By Muhammad Mamman
Former United States President Barack Obama has strongly condemned the assassination of conservative activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk, describing the killing as an attack on democracy itself.
In a statement posted on his official X handle on Wednesday, Obama decried the shooting as “despicable violence” with no place in a civilised society. He also extended condolences to Kirk’s wife, Erika, and their two young children.
“We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy,” Obama wrote. “Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children.”
Kirk, 31, a prominent right-wing activist and head of the largest conservative youth movement in the US—which he co-founded at just 18—was gunned down while speaking at Utah Valley University.
Eyewitness footage showed him collapsing as he answered questions from a crowd of supporters, wearing a white T-shirt emblazoned with the word “Freedom”. Security personnel rushed him from the scene as blood poured from a neck wound. The event had been the first of a 15-city tour scheduled through October.
Authorities have labelled the shooting a “targeted attack,” saying the gunman is believed to have fired from a rooftop overlooking the student courtyard. Two men were detained for questioning and later released, though one, George Zinn, faces obstruction charges. Police say neither man has direct links to the attack, and the manhunt for the shooter continues.
President Donald Trump, announcing Kirk’s death on Truth Social, hailed him as “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk.” In a sombre address from the Oval Office, Trump blamed rhetoric from the “radical left” for fuelling political violence.
“This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today,” Trump declared. He vowed to hunt down “each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and other acts of political violence, including the organisations that fund and support it.”
The killing has drawn widespread condemnation at home and abroad, deepening concerns over the escalating wave of politically motivated violence in the United States.
