The search for the killer of US right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk has been underway since Wednesday when he was shot at during an event in Utah. The 31-year-old was shot during an event at university campus where 3,000 people were in attendance. He later succumbed to his injuries. The brazen attack has rattled the conservative movement that Kirk helped energise through his media presence, campus tours and political organising.
At just 18, Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA, a youth activist group that quickly gained prominence on college campuses. His rallies frequently drew large crowds, while his brash, combative style made him a lightning rod for controversy. With 5.2 million followers on X, more than 4 million YouTube subscribers and a widely popular podcast, ‘The Charlie Kirk Show’, he emerged as a defining voice of the hard-right in the Trump era.
What did Kirk say about Operation Sindoor?
In one of his videos uploaded on May 8 on YouTube, Kirk addressed the escalating conflict between India and Pakistan following the terror attack in Pahalgam that left 22 people dead and the Indian military’s Operation Sindoor response.
“India and Pakistan are on the verge of a war…Pakistan is 100% Muslim. Remember, they sheltered Bin Laden and have been a very, very sneaky actor. India is mostly Hindu. They don’t care for each other much at all,” Kirk said in an ‘The Charlie Kirk Show’ video.
Kirk downplayed the chance of nuclear escalation, calling Pakistan’s nuclear threats a “bluff” that India had called out through Operation Sindoor. “This is not our war,” he said. “Maybe we slightly favour India because they’re retaliating to Islamic terror, but that should go no further than moral support. This is not our conflict to get involved in,” Kirk further said.
Kirk’s take on H-1B visa system
Kirk held hard-liner views of matters of immigration and Indians in the US workforce. He was a popular figure in the country among the right-wing politics supporters for his explosive takes on racism, queer relationships, among other things. “America does not need more visas for people from India. Perhaps no form of legal immigration has so displaced American workers as those from India. Enough already. We’re full. Let’s finally put our own people first,” he posted last week.