‘You all caused this’: US faces bitter reckoning as police search for gunman

Washington: The US faces another bitter reckoning over political violence and gun rights after a prominent conservative activist and supporter of US President Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk, was shot dead while speaking at a university in Utah.

The shooter was still at large overnight, with a manhunt under way and armed officers going door to door in the community bordering the campus of Utah Valley University. A person of interest was detained and questioned after the shooting but was subsequently released.

Kirk, 31, was hit on the left side of his neck while speaking to a large outdoor audience from a tent emblazoned with the slogans: “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong”. People in the crowd screamed in horror as a single shot rang out and Kirk recoiled.

Witness Justin Hickens told NBC News: “We heard a big loud shot. I saw a bunch of blood come out of Charlie. I saw his body kind of kick back and go limp, and everybody dropped to the ground.”

Kirk was shot about 12.20pm on Wednesday, Utah time (4.20am AEST), and rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead. The assassination was captured on a graphic video that was widely circulated on social media.

Trump was among the first to confirm Kirk’s death on social media. Later, he delivered a video message to the nation in which he praised the conservative influencer as a patriot and a man of deep faith who devoted his life to open debate and the country he loved.

“He fought for liberty, democracy, justice and the American people. He’s a martyr for truth and freedom, and there has never been anyone who was so respected by youth,” Trump said. “Charlie was the best of America, and the monster who attacked him was attacking our whole country.”

It was “a dark moment for America”, the president said. “It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonising those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible.”

But the political fallout began immediately. Trump went on to blame the “radical left” for comparing Kirk to Nazis and mass murderers – rhetoric he said was “directly responsible for the terrorism we are seeing in our country today”.

And what was supposed to be a bipartisan moment of silence on the floor of the House of Representatives quickly descended into chaos as Republicans and Democrats yelled at each other across the floor after far-right Colorado representative Lauren Boebert asked for a spoken prayer, rather than a silent one.

Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, a former conservative influencer and close ally of Kirk, stood up to blame Democrats for the shooting. “You all caused this,” she said, pointing angrily at the Democrats’ side of the chamber. The yelling escalated again, with one Democrat yelling at the Republicans to “pass some gun laws”.

At a press conference, Utah public safety commissioner Beau Mason said the CCTV footage was of poor quality, but a suspect dressed in dark clothing had been identified. “The shot came from here on campus, from a location, potentially from the roof. [It was a] longer distance shot,” he said.

University authorities said the shot was fired from the Losee Centre, a building a little less than 200 metres from the courtyard where Kirk was speaking. Video obtained by The New York Times showed a person rushing away from a spot near the edge of the building’s roof immediately after the shooting.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox characterised the shooting as a political assassination. “This is a dark day for our state; it’s a tragic day for our nation,” he said.

Cox said it was thought the gunman acted alone, and there was “no information that would lead us to believe that there is a second person involved”.

Another man arrested immediately after the shooting was charged with obstruction of justice and later released.

Utah Valley University police chief Jeff Long said there were six police officers acting as security at the time of the shooting, as well as Kirk’s travelling private security team.

“We had some plain-clothes police officers that were in the crowd. We train for these things,” Long said. “You think you have things covered ... you try to get your bases covered. And, unfortunately, today we didn’t, and because of that, we had this tragic incident.”

Long estimated that the event was attended by about 3000 people. It was open to members of the public; attendees included university students, children and families. Witnesses told Fox News there were no security checks on entering the outdoor venue.

Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence, AP reported.

“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience member asked. Kirk responded: “Too many.”

The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked. Then the shot was heard.

Kirk co-founded the conservative political advocacy group Turning Point USA, as well as a political action committee by the same name. He was an evangelical Christian, and the group conducts a lot of its work with Christian communities and students on campus.

During last year’s election, Kirk appeared with Trump at various rallies, and the Trump campaign outsourced a significant amount of its voter turnout work to Turning Point Action and other groups, rather than using the Republican National Committee.

The event at Utah’s largest public university was Kirk’s first stop on a new college campus tour that involved the “Prove Me Wrong Table”, where audience members were invited to debate Kirk in a public setting.

The event met with divided opinion on campus. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing the First Amendment and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue”.

On September 3, Kirk posted screenshots of a series of headlines about the controversy to X, along with the caption: “What is going on in Utah?”

Vice President JD Vance, a devout Catholic, said he became friends with Kirk after the young man sent him a direct message on Twitter following a TV appearance. He said Kirk was one of the first people he called when considering running for the Senate in 2021, and Kirk introduced him to people who would run his campaign.

Vance praised Kirk as a true friend, a family man and a person of profound faith who loved discussing ideas.

“Charlie was fascinated by ideas and always willing to learn and change his mind,” he said. “He would go into these hostile crowds and answer their questions … He exemplified a foundational virtue of our Republic: the willingness to speak openly and debate ideas.”

Former president Joe Biden said he and his wife, Jill, were “praying for Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones”. “There is no place in our country for this kind of violence. It must end now,” he said.

In a similar message, former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris said she was deeply disturbed by the shooting.

“Let me be clear: political violence has no place in America. I condemn this act, and we all must work together to ensure this does not lead to more violence.”

Australia’s acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said the shooting was an “absolute tragedy” and was rightly being condemned across the political spectrum in the US. “Our thoughts go out to Charlie Kirk’s family,” he said. “There is no place for political violence.”

Kevin Rudd, the Australian ambassador to the US, said Kirk’s death was deeply distressing. “There is no place for political violence in any democracy.”

As the news of Kirk’s death circulated, another shooting in the neighbouring state of Colorado was unfolding.

A male student at Evergreen High School, about 50 kilometres west of Denver, wounded two fellow students before turning the gun on himself, officials said. He died of self-inflicted injuries.

Dr Brian Blackwood, head of trauma at CommonSpirit St Anthony Hospital, said one of the wounded students was in a critical condition, while the other student’s injuries were non-life-threatening.

With AP, Reuters

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