Orem, Utah (AFP) – Charlie Kerk, conservative activist and ally of President Donald Trump, were killed on Wednesday at the Utah College event in a new action attention to the threat of political violence throughout the United States.
The death of social media was announced by Trump, who praised Kerk, 31, co -founder and chief executive of the Turning Point Usa, as “wonderful, and even legendary”.
“No one understood or had the heart of young people in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump has actually published on his social account.
Ourim, Utah, mayor David Young, said the suspect’s suspected shooter has not been arrested. The person who was detained by law enforcement at the university where Kirk was speaking was not the suspect, according to a person familiar with the investigation that was not allowed to speak publicly.
The videos posted on social media were published from the University of Utah Valley, Kirk speaking in a hand -handled microphone while sitting under a white tent with slogans “American return” and “Providing me a mistake”. It rings one shot out and can see Kirk reaching his right hand, where a large amount of blood flows from the left side of its neck. The amazing outstanders hear panting and screaming before people start escaping. AP managed to confirm the videos that were taken at the Surinsen Courtard Center on the campus of the University of Utah Valley.
Kirk was speaking in a discussion hosted by his non -profit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions for a member of the public about mass shooting and armed violence.
“Do you know how many Americans have been a transgender who have been a collective archers over the past ten years?” A public member request. Kirk responded, “a lot”.
The questioner continued, “Do you know the number of collective archers who have been in America over the past ten years?”
“Counting or not calculating gang violence?” He asked Kirk.
Then rang one shot.
The University of Utah Valley said that the campus was evacuated immediately and remained closed. The seasons were canceled until further notice. Those who are still on the campus were asked to stay in their place so that police officers can accompany them safely outside the campus. The armed officers walked around the neighborhood that limits the campus, knocking on the doors and asking for information about the shooter.
The officers were seen looking at a picture on their phones and showing them to people to see if they got to know an important person.
This event, which was described as the first station in “The American Goodback Tour”, has given up a reaction on the campus. He received a petition via the Internet calling on university directors to prevent Kirk from appearing approximately 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week, citing the rights of the first amendment and affirms “its commitment to freedom of expression, intellectual investigation and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted X photos of the news clips that exposed his visit to Utah colleges, which sparked controversy. He wrote, “What is happening in Utah?”
The shooting was attracted by the rapid two -party condemnation, with Democratic officials joining Trump, who ordered the flags of a decrease to half of the employees and issued a presidential announcement, and Kirk Republican allies in deciphering the violence.
“The attack on Charlie Kerk is disgusting, concrete, and deserves impurities,” Democratic governor of California, Gavin New Roosome, who hosted last March Kirk on the podcast, on X.
“The killing of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. I deepen my sympathy with his wife, two young children and friends,” said Gabriel Jeffords, a former Democratic Congress member who was fired in 2011 in the Arizona area.
Although no motive was revealed, the shooting conditions feed fears that it was part of the high political violence that exceeded the political spectrum. The attacks include the assassination of a deputy in the state of Minnesota and her husband in their home in June, the shooting of the Colorado procession to demand the release of the hostages of the hostages and fire in the governor of Pennsylvania, a Jew, in April. The most prominent of these events is the shooting of Trump during the gathering of last year’s campaign.
Jasson Shaveitz, a former member of Utah, said in an interview on Fox News that he heard one shot and saw Kirk returning.
“It looked like a close snapshot,” said Shaveitz, who seemed to be shaken while speaking.
He said that there is a light police in this event and Kirk was some security, but not enough.
“Utah is one of the safest places on this planet,” he said. “So we do not have these types of things.”
Turning Point was founded on the outskirts of Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18 years old, William Montgomery, an activist in the Tea Party, to preach the campus of universities to obtain low taxes and a limited government. It was not immediate success.
But Kirk’s enthusiasm for the liberals in the academic circles eventually defeated a influential group of conservative financiers.
Despite the early concerns, Turning Point supported Trump’s enthusiasm after receiving the Republican Party nomination in 2016.
Soon after, Kirk was a regular presence on the cable TV, where he bent over the wars of culture and praised the president at the time. Trump and his son were equally advanced and often spoke at a turning point conferences.
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Riccher and Sherman told Washington. In this report, this report contributed to the Associated Press Nicholas Ricardi in Denver, Michael Bisker, Brian Sloisco, Lindsay, Whithorest and Michel L. Price and Eric Taker in Washington.