MIAMI, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis extended his prayers for Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, after he was shot at a college event in Utah on Wednesday.
DeSantis addressed the shooting at the beginning of an environment-related news conference in Miami on Wednesday afternoon, when Kirk was reported to be in critical condition.
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Just before 5 p.m., President Donald Trump said Kirk had died following the shooting.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!” Trump wrote on social media.
DeSantis said he and his wife, Casey DeSantis, had personally known Kirk for over a decade.
“We’re praying for him and his family. But I think we also have to reflect on the fact that the way to resolve political disputes is not through violence, and we see increasing levels of political violence in this country,” DeSantis said.
THE LATEST | Conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been shot at an event in Utah
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University 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 can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The AP was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.
DeSantis condemned the attack on Kirk, saying that it was “not just an attack on Charlie personally, but an attack on the idea that we resolve these things through reason, debate and elections.”