By Mariane Angela, DCNF
WASHINGTON, D.C. (DCNF, CONVERSEER) – President Donald Trump delivered a somber address Wednesday night following the assassination of Turning Point Founder Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, 31, died after being shot during a campus event at Utah Valley University. Trump opened his national address with a message of grief and fury, mourning the assassination of Kirk and praising him as a fearless patriot who championed free speech and American ideals.
“To my great fellow Americans, I am filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah. Charlie inspired millions, and, tonight, all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror,” Trump said. “Charlie was a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country that he loved so much, the United States of America. He fought for liberty, democracy, justice, and the American people.”
Trump offered prayers for Kirk’s family, urging the nation to pray for them during what he called a “terrible hour of heartache and pain.”
“Our prayers are with his wife, Erika, the two young, beloved children, and his entire family who he loved more than anything in the world. We ask God to watch over them in this terrible hour of heartache and pain,” Trump said. “This is a dark moment for America. Charlie Kirk traveled the nation, joyfully engaging with everyone interested in good faith debate. His mission was to bring young people into the political process, which he did better than anybody ever, to share his love of country and to spread the simple words of common sense.”
“He championed his ideas with courage, logic, humor, and grace. It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible,” Trump said. “For years, those on the American left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”
Trump vowed swift justice for those behind Kirk’s assassination and other acts of political violence.
“My administration will 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, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country,” Trump said. “From the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, which killed a husband and father to the attacks on ICE agents, to the vicious murder of a healthcare executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and three others.”
An unidentified gunman shot and killed Kirk while speaking to students in a campus courtyard, with authorities saying the shot came from an elevated position roughly 200 yards away. Officials believe the gunman fired from a rooftop and described the suspect only as wearing dark clothing.
Surveillance footage captured a figure near the scene, but investigators said the video was too grainy to make a positive identification. Authorities are still working to determine the shooter’s identity and motive.
