Charlie Kirk’s killing and a new age of political violence
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 September 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
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Summary
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed Wednesday at Utah Valley University. As officials seek details on the identity and motive of the shooter, Americans are beginning to process Kirk’s death and what this might mean for a new era of political violence and fear in the United States.
In a video posted online on Wednesday night, President Donald Trump blamed the killing, without evidence, on “radical left political violence.”
On today’s episode, host Colby Itkowitz speaks with democracy reporter Yvonne WIngett Sanchez, who has covered Kirk and his organization, Turning Point USA, for years. They delve into this difficult moment and Kirk’s lasting legacy as the fiery leader of a powerful conservative youth movement.
Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy and Elana Gordon, with help from Laura Benshoff. It was edited by Peter Bresnan and Reena Flores, with help from Renita Jablonski and Elahe Izadi. It was mixed by Sean Carter. Special thanks to Noah Bierman.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The killing of Charlie Kirk is the latest sign that we're in a new age of political |
| 0:07.1 | violence. |
| 0:09.5 | The conservative activist was shot and killed yesterday. |
| 0:12.4 | It was during an event at Utah Valley University. |
| 0:16.0 | I'm recording this on Thursday afternoon. |
| 0:18.7 | We don't yet know the motive or the identity of the shooter, and a |
| 0:22.2 | manhunt is still underway. What we do know is that Kirk was among the most powerful people |
| 0:28.0 | in Republican politics. The 31-year-old was personal friends with President Donald Trump. His |
| 0:34.0 | activism was a huge reason why Trump won in 2024. |
| 0:40.8 | Trump released a video late last night, |
| 0:44.0 | blaming the killing, without evidence, on, quote, |
| 0:46.2 | radical left political violence. |
| 0:52.7 | For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers |
| 0:57.0 | and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today, |
| 1:06.0 | and it must stop right now. |
| 1:13.6 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post reports. |
| 1:18.0 | I'm Colby Ickowitz. It's Thursday, September 11th. |
| 1:22.5 | Here's where the investigation stands. Earlier today, the FBI released a couple of images of someone they're calling |
| 1:28.7 | a person of interest. The pictures show a man in a dark ball cap, wearing sunglasses and a shirt |
| 1:34.3 | with a bald eagle and an American flag on it. A weapon has also been recovered, a high-powered |
| 1:39.7 | bolt-action rifle. It was found in the woods near the site of the shooting. To help understand what |
| 1:46.0 | happened in Utah, who Charlie was, and what his legacy will be, I speak with my colleague |
... |
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