by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
WASHINGTON/OREM, UTAH (Worthy News) – U.S. President Donald J. Trump said late Wednesday he is “filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk” after the conservative born-again Christian influencer was gunned down during a campus event in the western U.S. state of Utah.
Trump made the remarks in a video address from the White House posted on his Truth Social media platform. “I am filled with grief and anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk. He inspired millions, and tonight all who knew him and loved him are united in shock and horror,” the president said.
“This is a dark moment for America,” Trump added, after ordering U.S. flags to be flown at half-mast at official sites nationwideand abroad.
“As a mark of respect for the memory of Charlie Kirk … I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government … until sunset, September 14, 2025,” the White House proclamation read.
The order also requires flags at all U.S. embassies, consular offices, and facilities abroad to be flown at half-staff for the same period.
A TARGETED ATTACK
Authorities said Kirk, 31, was struck by a single bullet in what appeared to be a targeted attack during an outdoor Turning Point USA event on Wednesday at Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem, a midsize city south of Salt Lake City.
Witnesses reported the shooter fired from a rooftop some distance away while dressed in dark tactical clothing.
He killed a man who personified the combative, populist conservatism that reshaped the Republican Party in the Trump era.
Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012, rallying younger generations and frequently venturing onto liberal-leaning campuses where Republicans were wary to engage.
His visit to UVU had been divisive, with nearly 1,000 students signing a petition urging administrators to bar him.
The university defended the appearance, citing free speech rights and its “commitment to intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”
‘POLITICAL ASSASSINATION’
Yet the shooter apparently disagreed, prompting Utah Governor Spencer Cox to label the killing a “political assassination.”
The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kash Patel, initially said a suspect had been taken into custody.
Cox also spoke of a “person of interest.” But later Wednesday, Patel confirmed the individual was released after interrogation.
Authorities said no one remained in custody, and investigators sought a new person of interest.
“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,” Cox said. “I want to be very clear, this is a political assassination.”
The killing of Kirk adds to mounting concerns over political violence in the United States, where public figures across the ideological spectrum have increasingly faced threats and attacks in recent years.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Authorities in Indonesia’s Central Java Province have halted construction of a church and related tourism compound after pressure from local council members and Muslim groups amid rising anti-Christian incidents in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, sources confirmed Thursday.
A young Christian man is hiding in Pakistan after being falsely accused of making “blasphemous” comments against Islam, an offence that potentially carries the death penalty under the Islamic nation’s strict blasphemy legislation, Worthy News learned Thursday.
France was gripped by a second wave of nationwide strikes on Thursday, as hundreds of thousands marched against austerity measures and looming budget cuts—unrest that not only deepens the political crisis for President Emmanuel Macron and his new prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, but also unfolds in a season many prophecy watchers view as charged with significance.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a broad wave of strikes Thursday evening against Hezbollah military sites in southern Lebanon, escalating its campaign against the Iranian-backed terror group’s Radwan Force.
Three Israeli divisions continued a steady push into Gaza City on Thursday, the third day of Operation Gideon’s Chariots II, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seek to seize Hamas’ last stronghold in the enclave.
FBI Director Kash Patel told lawmakers Wednesday that while the U.S. southern border has been largely sealed, the threat of terrorist infiltration has shifted northward, with a sharp rise in encounters along the Canadian frontier.
Bank of America’s closure of accounts belonging to a Tennessee church elder and missionary has become a flashpoint in a national fight over alleged “debanking” of Christians and conservatives, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported in an exclusive investigation.