Charlie Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and right-wing activist, was shot at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. Graphic videos of the assassination spread via social media, emphasizing Kirk’s fatal injury and the panic that ensued.
Despite a false report that the shooter was in police custody, he remained at large until Sept. 12. A video released by Utah Governor Spencer Cox shows the then unidentified suspect jumping off the nearby Losee Center roof after his bullet struck Kirk in the neck. As of now, the primary person of interest is 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, according to the New York Times.
Donald Trump announced Kirk’s passing via Truth Social and went on to address the situation in a White House broadcast.
“Charlie was a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country that he loved so much,” said Trump.
In this message, the president condemned violence against those with opposing beliefs, and accused the “radical left” of using demonizing rhetoric. He referenced the attack at his Pennsylvania rally and also brought up the shootings of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
According to BBC, there have been 150 acts of political violence in the U.S. throughout the first six months of 2025. CNN reported that there have been 44 school shootings nationally in 2025, as of Sept. 10. Democratic leaders, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), expressed their condolences for Kirk and called for stricter gun regulations to prevent further tragedies.
“Are we going to do something, or are we going to argue over rhetoric? That is my question about this. We have to pass gun safety legislation and stop this,” AOC told AP News.
TPUSA at the University of Maine declined to comment, noting that its members need time to process what happened. One member shared that the national organization and all its branches are taking a two-week hiatus from all activity, besides vigils in honor of the late founder.
“It’s tragic that he was the founder and didn’t see it grow to how big it could have been,” said Payton Warren, Chairman of the UMaine Republicans.
The UMaine College Republicans set up a table on the campus Mall to honor the loss of Kirk, as well as those lost on 9/11, the day after his death. Warren shared that the original plan of inviting him on campus has been transformed to a debate table the organization will host at some point this semester, which signifies what Kirk was best known for.
Last December, Warren attended the AmericaFest in Arizona, where he saw Kirk speak in person. He was moved by the conservative commentator’s values as a Christian family man who found success at an early age.
“He truly built the business from the ground up and it was a great thing to see him going from campus to campus, and seeing him talk at AM Fest was kind of triumphant because of the Republican success in the last election.”
Opposingly, some students choose not to mourn Kirk due to his controversial stances. A second-year marine sciences student at UMaine who wishes to remain anonymous noted that Kirk advocated for violence toward transgender people and against civil rights.
“I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community, my partner is part of that community, most of my friends are part of that community,” said the student. “He publicly stated that gay people should be stoned to death.”
On the Charlie Kirk Show in 2024, Kirk noted that Ms. Rachel, famous for her toddler-learning videos, publicly expressed support for the LGBTQ+ community. In doing so, the content creator referenced a Bible commandment in Leviticus 18, to love your neighbor as yourself, which she insisted should be without exception.
As a response during his podcast episode, Kirk mentioned a different verse from Leviticus 20:13 (although he misattributed the verse to Leviticus 18) that states he who lays with another man has “committed an abomination” and “shall surely be put to death.” Maine’s own Stephen King criticised Kirk for it after his assassination.
“He advocated stoning gays to death. Just sayin’,” King wrote in response to a tweet calling Kirk a patriot by Fox News Commentator Jesse Watters.
After receiving backlash from various public figures for misrepresenting the Bible verse Kirk referenced, namely Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, King deleted his post and issued multiple public apologies. King decided that Kirk was, at the time, trying to exemplify how people “cherry-pick Biblical passages.”
Regardless of this specific case, the anonymous student feels that during his divisive career, Kirk “mobilized his influence to cause direct harm” to those in marginalized communities.
“I am not a fan of guns. I don’t condone how he died, but the fact that his last words were racist dog whistle about gun violence, there’s some pretty heavy irony,” said the student.
While the two community members differ in how they view Kirk, both stated that they oppose political violence. UMaine Chancellor Daniel Malloy sent a message to UMaine community members promoting peace and respect on UMaine’s public campus, despite the increase in political violence across the board, which he called “disturbing.”
“Differences of opinion must never disrupt our universities’ ability to operate or devolve into threats or harm, as tragically happened yesterday in Utah,” said Malloy on Sept. 11.
