OREM, Utah (BP) — Conservative advocate Charlie Kirk was killed by a gunman at Utah Valley University Wednesday (Sept. 10). President Donald Trump paid tribute to the leader via social media calling him great and legendary.
Kirk is the co-founder and president of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a nonprofit aimed at spreading conservative principles on high school and college campuses.
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University showed Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong,” the Associated Press reported. A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away.
“Psalm 34 says the Lord is close to the brokenhearted. We pray that for Charlie’s family and loved ones as they mourn his death. We also pray for our country and this tragic season of violence. Heal our land, Lord,” Miles Mullin, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) acting president, told Baptist Press.
Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President Clint Pressley told Baptist Press, “Charlie Kirk was assassinated in cold blood. We pray God’s manifold mercy for his wife and children and swift justice for the killer. All this savagery must stop. Praying the Lord shows mercy, brings peace and displays justice.”
SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg said, “Our hearts break for Charlie Kirk’s family and friends. We decry senseless violence like this that tears at the fabric of our nation and undermines the freedoms he stood for. May God give us peace in the midst of tragedy.”
Turning Point USA’s website says the group works to “educate students about the importance of freedom, free markets, and limited government.”
TPUSA also works with many Christian churches through their TPUSA Faith initiative to help with “empowering Christians to put their faith into action.”
Several former SBC presidents also took to social media immediately following news of the shooting.
“Praying for Charlie and for an end to this kind of wickedness. This is not democracy but savagery,” posted J.D. Greear.
Ronnie Floyd posted, “Pray for Charlie Kirk!”
Dallas pastor Jack Graham called him a “friend and a brother” earlier in the afternoon, later calling him a martyr upon news of his death.
U.S. Speaker of the House and former Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission trustee Mike Johnson, R-La., quickly called on people to “Please join us in praying for our good friend, Charlie Kirk.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Brandon Porter serves as vice president for communications at the SBC Executive Committee.)
