The assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on Wednesday at Utah Valley University is a heartbreaking display of evil and political violence that sickens and shocks the nation.
In announcing his death, President Trump, who was a friend, and who credited Charlie’s advocacy with turning out student support during his various campaigns, wrote on Truth Social:
“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!”
Charlie, who founded Turning Point at the age of 18, was a committed follower of Jesus Christ. In his countless appearances around the country, he unapologetically shared the Gospel.
“The Bible is not up to date,” he once said. “It’s ahead of time.” In a Facebook post from this past April, Kirk stated, “There is Power in the Name of Jesus!”
Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, Charlie accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior while in the fifth grade at Christian Heritage Academy, a school founded by Wayne Grudem. He credits this personal experience with instilling in him a fervent belief in the power and importance of Christian education.
“I had some amazing teachers that did a great job of presenting the Gospel,” he once reflected. “And I remember very vividly just raising my hand to be like, I want to sign up for that. I’m ready to make Jesus Christ the Chairman of the Board of my life. Now, every year as I’ve gotten older, that means more and more to me as I realized how messed up we all are, and how inevitable our sins are, and how, you know, all of a sudden, the Gospel just kind of becomes this living experience.”
As the years rolled on, Charlie became bolder and more confident in sharing his faith.
“The most important thing in my life is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and trying to get people back into talking about their faith openly and candidly,” he said. “I’m just stunned at how some people are afraid to share their belief in Jesus Christ and in God, and in the Bible, and the truth of the Bible, and so, that’s why I’m a Christian.”
Given Charlie’s focus on youth and his efforts to instill in them a healthy foundation of faith and an understanding of how symbiotic that love of the Lord and cultural engagement need to be, he often talked about the importance of discovering one’s purpose beyond the political.
In an interview just last week, Kirk reflected, “You have to try to point them [young people] towards ultimate purposes and towards getting back to the church, getting back to faith, getting married, having children…I’m trying to paint a picture of virtue of lifting people up, not just staying angry.”
And yet it was another person’s anger that took Charlie’s life on Wednesday afternoon on a college campus presumably dedicated to the fair exchange of ideas.
One of Charlie’s signature characteristics at campus rallies was to invite disagreement and dialog. If audience members expressed frustration with someone asking a question, Kirk was quick to tamp down the energy and hear out the person challenging him.
Charlie is survived by wife, Erika, and their two young children, a son and daughter.
Our hearts break for the Kirk family. Our hearts hurt for a sinful culture that repeatedly is forced to navigate the evil and wickedness of radical ideologues who try to silence opposition violently rather than through the peaceful and robust exchange of ideas.
Please join us in praying for the Kirks. We thank God for the gift of Charlie’s life, for the wonderful work that he began, and ask the Lord for mercy and peace in the days to come as the family grieves. The turning point of Charlie Kirk’s life wasn’t politics or electoral victory, but his decision to accept Jesus Christ into his heart as a fifth grade boy. What he accepted as faith 21 years ago, he now sees in full sight.
