Charlie Kirk, A conservative American activist and an influential ally of Donald Trump was assassinated on Sept. 10
Charlie Kirk was speaking at Utah Valley University on his American Comeback tour when he was shot during his first debate event, which drew a crowd of roughly 3,000 people. Around 12:20 p.m. about 20 minutes after he began speaking, Kirk was struck in the neck by a single bullet fired from 125 meters away. Moments earlier, he had been fielding a question from an audience member about gun violence.
Witnesses said Kirk clutched his neck and collapsed into his chair as blood poured from the wound. His team pulled him to the ground, where he received medical attention before being carried offstage and placed into an SUV. He was taken to Timpanogos Regional Hospital, where sources reported he was in critical condition by 2:40 p.m. That same afternoon, President Donald Trump announced in a post that Kirk had died.
Government and history teacher Brian Halverson first heard about the shooting through overheard conversations from students, and he later confirmed it via the Wall Street Journal.
“The conversation crept into my classroom throughout the day,” Halverson said. He knew who Charlie Kirk was “generally,” but not to the extent that students recognize him from his social media presence. Halverson said Kirk had also been shown in his class before, particularly clips from his show Louder with Crowder, which follows a similar format of going to universities, taking provocative or conservative positions, and encouraging open debate on campus.
“When teaching a government class, it’s hard not to notice the work of a prolific and successful conservative influencer like Kirk,” he said.
After the incident, an important point was brought to his class discussions. He mentioned a warning to his students that the way they received news, often through phones in the middle of unfolding events, could lead to misconceptions.
“I made a point to my students the other day that deception, lies, perception, and bias has probably circled the planet eight times and still hasn’t left Utah Valley Campus,” he said.
The analogy was meant to show that only direct witnesses can ever be fully certain of what happened and that the problem of spreading misinformation spans the entire political spectrum. In this case, given Kirk’s nature, his work, and the mindsets people have with similarities and differences, the shooting was, in Halverson’s view, “gasoline on an already hot fire.”
Finding the incident upsetting on many levels, he said, one major takeaway from the whole of it, was how alarming it is that many Americans get political news from social media rather than vetted outlets.
“One of the things that came out of the event was how dangerous it is that most Americans, young and old, say the number one source for their political news and information is social media,” Halverson said.
Unlike outlets such as Politico, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, or The Washington Post, which have editorial review and fact-checking, social media provides no filtration. People are now getting political news from friends or influencers, which Halverson said he sees as deeply problematic.
“I try to work with my students as much as I can on helping them – as much as a human being can – to filter through the noise and find something that looks consistent,” he said.
As well as hoping to see his students view online information about the shooting with caution, he also hopes to see the incident eventually come to a close and be remembered as a mournful point in history.
“Hopefully whenever this settles down we can all see it’s horrible from every angle regardless of who’s on your Facebook friends list,” he said.
From the U.S. History teacher Burke Allen’s perspective on the issue, a similar hope is shared. He first learned about the shooting during his sixth-period class, when a colleague stepped in to tell him, since he avoids checking his phone during the school day. After hearing the news, he wanted to know more.
“I watched the news for several hours that evening,” he said.
In that time, he noticed how quickly speculation and conspiracy theories filled the void before the assassin was caught. Headlines, he observed, seemed eager to push narratives rather than wait for facts. He hopes the incident underscores the importance of slowing down and focusing on accuracy instead of the stories people want to believe, he said.
“When someone is shot for going out and exercising their First Amendment rights`, it sends a very dark message to our republic,” Allen said.
It’s worrisome that such acts could discourage people from voicing their opinions, he said, which can create fear and anxiety similar to that seen after other political assassinations throughout history. Instead, he said he hopes it can leave room for opportunity for the nation’s temperatures to cool down. And amid the conflicts of the moment, he hopes the tragedy can instead lead to reflection.
“I hope we get back to the places in nature where we can have those conversations and not see so much anger that comes from all sides,” he said.
Junior Lydia Comstock first heard about the shooting of Charlie Kirk while on her way to a B.P.E. board meeting in Dillon.
“I was pretty shocked upon hearing the news,” she said. “I was wondering who would do this and why.”
