On Sept. 10, conservative political influencer Charlie Kirk was shot in Orem, Utah, at an event hosted by Turning Point USA, a conservative-leaning organization Kirk co-founded at the age of 18.
Kirk was no stranger to controversy, and his staunch right-wing, Christian nationalist beliefs have faced criticism in the past.
Leaders of Kent State student political organizations weighed in on the aftermath of his death and how they are not letting it affect their organizations’ missions.
Isabelle Tooley, president of KSU’s chapter of Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, was preparing for a weekend trip away when she received a call from a friend telling her the news of Kirk’s death.
“He was like, ‘Did you know Charlie Kirk just died?’ And I was like, ‘Who are you guys talking about?’ And then I was like, ‘Oh, that Charlie Kirk,’” Tooley, a senior integrated language arts major, said.
Kirk was known as a supporter of President Donald Trump and contributed to his election win in 2024. He rose to fame through social media, where he amassed followers who watched him debate on college campuses about politics and social issues. Trump even praised Kirk for his commitment to conservative causes, thanking him for creating an “army” of “young patriots” at a Turning Point USA conference in 2024.
“Charlie Kirk wasn’t so much a figure for me as Turning Point was, so when it was like, Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point, it was like, ‘Oh,’ and I knew immediately,” Tooley said.
Tooley condemned the shooting fully and raised the question about how Kirk’s death is being treated within the media, citing that Kirk is now “existing in a state of martyrdom.”
“At his funeral, did any of his friends and family speak at all? No, it was all MAGA people. Now, he’s reached something higher, and now his wife is using this to go on her crusade. … It’s not awful that Charlie Kirk died because it’s awful for him to be dead. It’s more awful because it’s a great excuse for right-wingers now,” Tooley said.
Tooley disagreed with Kirk on fundamental issues and felt extremely conflicted about her feelings towards the situation.
She also felt conflicted due to Kirk being a victim of the very values that he advocated for. In April 2023, Kirk spoke at an event hosted by Turning Point Faith, where he argued that it is “worth it to have the cost, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
“You would think there would be a re-examination of politics kind of, but it doesn’t seem that way about gun violence and all that, but that’s not what we can focus on here — it’s always going to be deflected,” Tooley said.
Sophia Swengel, president of the May 4th Task Force and senior history major, said that, like Tooley, she had never connected the dots between Kirk and Turning Point prior to the shooting.
She explained that she learned about the shooting through May 4th survivor and professional-in-residence at the School of Media and Journalism, Chic Canfora, who sent her a text informing her about the shooting.
“I went out for dinner with a friend and my phone vibrated. She had texted me that he had died,” Swengel said. “We turned on the TV … then there weren’t any updates about it. It was just like the news that he died.”
Swengel is no stranger to understanding political violence on college campuses, given the May 4th Task Force’s mission to preserve the history of the shooting of four KSU students in 1970 during a peaceful protest.
She explained that she is fully confident in Kent’s administration to make sure that activism and free speech on campus do not change in the wake of Kirk’s death.
“It was just something that people just didn’t want to talk about at all when it happened. I mean, there was a vigil for him, and I didn’t even hear about it beforehand until I saw that [The Kent Stater] had been there,” Swengel said. “I mean, it is obviously a very touchy and complex subject because regardless of how you feel about Charlie Kirk, that’s still something that shouldn’t happen to anyone, regardless of what they were doing.”
Swengel concluded that her belief is that, fundamentally, every person is equal, even if people refuse to believe that notion themselves, and no one deserves to have the fate of Kirk.
Sama Mousa, president of Students for Justice in Palestine, also reflected on the shooting.
“Well, he was against my cause. Yeah, so I was shocked, definitely, I couldn’t believe it,” said Mousa.
Mousa explained that she believes that the response to the shooting has been overall questionable and that reactions reflect the current state of polarization in America. However, she does not think his death will impact organizations on campus.
“We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing: going against Zionists. I didn’t agree with Charlie Kirk on almost everything he said, so it doesn’t affect how we’re going to move forward,” Mousa said.
Tooley additionally said she remains focused and more ready than ever to continue her activism in the current climate, regardless of the ramifications of the shooting.
“In America, big things happen every single day; this was like one big thing that just seemed to stick for some reason. I think it’s because it was sensational,” Tooley said. “It’s almost a month after it happened, and there are bigger fish to fry.”
The Kent Stater contacted Kent State’s Turning Point USA chapter for an interview or comment, and they could not be reached at the time of publication.
Ava Dunn is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].