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‘Dark moment for America’: Trump expresses grief after key aide Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah

Kirk, who was a political activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot dead during a campus event at Utah Valley University.

Well-wishers pay their respects at a makeshift memorial at the national headquarters of Turning Point USA shown after the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the organization, during a Utah college event, in Phoenix. (AP Photo)

US President Donald Trump in a video message on Thursday expressed “grief and anger” over the killing of his key aide Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University and vowed that his administration would “find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence”.

Trump, while speaking from the Oval Office, targeted the “radical left violence” suggesting that its rhetoric has contributed towards the assassination of Kirk in Utah.

The Republican leader recalled the assassination attempt against him in July last year and the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024. Trump said, “Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people.”

TO MY GREAT FELLOW AMERICANS… pic.twitter.com/oRsrE5TTHr

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2025

Calling the targeted attack on Charlie Kirk ‘a dark moment for America’, Trump said, “Charlie inspired millions and tonight all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror. Charlie is a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country that he loves so much, the United States of America.”

The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency https://t.co/YXsG6YpFR5

— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) September 10, 2025

Kirk, who was a political activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot dead during a campus event at Utah Valley University. Authorities, who had earlier apprehended a person of interest according to FBI Director Kash Patel for interrogation, was released later on. Utah authorities have said they are searching for the culprit and it is an active investigation.

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Also Read | Who was Charlie Kirk? Trump’s closest ally who once said, ‘Society should accept some gun deaths to protect rights’

The US president called Kirk a model “for truth and freedom” and said he was a man of “deep faith”. “And we take comfort in the knowledge that he is now at peace with God in heaven,” Trump said, adding that he has asked God to watch over Kirk’s wife and children in this moment of “heartache and pain”.

In a statement on Thursday, Utah Valley University President Astrid Tuminez said that the campus community is “shocked and saddened” by the death of Charlie Kirk, who had been speaking at an event on campus when he was shot.

(with inputs from CNN)

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