By Eric Bradner

(CNN) — Charlie Kirk, a conservative political activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, has died after being shot at an event at Utah Valley University, President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. He was 31.

As Trump remade the Republican Party, Kirk embodied the party’s newfound populist conservatism in the social media age. Trump has credited Kirk with galvanizing and mobilizing the youth vote for him.

“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” the president wrote. “He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us.”

Kirk’s sudden death Wednesday sent shockwaves across the political spectrum, with Republicans and Democrats calling for an end to political violence at a time of heightened concern about deadly attacks and the targeting of public officials.

Last year, a gunman attempted to assassinate Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. In April, a man was arrested in connection with an arson at the Pennsylvania governor’s house as Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside. In June, a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were assassinated in their home.

Kirk, himself a college dropout, was influential with college students and young voters — not only in helping to elect Trump to the presidency but also to inspire a new movement of conservative activists. His involvement began in the wake of the tea party movement and grew with Trump’s ascendance.

Having co-founded Turning Point in 2012 at the age of 18, Kirk was a prominent supporter of Trump who courted young voters and used his network of nonprofits to seek to turn out voters on campuses and churches for Trump in 2024.

Kirk frequently traveled to college campuses, speaking and taking questions from audience members in exchanges that often led to viral videos. Kirk’s appearance at Utah Valley University on Wednesday was the first of a 14-city fall “American Comeback Tour.” He was answering a question about mass shootings when gunfire rang out.

Among those in attendance was former US Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican. He said on Fox News he was at the event with his wife, daughter and son-in-law. He said Kirk “came out, he was throwing hats, riling up the crowd.”

“I was watching Charlie. I can’t say that I saw blood. I can’t say that I saw him get hit, but I did see him fall immediately backwards into his left,” he said.

The American Comeback Tour had Kirk’s signature “Prove Me Wrong Table,” where he would urge those who disagreed with him to debate an issue.

Kirk traveled with a private security contingent, a Turning Point USA aide traveling on the tour told CNN, whether he was speaking to large rallies like the one in Orem, Utah, or at smaller events.

The president and dozens of other Kirk allies – as well as Democrats who had sharp disagreements with him – posted calls for prayer online in the wake of the shooting.

Kirk most recently appeared in the Oval Office in May, attending the swearing-in ceremony of Judge Jeanine Pirro as US attorney for Washington, DC.

Kirk argued Trump was saving the American dream

Kirk was known for debating college students about abortion rights, which he opposed; climate change, which he downplayed; and transgender rights, which he rejected. He frequently sought to rally young people around traditional gender roles. He also backed Trump’s mass deportation efforts.

Kirk spoke at the last three Republican conventions. In 2024, he said that marriage and home ownership were elusive for too many young Americans, and faulted former President Joe Biden.

“Under Biden, our young people own nothing and they are miserable. Donald Trump refuses to accept this fake, pathetic, mutilated version of the American dream,” he said. “Donald Trump is on a rescue mission to revive your birthright, one your grandparents and those before them gave everything to hand down to you.”

Kirk was an outspoken advocate for gun rights.

At an April 2023 Turning Point USA Faith event, he said that “you will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won’t have a single gun death.”

But, Kirk added, “I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth 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.”

Having once advocated for the separation of church and state, Kirk embraced more religious themes in recent years and often spoke about politics in apocalyptic terms.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2020, he praised Trump for understanding “the seven mountains of cultural influence” — a reference to a Christian nationalist movement that calls on believers to exert influence in government, media, education, business, arts and entertainment, family and religion.

On the campaign trail with Trump in Georgia last year, Kirk referred to the contest against then-Vice President Kamala Harris as “a spiritual battle” and said the election was “civilizational defining.”

“These next 12 days will define the future of our republic,” he said in the late October rally. “The forces of darkness have tried everything they possibly can.”

He started in politics as a teenager

Kirk got his first experience in politics as a student at Wheeling High School in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, when he volunteered for the winning 2010 Senate campaign of Republican former Sen. Mark Kirk.

He earned national attention in 2012 when, as a high school senior, he wrote in Breitbart News that high school students were being indoctrinated by liberal textbooks. He briefly attended Harper College, but dropped out to become a full-time conservative activist, and went on to argue that college is unnecessary for many people.

Kirk and retired businessman and conservative activist Bill Montgomery co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012. The two had met when Kirk was 18, at a speaking engagement at Benedictine University that followed his Breitbart piece. The organization was quickly backed by a roster of major Republican donors, including Foster Friess.

He went on to become a best-selling author and well-known media personality who hosted a daily three-hour show.

In 2021, Kirk married Erika Frantzve, with whom he shared two young children.

People who knew Kirk described him as an intense thinker with an analytic mind.

He was seen as understanding the pulse of the young conservative movement and the “Make America Great Again” base. He had a direct line to Trump and could count on the president valuing his opinion even if they disagreed.

Republicans had floated the idea of Kirk eventually running for office in Arizona, which his group worked to flip back to Trump’s column last year.

He reveled in debating people with whom he disagreed – with video of his fights with liberals often being shared by both sides in the argument – and believed he could change minds through conversation, something his allies and fans noted Wednesday.

“If you actually watch Charlie’s events — as opposed to the fake summaries — they are one of the few places with open and honest dialogue between left and right,” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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