MAGA star Charlie Kirk was killed last week after being shot at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Kirk owned a residence on Longboat Key.
Bystanders reported spotting Kirk getting shot near his neck during a Q&A session with students.
The suspect in the killing of Charlie Kirk has been identified as Tyler Robinson and is being held without bail in a Utah jail on several charges, according to officials.
President Donald Trump issued a statement on Truth Social following reports of the shooting. “We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” Trump said.
Kirk, who owned a condo on Longboat Key, had been taking his “American Comeback Tour” to universities across Florida, starting at the University of South Florida in Tampa in February before heading to the University of Florida in Gainesville and then Florida State University in Tallahassee. He was greeted at each university with adoring fans and crowds of protesters.
At his campus stops, Kirk, conservative activist, author, radio talk show host and cofounder and chief of the conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA, debates students who challenge him at an open mic.
“America’s students are still only given one side of the story, the leftwing side, so we intend to continue balancing the scales and equipping local students to fight for their values,” he said in a statement. “If you’re a progressive, you get to come to the front of the line and make your best argument, and I’ll make mine.”
Illinois native Charles James Kirk, 31, cofounded the nonprofit Turning Point USA in 2012 when he was 18. The organization’s stated goal is to “build the most organized, active, and powerful conservative grassroots activist network on high school and college campuses across the country.” TPUSA claims to be on over 3,500 campuses and has spawned other activist measures, including, among others, an online academy, Turning Point Faith, and Turning Point Action, a political advocacy group that heavily involved itself, without results, in the 2022 cycle in Arizona and other swing states.
In 2024, AP reported that Kirk owned three properties, including a Spanish-style mansion near Phoenix, Arizona (although he put it up for sale), a nearby apartment and a two-bedroom, two-bath beachside condo on Longboat Key on the Gulf Coast of Florida he bought for $855,000, according to property records.
