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Washington’s elected officials reacted Wednesday to the fatal shooting of activist Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of conservative activist organization Turning Point USA.
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed at Utah Valley University, where he was speaking as part of his “The American Comeback” tour. He was under a white tent on campus and speaking into a microphone when a single shot rang out.
President Donald Trump announced Kirk’s death on social media.
A “person of interest” was in custody as of 4 p.m.
Gov. Bob Ferguson condemned the killing of Kirk “in the strongest terms” and said violence is never the answer.
“This kind of political violence has no place in America,” Sen. Maria Cantwell wrote on X.
Before Kirk’s death was confirmed, Sen. Patty Murray posted that her thoughts were with his family and that political violence is never acceptable.
“I am deeply saddened and disturbed by the shooting targeting Charlie Kirk today,” King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn wrote on X. “It is essential that we always respect our fellow Americans’ free speech rights no matter how much we disagree with one another. We must never resort to violence.”
In a statement, Washington state Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, chair of the state’s Republican Party, said Kirk embodied “the righteous exercise of free speech and absolute freedom of conscience.”
Walsh said Kirk’s death is a warning that “we live in a harsh world. It contains many bad people.”
“The genius of this nation and our state is that they recognize free speech and absolute freedom of conscience are rights granted to humans by their Creator,” Walsh said. “These rights are unalienable. No autocrat can limit them, no bullet can stop them.”
The state Democratic Party in a statement on Bluesky, called the shooting “disturbing,” saying political violence has no place in society and that regardless of political beliefs, “we all deserve gun safety. Gun violence is too prevalent in America.”
Turning Point USA has approximately 800 college chapters throughout the company according to the organization, with several on Washington state campuses.
In May 2024, Kirk spoke at the University of Washington as part of his “Live Free Tour.” That talk sold out, with approximately 1,000 seats.
Hundreds of people lined up outside the Husky Union Building to attend the event, while a group of protesters gathered at the University of Washington light rail station, leading Sound Transit to temporarily shut it down.
Kirk set up a “Debate Me” booth near the Husky Union Building that was watched by a crowd of about 200 students and community members. Kirk later posted a video from campus titled “I go to the University of Washington to prove it’s a Scam.”
His campus visit came at a time when protesters had established the Popular University for Gaza liberated zone in the Liberal Arts Quadrangle, where well over 100 tents were set up.
Kirk established Turning Point PAC, a political action committee that in the 2023-2024 election cycle raised $7 million that included $9,710 from Washington residents. The PAC sent $5,000 to Joe Kent’s Congressional campaign against Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who won Washington’s 3rd Congressional District seat. Kent is now director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center.
