From thoughts and prayers to celebrations: Charlie Kirk, the mourning after
American podcaster and far-right activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination rippled through the nation, eliciting reactions from each side of the political spectrum with questions brewing on freedom of speech and political violence.
Author: Jadenne Radoc Cabahug
Photo credit: Charlie Kirk hands out Make America Great Hats before speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, where he was shot and killed, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)
Charlie Kirk, CEO and co-founder of conservative youth organization Turning Point USA was shot and killed during a debate style event at Utah Valley University on September 10.
Videos were immediately posted to social media of the moment the podcaster was shot in the neck, with the chaos of students screaming and fleeing the scene following immediately after.
The right-wing American activist and influencer led the effort to engage young Americans as leader of Turning Point USA, an organization that pushed for conservative ideas aiming to reach college campuses, typically more liberally.
Kirk would debate with “woke college students” while asserting beliefs such as “abortion is murder and should be illegal” and “Kamala Harris is a DEI candidate.”
One YouTube video titled “1 Conservative vs 25 Liberal College Students (Feat. Charlie Kirk) | Surrounded” garnered 38 million views. His conservatism enraged and inspired college students alike through his efforts.
22-year-old Tyler James Robinson is accused of 31-year-old Kirk’s killing and has been charged with capital murder, a felony discharge of a firearm and obstructing justice. Robinson has also been charged with witness tampering after telling his partner to delete text messages and stay silent if questioned by authorities. Prosecutors are currently seeking the death penalty for Robinson.
Kirk’s death has had a profound ripple through the political world, garnering mixed reactions globally, from President Trump ordering flags on government buildings be flown at half-mast, to vigils being held for the conservative podcaster in places like Australia and South Korea.
Trump has called Kirk a “martyr for America’s freedom” during a memorial service held on September 21st. Some politicians in the Republican party have used Kirk’s death to rally younger conservatives for upcoming local, state and even the national midterm elections taking place a little over a year.
However, for some Americans like Theresa Bennett, a global environmental policy exchange student at Sciences Po, she hadn’t heard about Kirk before his death.
“One friend texted me that Charlie Kirk got killed, and I was thinking, ‘Man, who is that?’ After learning more about who he was, I don’t think that’s crazy at all. I didn’t have a big reaction to it, not because I don’t care about him or because of his views, I’m so numb to violence especially as an American,” Bennett said.
Originally from New York state, Bennett said constantly seeing domestic and international news on social media feeds has caused her to see violence as an everyday norm. As she was preparing to leave for Paris from Washington D.C., martial law was put in effect and she saw the troops arriving in the city.
“Compassion fatigue is a very real thing when you’re constantly getting exposed to horrible tragedies, it just gets to a point where you’re so desensitized to it and you’re not as impacted,” Bennett said. “Like with this ongoing genocide in Gaza and being exposed to horrific images and stories of what’s been going on everyday… I feel more impacted by that, even though it’s been going on for so long than I do by hearing some random guy has been shot and killed in the U.S.”
Bennett said she thinks the mixed reactions to Kirk’s death shows how polarized the U.S. and the rest of the world is at the moment.
“People identify with someone like Charlie Kirk that belonged to the far right and they see his death as a threat to themselves,” Bennett said. “I can’t help but wonder, is it really just about teams? Why wasn’t the flag raised at half mast for the state senator that was assassinated? She, her husband and her dog were killed and Trump didn’t speak on that.”
Bennett said the main focus of what happened to Kirk should be on gun reform and ending gun violence in the U.S. She also said in conversations in relation to Kirk’s death is how others have engaged with this tragedy in comparison to others.
“It’s so interesting to see people who are engaging with this as a tragedy, who have been completely silent on the genocide in Gaza, who have never shared a single thing about children getting shot in schools, but then they’re like, ‘pray for Charlie Kirk and his family.’” Bennett said. “Why? Why is this what compels you to speak? But these other issues aren’t reason enough?”
Another master’s student from New Caledonia said Kirk’s assassination hit really hard for him as someone who considers himself Christian conservative. The student believes in giving more power to the region as well as supporting local businesses and affairs, and more conservative economic policies.
“I feel like what happened to him could happen to me maybe one day for something that I said or something that I will say and that I believe in,” the student said. This particular student has asked to remain anonymous since his political beliefs may cause him to be ostracized in his day to day life.
While he does agree with Kirk on certain issues such as Christian and pro-life values, he disagrees on issues like Kirk’s position on the Israel-Palestine conflict as the student recognizes the human rights abuses being committed. He also disagrees with Kirk’s economic policies.
Although the student is not American, he recognizes the similarities between the American and French conservative values. Abortion and national identity are some of the few pointed out as different, however, the immigration conversation is similar between the two.
The New Caledonian attended a commemoration for Kirk in Paris on Friday, September 19 in the 8th arrondissement, where he saw different formations of French right wing groups come together.
“You can see the French right wing is using Charlie Kirk’s death in order to boost themselves politically speaking,” he said. During the event, he thought it was interesting how different groups were able to come together despite their political disagreements as they related to the American political activist.
In conversations about Kirk’s death, the master’s student said some people on the opposite political aisle don’t understand why he felt so impacted by his death. He’s even heard of completely opposite reactions like celebrating the assassination.
“What’s bothering me is that, in western universities, it’s impossible for people to debate with each other, to understand another person’s position,” he said. “It’s not even about agreeing, it’s about understanding with reason and intelligence. So the fact that we came to this point that we consider the political opponent as an enemy, it really is a problem.”
Academic, former U.S. Ambassador to the Central African Republic and professor at Sciences Po, Jeff Hawkins said he sees Kirk as a “martyr for free speech.”
“It seems clear to me he was killed because of the things he said. That is unacceptable, tragic and profoundly undemocratic,” Hawkins said. “Limiting the way people talk about Kirk and his overtly partisan legacy, though, is also undemocratic.”
Kirk was known for his controversial takes on podcasts, on college campuses and on YouTube videos where he would debate students.
On the subject of race, Kirk made comments such as “Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more,” said on the Charlie Kirk Show on May 19, 2023.
When asked if he would support his 10-year-old daughter in aborting a pregnancy were she to fall victim of sexual assault on the debate show Surrounded, Kirk said he would advocate for her to have the child.
Regarding gun violence, he said: “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational,” – Kirk commented during a TPUSA Faith event, the religious part of his conservative group, Turning Point USA.
“Although many of the things Kirk has said can be considered as hate speech, still, ‘hate speech’ is protected by the First Amendment just like any other public discourse,” Hawkins said.
Kirk’s ideals and political career boosted conservative ideas among young voters in key battleground states across the U.S, with tens of thousands packed an Arizona stadium for Kirk’s memorial and the Republican party has said this will only push more young people to the right.
Vice President JD Vance has promised to “crack down” on the ‘radical left’ on a podcast episode for The Charlie Kirk Show. He is leading a witch hunt against those he accused of promoting political violence in the aftermath of Kirk’s death.
“Given Kirk’s vigorous struggle for the right to express his own, sometimes provocative views, I assume he would be horrified by attempts to suppress the views of others,” said Hawkins.
It is reported that more than 145 people were fired, suspended or pushed to resign for things they said related to Kirk or his assassination in person or on social media. The state department also revoked the visas of six foreigners after social media comments about Kirk’s death. One Argentine national wrote in a post that Kirk was a person who was “spreading racist, xenophobic, misogynistic rhetoric.”
Overall, Americans remain divided between empathy, disdain or apathy on Kirk’s assassination based on their political party or his role as a symbol of freedom of speech, showing just how deeply partisan the country has become.
