Shooting at Utah Valley University debate: Who Charlie Kirk is and what he said about Ukraine
Photo: Charlie Kirk (Flickr, by Gage Skidmore)
Famous right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was shot during a debate at Utah Valley University. He is known as the founder of the movement Turning Point USA.
For more details about who Charlie Kirk is, see the RBC-Ukraine material below.
Incident at Utah Valley University
On Wednesday, September 10, Charlie Kirk was participating in a debate at Utah Valley University when he was shot during his speech. A video of the incident quickly circulated online.
Later, NBC News, citing a university spokesperson, reported that the injured Kirk, along with his security team, was quickly taken from the scene and transported to a hospital. People were evacuated from the university courtyard.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump called on everyone to pray for Charlie Kirk on the social media platform Truth Social, describing the activist as a "great guy."
According to unconfirmed reports, an unknown individual fired at Kirk from a nearby building. The incident occurred about 20 minutes after the activist began his speech.
The suspected shooter has already been detained by US law enforcement.
FBI Director Kesh Patel stated that FBI agents have been dispatched to the scene.
Who is Charlie Kirk?
Charles (Charlie) James Kirk is a well-known American conservative activist, publicist, and media personality. He was born in 1993 in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois.
In 2012, Kirk co-founded the organization Turning Point USA (TPUSA), which has since become the largest conservative student movement in the US, represented on thousands of campuses and boasting millions of followers on social media.
He also leads TPUSA’s subsidiary branches — Turning Point Action (TPAction), Turning Point Academy, and Turning Point Faith — and hosts the popular radio show The Charlie Kirk Show.
Over the years, Kirk has transformed TPUSA into a powerful conservative platform. He has frequently appeared on Fox News and other conservative outlets, positioning himself as a critic of the Republican Party when it ignores its supporters.
At the same time, Kirk has faced accusations of spreading conspiracy theories, clashing with the Republican National Committee, and generating income through questionable TPUSA funding.
What Kirk said about Ukraine
Charlie Kirk has been sharply critical of any US military aid to Ukraine and has spoken extremely negatively about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Trump knows the truth about Zelensky. He’s a puppet of the CIA who marched his own people into a needless slaughter," Kirk wrote on Twitter (X) in February.
The activist has repeatedly accused the Ukrainian president of allegedly not wanting to end the war with Russia.
He also criticized the US government for providing money and weapons to a country that "few people can find on a map."
Kirk argued that Washington is mistaken in treating Russia as an enemy, even though he does not like Russia or the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I do think it's kind of weird, the amount of money and attention that Russia gets, when almost nobody in this audience has a friend that you've lost to the Russian government but you do have a friend or a family member that has died because of the cartels and the Chinese Communist Party with a fentanyl coming into our communities and so a nation has to choose which enemies are you going to focus on? " he said.
Kirk has also claimed that the war benefits the military-industrial complex and the oligarchs of Ukraine’s ruling class.
Sources: Charlie Kirk’s YouTube channel, NBC News and Fox News materials, and Wikipedia.
