San Diego Republicans mourn Charlie Kirk, conservative activist slain in Utah
The American flag at the White House in Washington is lowered to half-staff after Charlie Kirk the CEO and co-founder of Turning Point USA was killed at an event in Orem Utah Wednesday Sept San Diego conservatives expressed their sorrow and dismay Wednesday at the death of Charlie Kirk the conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump Kirk was shot and killed at a Utah college event Trump informed his death on social media and praised Kirk the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA as great and even legendary No one understood or had the heart of the youth in the United States of America better than Charlie Trump posted on his Truth Social account Kirk has spoken in San Diego County at least four times in latest years including at San Diego State University in May and UC San Diego this past May Before his campus visits Kirk spoke at San Diego s right-wing Awaken Church in and The church urged prayers before news of his death broke Rep Darrell Issa R-Escondido initially posted on X urging people to pray for charliekirk Two hours later he posted RIP charliekirk Please keep his family in your hearts in the present day State Sen Brian W Jones R-Santee called the shooting a purely evil act the type for which there is no place in civil society America is the greatest nation on earth largely because of our freedom to openly discuss and express our differences he continued We cannot allow political discourse do devolve into hatred and violence Assemblymember Carl DeMaio R-San Diego explained he was shaken and deeply saddened by the shooting Then he shifted into criticism of Gov Gavin Newsom and the media But let s be clear this tragedy is not happening in a vacuum When politicians like Governor Gavin Newsom and media outlets recklessly smear conservatives as homophobic or racist they dehumanize people with differing views and fuel the fire that leads unstable individuals to commit acts of violence DeMaio mentioned in a message Yet Newsom also condemned the violence that took Kirk s life The attack on Charlie Kirk is disgusting vile and reprehensible the Democrat who last March hosted Kirk on his podcast posted on X Republican Central Committee member Amy Reichert who ran for county supervisor after founding a group opposed to COVID- lockdowns revealed on Facebook Charlie Kirk is with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ If you are reading this I know he would want me to ask this If you have never accepted Jesus will you do so now The suspected shooter has not been arrested Orem Utah Mayor David Young disclosed A person who was taken into custody by law enforcement at the university where Kirk was speaking was not the suspect according to a person familiar with the inquiry who was not authorized to speak publicly Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans The American Comeback and Prove Me Wrong A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away The AP was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization Forthwith before the shooting Kirk was taking questions for an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence Do you know how several transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last years an audience member demanded Kirk responded Too multiple The questioner followed up Do you know how plenty of mass shooters there have been in America over the last years Counting or not counting gang violence Kirk demanded Then a single shot rang out Utah Valley University announced the campus was promptly evacuated and remained closed Classes were canceled until further notice UCSD s trainee newspaper informed that Kirk in his May apperance debated attendees on abortion LGBTQ rights immigration the market system training and religion An estimated people gathered to watch Kirk the review reported A great number of members of the crowd wore merchandise in encouragement of President Donald Trump and several UCPD officers were pictured leaving the event with MAGA hats UCSD s chapter of TPUSA hosted Kirk s American Comeback Tour where Kirk visits college campuses across the country to debate conventional narratives promoted by leftist academia As in Utah Kirk sat under a tent with Prove me wrong written across the top Wednesday s event billed as the first stop on Kirk s The American Comeback Tour had generated a polarizing campus reaction An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly signatures The university issued a comment last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its commitment to free speech intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue Last week Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit to Utah colleges was sparking disagreement He wrote What s going on in Utah The shooting drew swift bipartisan condemnation with Democratic agents like Newsom joining Trump who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation and Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart My deepest sympathies are with his wife two young children and friends stated Gabrielle Giffords the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a shooting in her Arizona district Locally Rep Juan Vargas D-San Diego posted to X This attack is horrifying Political violence has no place in our country and it s never acceptable Never Though no motive has been disclosed the circumstances of the shooting fueled concerns that it was part of a spike of political violence that has cut across the political spectrum The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania s governor who is Jewish in April The the bulk notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in by Kirk then and William Montgomery a tea party activist to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited administration It was not an immediate success But Kirk s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers The Republican Party of San Diego County issued a comment crediting Kirk with representing various of the best traits of American democracy His participation in society life has been devoted to debate He excelled at making a principled situation for conservative governance party agents explained His adversaries on the left owe him a debt of gratitude because his pre-eminent rationality gave them the opportunity to sharpen their own views We should all want more of that in our politics Despite early misgivings Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr the president s eldest son during the general poll campaign Soon Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV where he leaned into the civilization wars and heaped praise on the then-president Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences The Associated Press contributed to this overview Updated at p m Sept
