FILE – Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk speaks at a Turning Point event prior to Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaking, Sept. 4, 2024, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
OREM, Utah (AP) — Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, has died after being shot Wednesday at a college event, President Donald Trump says. Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent. 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. A person who was taken into custody was not the shooting suspect, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The Latest: Conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been shot at an event in Utah
Charlie Kirk, a conservative youth activist and CEO of Turning Point USA, has been shot during an event at a college in Utah. Videos posted to social media 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 reaches for his neck. A large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream. Some run away.
Turning Point founder has been a key figure in building support for Republicans among young people
Charlie Kirk is a prominent conservative activist who embodies the pugnacious and populist approach to politics under Donald Trump’s Republican party. He was shot at an appearance at a Utah college Wednesday. In 2012, Kirk launched Turning Point USA to reach out to young conservatives. That organization and its affiliates are now near the center of the conservative universe. They helped turn out voters to get Trump elected in 2024, trying to focus on those who felt shut out of politics and rarely cast a ballot. Kirk regularly uses apocalyptic rhetoric to paint Democrats as evil and the country on the verge of disaster. He has also continued to visit college campuses like Utah Valley University where he was shot Wednesday.
South Korean plane in Atlanta for workers detained in immigration raid; departure timeline uncertain
FOLKSTON, Ga. (AP) — A South Korean charter plane arrived in Atlanta to take home Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in Georgia last week. But even after a high-level meeting between U.S. and South Korean officials Wednesday morning, there was no immediate word on when the workers would be able to leave and the flight planned for Wednesday was canceled. A total of 475 workers, more than 300 of them South Koreans, were rounded up in the Sept. 4 raid at the battery factory under construction at Hyundai’s sprawling auto plant west of Savannah. South Korea’s government later said it reached an agreement with the U.S. for the release of the workers.
3 fired FBI officials sue Patel, saying he bowed to Trump administration’s ‘campaign of retribution’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three fired FBI officials have sued to get their jobs back, calling their terminations part of a “campaign of retribution” carried out by a director who caved to political pressure from the Trump administration. The complaint asserts Director Kash Patel indicated to one of the ousted agents he knew the firings were “likely illegal” but he was powerless to stop them because the White House and the Justice Department were determined to remove all agents who worked on investigations into President Donald Trump. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington. Spokespeople for the FBI have declined to comment.
Over 40% of arrests in Trump’s DC law enforcement surge relate to immigration, AP analysis finds
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has portrayed his federal law enforcement surge in Washington as a crime-fighting effort. However, data analyzed by The Associated Press shows that over 40% of the arrests during the operation were immigration-related. This highlights the administration’s continued focus on its hardline immigration agenda. The operation led to more than 2,300 arrests, including homicide suspects and gang members. More than 940 were immigration-related. The prominence of immigration arrests has fueled criticism that the true purpose was to expand deportations. Critics argue the effort appears more like a model for federal intervention in cities led by Democratic mayors. The administration argues deportations are inseparable from crime reduction.
NATO scrambles jets to shoot down Russian drones in Poland, raising fears of war spillover
WOHYN, Poland (AP) — Multiple Russian drones crossed into Poland in what European officials described as a deliberate provocation, causing NATO to send fighter jets to shoot them down. A NATO spokesman said it was the first time the alliance confronted a potential threat in its airspace. The incursion happened late Tuesday and into the early hours of Wednesday during a wave of strikes by the Kremlin on Ukraine. The NATO response swiftly raised fears that the war could spill over — a fear that has been growing in Europe as Russia steps up its attacks and peace efforts go nowhere.
Israeli airstrikes on Yemen kill at least 35, Houthi officials say
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels say Israeli airstrikes targeting the rebels in Yeman have killed at least 35 people and wounded over 130 others. Most of those killed in the strikes Wednesday were in Sanaa, the capital, where a military headquarters and a fuel station were among the sites hit, the health ministry said. Israel’s military carried out the strikes just days after Houthi rebels launched a drone attack that struck an Israeli airport. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, meanwhile, plans to seek sanctions and a partial trade suspension against Israel over the war in the Gaza Strip. The move adds to Israel’s already unprecedented global isolation as it grapples with the fallout from its strike targeting Hamas leaders in U.S.-allied Qatar on Tuesday.
Previous charges, delayed mental health evaluation were missed opportunities in Charlotte stabbing
After Decarlos Brown Jr. was arrested for the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee aboard a North Carolina commuter train, he was quickly sent to a state mental hospital for an evaluation. That’s a sharp contrast from a January arrest, where it took more than six months for a court to order a mental evaluation after Brown told officers that he had been given a human-made substance that controlled him. The January arrest was just one of the missed opportunities in Brown’s criminal history, according to experts. He had cycled through the criminal justice system for more than a decade. He now faces federal and state charges in the Aug. 22 killing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska,
Trump administration appeals ruling blocking him from firing Federal Reserve Gov. Cook
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook’s lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
