The death of Charlie Kirk
Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Charlie Kirk’s death was a shocking occurrence that immediately incited discourse surrounding the rhetoric he used and the realities of political violence. Since the day of the assassination, increasingly aggressive language and concerns over potential retaliation have dominated online spaces.
The fatal shooting of leading conservative figure and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, 2025 has dominated conversation in the days following. Many even watched him die in a disturbing, almost surreal video posted and reposted on social media countless times. Dark blood flowed from his neck onto a crisp white shirt reading “FREEDOM”.
Fewer of us, however, have heard the conversation Kirk was engaged in at the time of his death. Below is the Salt Lake Tribune’s transcript of Kirk’s last moments:
“AUDIENCE MEMBER: “Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?”
KIRK: “Too many.”
AUDIENCE MEMBER: “Five. Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
KIRK: “Counting or not counting gang violence?”
In the few seconds following his quip, a shot rang out from across the venue and Kirk’s stiffened body fell. His death was announced less than two hours after.
Kirk was shot by 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. Robinson is a white, cisgender American with no gang affiliations. His grandmother has stated, “My son, his dad, is a Republican for Trump. My family members are Republican. I don't know a single Democrat. I’m just so confused.” In 2017, a then-14-year-old Tyler Robinson dressed as Donald Trump for Halloween. More recently, Robinson expressed his membership in the white, alt-right, and Christian nationalist group known as ‘Groypers,’ led by self-professed racist and homophobe Nick Fuentes.
The feud between Fuentes’ followers and Charlie Kirk has long been established. Fuentes’ Groypers have interrupted Turning Point USA events to heckle Kirk for his perceived lack of true commitment to the conservative cause. The distinction between their views lies in the fact that Kirk was open to accepting people of color and select members of the LGBT community into conservatism. Fuentes and his followers, however, believe that power in conservative circles should be exclusive to white men.
Here I find the most immediate layer of irony: as Kirk used his last words to insist upon the prevalence of transgender shooters and gang affiliated violence, he was killed by a conservative, cisgender, white man and follower of Nick Fuentes, someone that many people outside of alt-right circles view as Charlie Kirk’s contemporary and associate. Someone who likely shares a majority of Kirk’s beliefs, but was presumably driven to violence by their slight differences. Charlie Kirk was undoubtedly a major conservative figure, but he was eaten by a bigger fish.
Nevertheless, that is not even the most brazen layer of irony. Obviously, Kirk was in favor of little to no gun control, but that’s low hanging fruit. What is interesting is that Kirk’s rhetoric on that issue went beyond even what many hardcore conservatives would deem acceptable. At a Turning Point USA event in 2023, Kirk, discussing his stance on gun control, stated, “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.” Hopefully, Kirk’s sentiment can bring some comfort to his shaken followers.
So, to all of his supporters—do not be upset! When it was children killed in school, when it was Democratic lawmakers like Melissa Hortman and her husband, when it was parishioners mid-prayer, when it was anybody else, Kirk could accept their deaths as sacrifices on the altar of the second amendment. I am sure his spirit is at peace among those whose deaths he deemed worthy of the cause.
While Charlie Kirk cannot be the target of my sympathies, he is survived by two young children. They are in my prayers with condolences, and the hope that they grow up to be kind people who oppose violence and the rhetoric that perpetuates it.