Though she knew only the basics of Kirk’s message and campus debates, Comstock followed discussions among fellow board members in the days after. Early speculation, she recalled, was that it was an old man at first, and then that the suspect had been released.
The incident, she said, reinforced her long-standing belief in both free speech and the need for greater campus safety.
“Our country’s approach to the issue of gun violence is seriously lacking,” Comstock noted. She believes solutions should start with accessible, stigma-free mental health support, along with stricter regulations on what kinds of firearms can be purchased and at what age.
“Nobody deserves to die in that way. I just wish it hadn’t taken another act of gun violence to remind people of that,” she said.
Comstock concluded by acknowledging that people will continue to hold different views of Kirk.
FBI Findings Day by Day
Wednesday Sept. 10: Starting a couple of hours after Kirk was shot, the FBI arrived on scene and started their investigation after Utah Valley University Police (UVU) and Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) cleared the scene and closed it off from the public. This was a hard moment for everyone however authorities pushed through the hard moments to start a man hunt for the assassin that shot Charlie Kirk.
Wednesday night (Sept. 10) authorities believed that the shooter was located on the roof of the UVU Losee Center where he had a clear sight of Charlie Kirk 200 yards away. One video showed sightings of someone laying on top of a building and videos showed a black figure running on top of the Losee Center after Kirk was shot.
Thursday Sept. 11: Continuing the search Thursday morning (Sep. 11), authorities got evidence of bullet casings and markings from drone footage of where the suspect was laying. Later that day the FBI released 2 photos of a guy wearing all black, a patriotic shirt and a baseball cap with sunglasses. They also recovered a high-powered bolt-action rifle believed to have been used in the attack from the nearby woods. The FBI asked for the public’s help to identify the suspect and around noon they placed a $100,000 reward for info on the shooter. Towards Thursday afternoon, the FBI released 4 more pictures of the suspect in interest and also released camera footage of the suspect jumping off the Losee Center and fleeing the area.
Late on Thursday a suspect, identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was arrested in Washington county in southern Utah, 260 miles from Orem.
Friday Sept. 11: Friday morning Utah officials held a press conference about the recent news. Governor Spencer Cox relayed lots of information and here’s what he said. Tyler Robinson reached out to a family member and confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident. The family member then later reported him to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and that information was relayed to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office and the UVU Investigators, as well as the FBI. Investigators reviewed additional video footage and identified Robinson arriving on UVU in a gray Dodge Challenger at approximately 8:29 am on Sep 10th wearing a plain maroon T-shirt, light colored shorts, a black hat with a white logo and light colored shoes. When investigators contacted him in Washington Sep 12th, he was observed wearing clothing consistent with the surveillance. They stated that they interviewed the family members and Robinson’s roommate where they found discord messages between the two about where he will drop the rifle and what it looks like. Governor Cox stated that they found the rifle in a dark colored towel on the edge of the UVU campus. The rifle was a Mouser model 98 306 caliber bolt action rifle with a scope mounted on top of it. Cox then gave the podium to FBI Director Cash Patel. Patel stated “This is what happens when you let good cops be cops.” He stated that they are proud to stand there together to bring justice to the family of Charlie Kirk. Patel said that in 33 hours they made historic progress for Charlie.
Patel stated the time line of this event. Patel said, “Charlie was shot at 12:23 pm on Wednesday. The first FBI agent arrived on scene in 16 minutes with chiefs of police at 12:39 and secured the scene. The FBI immediately launched fix wing assets. Assets used to transport personnel, technicians, and hostage rescue teams. The assets are also used to transport forensic evidence and other evidence from Utah to labs in Quantico and other labs. The first set of photos was released at 10am on Sep. 11th. The shortly releases a $100,000 reward at 10:45am. Director Patel and Deputy Director Bonino arrived on scene at 5:30pm on 9/11. The governor led a press conference at 8:00pm on 9/11 where the FBI released video of the suspect and more images. At 10pm 9/11 the suspect was taken into custody in less than 36 hours. 33 to be precise. Thursday night they had approximately 7,000 leads and Friday morning had 11,000 leads that were called in.”
Sources:
https://dps.utah.gov/press-releases/media-advisory-uvu-shooting-updated-press-release-9-11-25-pm/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/charlie-kirk-shooting-maps-videos-images
