Charlie Kirk’s children will be raised in silence with stories and photographs: How Melania Trump mourned Trump ally’s assassination

US conservative activist and right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday (September 10, 2025) during an event at a Utah university.

US First Lady Melania Trump reacted to the assassination of Kirk, who was an influential ally of President Donald Trump, and said that life should serve as a symbolic reminder that compassionate awareness elevates family, love, and country.

In a post on social media platform X, Melania said, “Charlie’s children will be raised with stories instead of memories, photographs instead of laughter, and silence where their father’s voice should have echoed. Charlie Kirk’s life should serve as a symbolic reminder that compassionate awareness elevates family, love, and country.”




Authorities had yet to publicly identify a suspect some six hours after the shooting. No suspect was in custody, news agency Reuters reported, citing US media reports. FBI Director Kash Patel said an unnamed person had been detained for questioning, then released. "Our investigation continues," he wrote on social media.

In a video message taped in the Oval Office and posted to his Truth Social online platform, Trump vowed that his administration would locate the suspect. "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," Trump said.

Kirk, who was the co-founder of Turning Point USA, played an instrumental role in Trump’s return to the White House after emerging victorious in the 2024 US presidential polls. From funneling millions of dollars to garnering votes for him from irregular voters, Kirk pulled out many strategic moves to help Trump win Arizona state and also return to the Oval Office for a second term.

Charlie Kirk’s assassination

Cellphone video clips of the killing posted online showed Kirk addressing a large outdoor crowd at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, around 12:20 p.m. MT (1820 GMT), when a gunshot rang out. Kirk moved his hand toward his neck as he fell off his chair, sending the attendees running. In another clip, blood could be seen gushing from Kirk's neck immediately after the shot.

The suspect likely fired from a rooftop at a significant distance, authorities said, according to Reuters. They further stated that there were about 3,000 people attending the event.

Jeff Long, chief of the university police department, said that he had six officers working the event and that he coordinated with the head of Kirk's private security team, which was also on site. Trump ordered all government US flags flown at half-staff until Sunday in Kirk's honor.

The killing was the latest in a series of attacks on US political figures, including two assassination attempts on Trump in 2024, that have underscored a sharp rise in political violence.

Governor Spencer Cox had said at an earlier press conference that police were interviewing a "person of interest" but gave no details about the person's identity or how the individual was believed to be connected with the shooting. At the same press conference, Beau Mason, the Utah Department of Public Safety commissioner, said the perpetrator suspected of firing the single shot that killed Kirk, 31, remained "at large."

Kirk's appearance on Wednesday was the first in a planned 15-event "American Comeback Tour" at universities around the country. He often used such events, which typically drew large crowds of students, to invite attendees to debate him live.