The Dictatorship
What to know about the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of Turning Point USA
Charlie Kirkthe CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot at an event at a Utah college.
Kirk was a top podcaster, culture warrior and ally of President Donald Trump. He led an effort to remake the GOP’s get-out-the-vote effort in the 2024 election based on the theory there were thousands of Trump supporters who rarely vote but could be persuaded to vote.
His killing Wednesday is the latest example of political violence in the U.S. spanning a range of political ideologies and affecting both major political parties.
Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called the killing a “political assassination.”
Vice President JD Vance flew with Kirk’s casket from Salt Lake City to Kirk’s home state of Arizona on Air Force Two on Thursday. Trump said he plans to attend Kirk’s funeral.
Here’s what to know about Kirk’s shooting:
Allison Hemingway-Witty cries after Charlie Kirk is shot during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)
Allison Hemingway-Witty cries after Charlie Kirk is shot during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)
One gunshot fired from a roof
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point USA at Utah Valley University when authorities said the shooter fired from a distant rooftop.
Videos posted to social media show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent. A single shot rings out and Kirk reaches up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck.
Utah Valley is the state’s largest public university with an enrollment of 47,000. It’s about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of the state capital of Salt Lake City.
Law enforcement officials prepare to sweep a building at Utah Valley University, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate)
Law enforcement officials prepare to sweep a building at Utah Valley University, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate)
The hunt for Kirk’s killer
The FBI on Thursday said it was looking for a “person of interest” in connection with Kirk’s shooting. The agency released a series of photos showing a person wearing a hat, sunglasses, a long-sleeve black shirt and a backpack.
So far, investigators believe the shooter jumped from the roof and slipped away in the mayhem after firing the fatal shot. Authorities said the shooter “appears to be of college age” and “blended in” with the college population.
A rifle hidden in a towel was recovered in a wooded area near the university campus along what authorities suspect to be the fleeing shooter’s path, according to information circulated among law enforcement and shared with The Associated Press. There was a spent cartridge in the chamber and three other rounds loaded in the magazine.
Law enforcement authorities have received more than 200 tips from the public. State police asked people to continue sending them, adding that “no tip is too small.”
Two separate persons of interest were detained Wednesday, but neither was determined to be connected to the shooting and both were released, public safety officials said.
The university canceled classes through the week and closed the campus until at least Monday.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with moderator Charlie Kirk, during a Generation Next White House forum at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, March 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
President Donald Trump shakes hands with moderator Charlie Kirk, during a Generation Next White House forum at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, March 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Kirk’s rise from Trump aide to major conservative influencer
Trump said he spoke at length with Kirk’s widow on Thursday but didn’t get into the specifics of what they discussed.
“She’s devastated, she’s absolutely devastated, as you can imagine,” he told reporters at the White House.
Trump said he would posthumously award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Kirk at a later date.
Kirk was 18 years old when he co-founded Turning Point in suburban Chicago in 2012 with William Montgomery, a tea party activist. They aimed to take their ideas for low taxes and limited government to college campuses.
Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination for president in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to the then-candidate’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., during the general election campaign.
The Trump connection helped fuel Turning Point’s rise to prominence. Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the president.
Contributions to the group doubled and then tripled — eventually climbing to $79.2 million in 2022, according to an analysis of publicly available tax filings. The group states that it now has a presence on nearly 4,000 high school and college campuses, operating as a conservative lifestyle brand that promotes hundreds of online influencers.
Kirk was known for provocative statements on race that he used to court Gen Z voters.
“I’m sorry. If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, ‘Boy, I hope he’s qualified,’” Kirk said during a 2024 podcast with fellow conservative activist Jack Posobiec.
Kirk staunchly opposed the enactment of Juneteenth as a federal holiday. He said the move to elevate the date was motivated by “anti-American” sentiment that promoted “a neo-segregationist view” that he claimed sought to supplant Independence Day.
A well-wisher is overcome after dropping off flowers, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, at the national headquarters of Turning Point USA in Phoenix, following the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old CEO of the organization, at a Utah college. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
A well-wisher is overcome after dropping off flowers, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, at the national headquarters of Turning Point USA in Phoenix, following the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old CEO of the organization, at a Utah college. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Politicians unite in condemning the attack
Republicans and Democrats alike swiftly condemned the attack.
