Charlie Kirk fatally shot at Utah event; suspect arrested

Charlie Kirk, a 31 year old conservative activist and cofounder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot on Wednesday, September 10, while speaking at an American Comeback Tour event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, authorities and officials said. A 22 year old suspect, identified by Utah Governor Spencer Cox as Tyler Robinson, was arrested on Thursday evening after more than a daylong manhunt, and officials said he told a family member that he was connected to the shooting.

The killing set off immediate national fallout. In the hours after Kirk was shot, best selling author Stephen King posted on the social media platform X that Kirk had "advocated stoning gays to death" in reply to a tribute from Fox News host Jesse Watters. King later deleted the post and issued an apology on Friday, writing, "I apologize for saying Charlie Kirk advocated stoning gays. What he actually demonstrated was how some people cherrypick Biblical passages." King added that his claim was the result of reading a post without fact checking and said it would not happen again.

King’s original comment appeared to reference remarks Kirk made in 2024 when criticizing children's YouTube host Ms. Rachel...