On September 10, 2025, activist, author, commentator and civil rights leader, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University. Kirk, 31, leaves behind a wife, Erika, and two small children. A suspect in Kirk’s assassination is in custody.
In 2012, at the age of 18, Kirk founded a nonprofit organization called Turning Point USA. Since then, Turning Point USA has become an influential conservative organization at the national level. The organization has started chapters on hundreds of college and university campuses and has launched several affiliate groups, including Turning Point Endowment, Turning Point Action and TPUSA Faith. Kirk has been described as “the face of the young MAGA movement — creating a space that acts as a counterweight to the liberal politics that largely dominate on college campuses across the country.”
Kirk was also a staunch ally of President Donald Trump. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Kirk led an organization called Students for Trump. In 2024, he continued his efforts on President Trump’s behalf by organizing Trump supporters through Turning Point Action. President Trump has asserted that Kirk’s outreach to young voters helped him win the 2024 election.
In addition to founding Turning Point USA and supporting President Trump’s campaigns, Kirk also created a podcast called The Charlie Kirk Show, wrote several books, and hosted a radio show. He was known for speaking at college campuses, at which he often invited students to question and challenge him on topics such as immigration, education, gender identity, and the Second Amendment. Clips from his “Prove Me Wrong” debates attracted widespread attention on social media.
All Americans—regardless of their views on Charlie Kirk—should be grieved and outraged by his murder. Kirk now joins the list of American political figures that have been subjected to violence in recent years. That list includes Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), who survived being shot in the head in 2011 (tragically, six others were killed and 13 were injured in that attack); Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) who—along with Capitol Police officer Crystal Griner, Matt Mika, and Zack Barth—was shot in 2017 at the Congressional Baseball Game; Paul Pelosi, whose skull was fractured by a hammer-wielding home invader in 2022 (the assailant was angry with Pelosi’s wife, House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, D-CA); President Trump, who was shot in the ear in July 2024; Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), whose official residence was set on fire in April 2025 while he and his family slept inside; and Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband, Mark Horton, who were shot to death in June 2025 (Rep. Hortman’s colleague, State Sen. John Hoffman, D, and Sen. Hoffman’s wife, Yvette, were shot and wounded by the same attacker). Just as we should be horrified at these acts of violence, Americans should also recognize that people on multiple sides of the political and ideological spectrum have been harmed.
Jason J. McGuire, executive director of New York Families Foundation, said, “While political violence has scarred both the right and the left, this evil act somehow hits closer to home. Yet, in the wake of Charlie’s apparent political assassination, no riots were held, no cities were burned, but prayer vigils rose up across the nation. That response says everything about the kind of leader Charlie was, and the kind of hope his legacy inspires,” McGuire concluded.
Christians’ response to Charlie Kirk’s death should be twofold. Of course, we should pray for Kirk’s family and all those who are in mourning (Romans 12:15). However, we should also commit ourselves to acting as peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), working to end the political violence that plagues our nation. As Romans 12:1 exhorts, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”