Trump calls Charlie Kirk a 'martyr for truth' after assassination at Utah event

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed his slain ally, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as a “martyr for truth,” while blaming the “radical left” for fueling the climate of hatred that led to his killing.

“For years those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,” Trump said in a video posted on his Truth Social platform. “This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”

Kirk, a prominent supporter of Trump who helped expand the former president’s base among young voters, was fatally shot Wednesday while addressing a packed event at Utah Valley University.

Video footage captured the moment a single shot rang out as Kirk sat on stage. He collapsed in his chair as the crowd screamed in panic. Investigators said the fatal bullet was fired from a campus rooftop by a suspect dressed in black, in what appeared to be a targeted assassination. The gunman remains at large.

Calling the killing a “dark moment for America,” Trump vowed a sweeping crackdown. “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,” he said.