Trump ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation. The president, who sustained a minor ear injury when he was shot at a campaign event last year, said he and Kirk had a close relationship.
He described Kirk on Truth Social as a “great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!”
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last March hosted Kirk on his podcast, posted on X: “The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting, vile, and reprehensible.”
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An earlier version of this story misspelled the last name of an activist. His name is Jack Posobiec, not Posobeic.
The suspect in an attack at a synagogue near Detroit lost several family members in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon this month, according to the Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn and community leaders.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old U.S. citizen originally from Lebanon, lost his two brothers and a niece and nephew in the strike on their home, according to those sources. Whether that played a role in the motive for the attack remains unclear, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer deferred a question about it to the FBI on Friday, citing an ongoing investigation.
Authorities are looking at the possibility Ghazali may have had familial ties to Hezbollah in Lebanon, two law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told MS NOW.
Ghazali died in the Thursday attack, in which authorities say he drove a car into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, injuring a security officer. Ghazali was a resident of Dearborn Heights, Mayor Mo Baydoun said in a Facebook post. Baydoun also said in that post that Ghazali “lost several members of his own family, including his niece and nephew, in an Israeli attack on their home in Lebanon” this month.
The Thursday attack in Michigan came as the U.S. and Israel wage a war with Iranwhich they launched on Feb. 28. Security around Jewish communities in places such as New York has been heightened since the conflict began.
Ghazali first came to the U.S. in 2011 on a spousal visa before being granted citizenship in 2016, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said.
In a phone interview with Fox host Brian Kilmeade, President Donald Trump appeared to blame former President Joe Biden for Ghazali’s entry into the country when asked about the Michigan attack and the deadly shooting at Old Dominion University in Michigan.
“They came in a lot through Biden, and they came in through other presidents, frankly, and it’s a disgrace,” Trump said.
Temple Israel describes itself as the country’s largest Jewish Reform congregation, and it also has an early childhood education center on site that more than 100 kids attend, Whitmer said. All children were safely evacuated following the attack, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
“This is targeting babies who are Jewish,” Whitmer said. “That’s antisemitism at its absolute worst.”
The security guard who was injured was hospitalized but is expected to recover.
Whitmer on Friday thanked the synagogue’s security personnel, who she said “were selfless in their courage and they saved lives.”
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., added that if the synagogue’s private security, local law enforcement and first responders “had not all done their jobs almost perfectly, we would be talking about an immense tragedy here today with children gone.”
Andrew Bossone and Chris O’Leary contributed to this report.
Julianne McShane is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW who also covers the politics of abortion and reproductive rights. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at jmcshane.19 or follow her on X or Bluesky.
Marc Santia is an investigative correspondent for MS NOW.
The Dictatorship
Missile strikes a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraqi security officials say
BAGHDAD (AP) — A missile struck a helipad inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, two Iraqi security officials said.
Associated Press footage showed a column of smoke rising Saturday morning over the embassy compound.
The sprawling embassy complex, one of the largest U.S. diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones fired by Iran-aligned militias.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. On Friday, the embassy renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq, warning that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups have previously carried out attacks against U.S. citizens, interests and infrastructure, and “may continue to target them.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four airports serving Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, Virginia, halted all flights on Friday evening for over an hour because of a strong chemical smell that was impeding air traffic controllers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The ground stop affected Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, Baltimore-Washington International Airport and Richmond International Airport, FAA Secretary Sean Duffy announced on social media Friday. The declaration caused flight delays to soar to roughly two hours across some of the busiest airports in the country.
Flights began to leave the airports after 7 p.m. ET on Friday, but the ground stop — which prevents planes from landing at an airport — remained in place.
The smell was coming from Potomac TRACON, Duffy wrote, referring to a terminal radar approach control facility that manages air traffic for the Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Richmond, Virginia, and the Richmond-Charlottesville areas, according to the FAA website.
A spokesperson for the federal agency didn’t respond to an emailed question clarifying how the smell was affecting traffic controllers on Friday evening.
Between 25% and one-third of all flights departing from the four airports affected were delayed after the ground stop.
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