Student communities are reeling after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, raising questions about what his death means for campus politics and free speech.
Kirk was shot and killed at a Utah college on Wednesday, Sept. 10, where he had been speaking at the opening event of his latest campus tour on behalf of his organization, Turning Point USA. While experts say it’s too soon to tell whether the incident will inflame or enhance campus political discourse, they agree it’s a moment students won’t easily forget.
His killing is part of a broader wave of political violence, including the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump and the killing of Democratic Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman.
But the death of the 31-year-old po