The fatal shooting of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Tuesday has fueled an explosive political response, even as critical facts about the assassin remain unknown. Kirk, 31, co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck during a campus event. Law enforcement officials said a “person of interest” was in custody and being interviewed, but the shooter’s identity and motive were not confirmed.
At nearly the same time, an unrelated shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado left three students in critical condition. One of the students transported to the hospital was identified as the suspect, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. The coincidence of two high-profile shootings—one political, one in a school—underscored the breadth of America’s ongoing crisis of gun violence.
President Donald Trump seized on Kirk’s assassination within hours, delivering an Oval Office address in which he declared the “radical left” “directly responsible” for the killing. “Criticism of Kirk from the left was directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now,” Trump said. He pledged his administration would “find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it.”
The president did not explain how the White House would determine what groups had “contributed” to the killing. Nor did he mention the pattern of political violence carried out by right-wing extremists in recent years.
Far-right commentator Laura Loomer echoed Trump’s rhetoric before Kirk’s death was even confirmed. “It’s time for the Trump administration to shut down, defund, and prosecute every single leftist organization,” she said. “We must shut these lunatic leftists down. Once and for all. The left is a national security threat.”
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina also pointed a finger at Democrats. “Democrats own what happened today,” she told reporters. “Some raging leftist lunatic put a bullet through his neck.” Mace dismissed the suggestion that by her logic, Republican lawmakers would “own” the earlier assassination of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, who was killed by a suspect described as an evangelical Christian opposed to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
Critics say Trump’s response highlights a dangerous pattern of partisan blame disconnected from evidence. Author Christopher D. Cook wrote that the president “seized the moment of widespread mourning to spread more hatred and division, in a reckless, angry televised speech that hurled blame at the left despite not a scintilla of evidence about Kirk’s assassin or their politics.”
Journalist Mehdi Hasan pointed to several recent acts of political violence in which perpetrators held right-wing ideologies, including the attempted assassination of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, the assault on Paul Pelosi in 2022, and the attempted kidnapping of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. “There is no equivalent or even similar list of Obama or Biden supporters who have carried out murders, attempted murders, or violent attacks against Republicans or conservatives in recent years,” Hasan wrote. “In fact, according to statistics compiled by the ADL’s Center on Extremism, 2024 was the third year in a row in which all of the extremist-related killings in the United States were carried out by… right-wingers.”
Progressive lawmakers and advocates who were often targets of Kirk’s rhetoric responded swiftly to condemn his murder. “Political violence has no place in this country. We must condemn this horrifying attack,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders. Rep. Ayanna Pressley added, “Violence is unacceptable, always. Though I disagree with nearly everything he said publicly, I never lose sight of others’ humanity. He was someone’s son. He was someone’s husband. He was a father to two young children. Praying for the [Utah Valley University] community impacted by this horrific act of gun violence.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar, whom Kirk once suggested should be stripped of citizenship and deported, declared that “political violence is absolutely unacceptable and indefensible.” The ACLU issued a statement through its executive director Anthony Romero: “There is never any place for violence in our politics. The only way to work out differences in a democracy is to work them out together—peacefully through our political system.”
Former Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf echoed that sentiment. “I couldn’t have disagreed more with Charlie Kirk on virtually every political issue he debated,” he said. “But that is the point, he debated. In any society, let alone a democracy, violence can never be justified. I hope God eases the suffering of his wife, children, family, and friends.”
Journalist David Sirota cautioned that the president’s remarks risk fueling more division. “What we desperately need right now in this country are leaders who lower the temperature, leaders who will try to pull us back from the brink,” he said. “Instead, we have a president right now who seems mostly interested in using the bully pulpit to actually bully people. Inflaming every cultural conflict he can stick his nose into—all for the cause of grabbing more power and money for himself and his family.”
He added: “It’s a simple message whether you are a leftist, a liberal, a centrist, a conservative, or a MAGA fan. Your life has value and your political opponents’ lives have value too. You can hate your adversaries’ ideas, and you can fight hard for your cause, but the moment we stop seeing each other as human beings and we start concluding that violence is the answer, that’s the moment we let the soulless corporations, the ruthless authoritarians, and the sociopathic demagogues win.”
The Kirk shooting also drew attention to Utah’s permissive gun laws. Utah Valley University explicitly allows concealed firearm permit holders to carry on campus. Everytown for Gun Safety ranks Utah 36th in the country for gun-law strength. “The problem with allowing guns everywhere is that no one is safe anywhere,” said Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts.
March for Our Lives said the shooting underscored the indiscriminate nature of the crisis. “Gun violence spares no one,” the group stated. “The shooting of Charlie Kirk makes clear that this crisis doesn’t care about ideology or politics—it endangers us all. We know the solutions: stronger background checks, extreme risk protection orders, accountability for the gun industry, and more. What stands in the way is not a lack of answers, but political obstruction. Every day of inaction costs lives. It’s long past time for leaders of every party to choose people over politics and act.”
In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis addressed both tragedies. “Political violence is never acceptable, and I condemn the brutal and inexcusable attack on Charlie Kirk in Utah,” he said. Regarding the Evergreen High shooting, Polis added: “Students should be able to attend school safely and without fear across our state and nation. We are all praying for the victims and the entire community.”
Gun violence survivor and activist Fred Guttenberg emphasized the urgency of bipartisan cooperation. “It is time for Republicans and Democrats to find a way to work together to reduce gun violence,” he said. Rep. Summer Lee similarly warned: “Gun violence and political violence cannot continue to devastate our communities. We need gun reform now.”
Civil rights attorney and activist Alejandra Caraballo reflected on the broader danger. “We are in a ‘years of lead’ scenario where political violence has become normalized,” she wrote. “This is not good for anyone and is deeply dangerous. This level of political violence is not compatible with a functioning society.”
“I’m honestly terrified of what the right will use this as justification for,” Caraballo added. “They’re itching to engage in violence against their enemies and this will give them the excuse to do so. This is why political violence is never acceptable. It just descends into uncontrollable chaos and more violence.”
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