

Kirk is survived by his two young children.

Roses and candles are placed next to a picture of Charlie Kirk during a vigil in front of the US embassy in Berlin, Germany, on September 11, 2025 [Annegret Hilse/Reuters]
11 Sep 2025 - 22:20
 (22:20 GMT)

Ilhan Omar says violence not acceptable despite disagreements

Representative Ilhan Omar, a Muslim lawmaker originally from Somalia whom Kirk had previously disparaged, said that political violence is “indefensible” no matter the views of the victim.

“While I disagreed with Charlie Kirk vehemently about his rhetoric, my heart breaks for his wife and children. I don’t wish violence on anyone. My faith teaches me the power of peace, empathy, and compassion,” Omar said in a social media post.

Following the killing of Kirk, a crime for which a suspect has yet to be arrested, some corners of the US right have called for retribution and even violence against members of the political left.

“Right-wing accounts trying to spin a false story when I condemned his murder multiple times is fitting for their agenda to villainize the left to hide from the fact that Donald Trump gins up hate on a daily basis.”

Kirk had previously disparaged Representative Omar [File: Nicholas Pfosi/Reuters]
11 Sep 2025 - 22:05
 (22:05 GMT)

Trump says response to Kirk’s killing should be nonviolent

The US president, who blamed Kirk’s killing on members of the “radical left” when no suspect has been arrested and threatened punitive measures against political rivals in response, has called on his supporters to remain nonviolent.

“He was an advocate of nonviolence,” Trump told reporters. “That’s the way I’d like to see people respond.”

11 Sep 2025 - 21:50
 (21:50 GMT)

What have Israeli officials said about Charlie Kirk?

Shortly after Kirk’s killing, several Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, offered condolences and praised the far-right activist as a close ally of Israel.

“I spoke to him only two weeks ago and invited him to Israel,” Netanyahu said. “Sadly, that visit will not take place.”

To learn more about Kirk’s relationship with Israel and how its supporters have responded to his slaying, you can read our story here.

11 Sep 2025 - 21:35
 (21:35 GMT)

Polls show large majority of Americans reject political violence

While experts have raised alarm about an uptick in politically-motivated violent attacks in the US, polls show that a substantial majority of people in the US see political violence as unacceptable.

According to the Centers for Violence Prevention at UC Davis, which has been surveying people on the question of political violence since 2022, about two-thirds of Americans say political violence is not justified, with about one-third saying it could be.

Garen Wintemute, the centre’s director, told the Los Angeles Times that even smaller portions say they would engage in such violence themselves.

“The vast majority of Americans reject political violence altogether,” he said.

While Trump has blamed the “radical left” for political violence in the US, a 2024 memo by the centre found that supporters of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement are more likely to express support for political violence.

The memo states that MAGA supporters are more than twice as likely as non-MAGA respondents to consider violence “usually or always justified”.

People attend a vigil at Timpanogos Regional Hospital for Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed on Wednesday in Orem, Utah [Alex Goodlett/AP Photo]
11 Sep 2025 - 21:20
 (21:20 GMT)

TPUSA posthumously honours Kirk in social media post from his account

Posting under Kirk’s social media account on X, the group he helped found said they were “crushed and devastated” by his loss.

“Although Charlie is gone, his legacy will endure,” the post reads.

“For all time, he will remain the brave young man who inspired tens of millions of Americans to better themselves and take action to better America,” it adds. “All of us will miss Charlie. None of us will forget him.”

11 Sep 2025 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)

Trump says he hopes progress being made to find shooter

The US president said he is hopeful that progress is being made to find the “sniper” who killed Kirk.

“They’re very talented people, let’s see what happens,” he said of law enforcement. “We hope they can do it soon.”

He added that he has an “obligation” to attend Kirk’s funeral.

“They’ve asked me to go, and I think I have an obligation to be there,” he told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to New York.

11 Sep 2025 - 20:52
 (20:52 GMT)

Right-wing figures around the globe praise Kirk

Members of the far-right across the globe have praised Kirk’s legacy, lauding him as a pioneering figure who shared their opposition to Islam, immigration and the political left.

“Yesterday, we lost a true defender of faith and freedom. Our deepest condolences go to the Kirk family and to the American people,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a social media post.

“Charlie Kirk was 100 percent right here,” Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders said, sharing an image of a social media post from Kirk calling Islam a “sword” that the political left was using to “slit the throat of America”.

Some of the most effusive praise for Kirk came from the Israeli right, of whom he was a strong supporter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the US activist a defender of “our common Judeo-Christian civilisation”.

Far-right Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir shared a photo of Kirk holding an Israeli flag outside of the Ibrahimi Mosque, located in the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. The mosque was the site of a 1994 attack by a far-right Jewish extremist named Baruch Goldstein, who opened fire on Muslim worshippers and killed 29 Palestinians. Ben-Gvir has praised Goldstein as a hero, even keeping a photo of him on his desk.

“The collusion between the global Left and radical Islam is the greatest danger to humanity today,” Ben-Gvir said. “Charlie Kirk saw the danger and warned about it. But the bullets of the despicable murderer struck him.”

