Utah Gov. Spencer Cox calls shooting of Charlie Kirk a 'political assassination'
Charlie Kirk, a political activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in what the governor called a political assassination carried out from a rooftop.
A person of interest was in custody earlier, officials said, but FBI Director Kash Patel said they had been released after interrogation.
“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation," said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox during a press conference. "I want to be very clear that this is a political assassination.”
In his remarks, shown in full in the video player above, Cox emphasized the significance of Kirk being shot on a college campus, calling debates "fundamental to the foundation of the country."
"Charlie believed in the power of free speech and debate to shape ideas and to persuade people," he said. "Historically, our university campuses in this nation and here in the state of Utah have been a place where truth and ideas are formulated and debated, and that's what he does."
Later in his remarks, Cox said, "I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah."
Cox went on to address the string of acts of political violence in recent months.
"Our nation is broken," he said, referencing the killing of Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump and the arson of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's residence.
"Nothing I say can unite us as a country ... Nothing I can say can bring back Charlie Kirk," Cox said. "Our hearts are broken ... we mourn as a nation."
"We just need every single person in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be. To ask ourselves, is this it? Is this what 250 years has wrought on us? I pray that that's not the case," he said. "I pray that those that hated what Charlie Kirk stood for will put down their social media and their pens and pray for his family, and that all of us will try to find a way to stop hating our fellow Americans."
The circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to an escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum.
The FBI, which investigates such acts, was helping lead the inquiry, though officials said at this point they had no reason to believe a second person was involved.
Watch the governor's full remarks in the video player above.