11 Sep 2025 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)

More examples of misinformation following the shooting

Fake headlines and dark memes have also been shared online since the shooting, including a fabricated CNN headline dated 2021 that quotes Kirk as saying, “If Somebody Ever Shoots Me Through The Neck During A Speech In Utah In 2025, I Lowkey Think That Rocks.”

There is no evidence Kirk ever made this statement. A CNN spokesperson told Reuters in an email, “This is a fabricated image and CNN never published a story with that headline.” A screenshot of a genuine New York Times headline appearing in Google search results was used to suggest the media knew about the shooting in advance.

The headline, “Charlie Kirk is Apparently Shot During Utah Valley University Event,” as it appeared in Google, was shared in an X post after the shooting and captioned, “NY Times 19 hours ago (last night 15 hours before shooting) is standard CIA pysop [sic].”

An archive of the article shows the first post on the outlet’s live blog was published after Kirk’s shooting, at 3:02 pm ET (19:02 GMT). The New York Times said in an email that the page went live at 3:01pm ET (19:01 GMT) on Wednesday.

This timestamp discrepancy in search engine results can happen when a web page provides a time zone different from the local time when it was published, or when multiple dates are listed on the page, a Google spokesperson said.

“Given the low resolution and incomplete screenshots, we’re not able to confirm if these are Google Search results,” the spokesperson said in an email. “We provide guidance to site owners about how they can help us identify the most accurate date and time to show in Search.”

11 Sep 2025 - 20:15
 (20:15 GMT)

Rumors, misinformation about Charlie Kirk killing rampant on social media

Confusion and conspiracy theories spread online after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot.

Reuters has examined some of the viral rumours, conspiracies, and false information spreading online in the aftermath of Kirk’s death. Here’s the first one:

Misidentified suspects

Video shared online in the aftermath of the shooting shows an older man being detained by Provo police and an officer holding a rifle, which the voiceover said belonged to the suspect. But there is no evidence that the encounter was related to the Kirk shooting. The Utah Department of Public Safety did not respond to a request for comment.

One video posted within hours of Kirk’s shooting falsely identified a Black man 700 miles (1,126 km) away as having been arrested for killing Kirk. But the video is from June and shows the arrest of a suspect in a Santa Monica police officer shooting.

The same video was shared by Fox News that month. Other posts shared video of a man on the run after a gunman opened fire outside a casino in Reno, Nevada, on July 28, a shooting that killed three and injured three others. The posts claimed it was footage of Kirk’s shooter.

The image of a 29-year-old Washington state resident was shared in a series of posts baselessly suggesting the shooter is transgender. She told Reuters in a message the picture had been lifted from her X account without her knowledge, adding that she was in Seattle at the time of the shooting.

She wrote earlier on Instagram, after her image circulated widely online, that she is not the shooter. At the time of writing, authorities have not said the suspect is transgender.

11 Sep 2025 - 20:00
 (20:00 GMT)

FBI head faces criticism over inaccurately saying suspect had been caught

As law enforcement continues a massive search for a suspect in the shooting of Kirk, FBI director Kash Patel has come under criticism for incorrectly stating that the attacker had been apprehended after the killing on Wednesday, a claim that local officials quickly contradicted.

“At the outset of an investigation, much of the initial intelligence is typically wrong or slightly off. That’s why what he did yesterday has never been done by any FBI director before him, or any division leadership before,” retired FBI agent Dan Brunner told the news outlet Reuters. “The investigators need to sort through all the initial intelligence before putting out factual evidence … FBI does not run investigations on social media.”

Former Homeland Security Department official John Cohen also said Patel’s rushed announcement was “unorthodox and could be confusing in that details change quickly”.

11 Sep 2025 - 19:45
 (19:45 GMT)

Trump’s team tightens security after Charlie Kirk shooting: Report

Trump’s team has begun tightening security after the killing of Charlie Kirk, The Wall Street Journal reports.

A Pentagon ceremony to mark the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks was moved to a more secure location while additional measures will be in place when Trump attends a Yankees game on Thursday evening in New York, according to the newspaper.

Beyond this week’s events, Trump’s team is having broader discussions about how to increase the president’s security, the Journal added.

11 Sep 2025 - 19:30
 (19:30 GMT)

WATCH: FBI releases photos of person of interest in Charlie Kirk shooting

The FBI has released photos of a person of interest in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Investigators said they also have video footage but are withholding it while they work on identifying the person.

11 Sep 2025 - 19:23
 (19:23 GMT)

Bipartisan group of senators condemn killing

In a briefing from the US Capitol, the lawmakers said they wanted to show a unified front against political violence following yesterday’s attack.

“From a Republican point of view. He was one of the leading voices in the MAGA world. He organised campuses to spread conservatism. On our side of the aisle, we saw him as a great force,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said.

“I think Democrats, whether they agreed with him or not, understand that this is not the way you have discourse in the country. And we’re just here as a group to say America cannot govern itself this way. We all have to speak with one voice and find the person who did this and bring them to justice,” he said.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, added, “Political violence should be condemned and stopped no matter what your politics, no matter where you are on the political spectrum.”