North Cook News

Charlie Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of Turning Point USA and a national political figure, was assassinated Sept. 10 while speaking at a university event in Utah. He was 31. 

Kirk began his involvement in politics as a teenager at Wheeling High School and later launched a conservative youth organization from a garage in Lemont at 18 years old.

Born on Oct. 14, 1993, in Arlington Heights and raised in Prospect Heights, Kirk was the son of a counselor and an architect. He became an Eagle Scout and volunteered for then-U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk’s successful 2010 Senate campaign.

By his junior year of high school, he was speaking at Tea Party events.

“I first met Charlie in 2010 at a Palatine Tea Party event,” David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, wrote in a tribute following Kirk’s assassination. “Though still in high school, he was the evening’s opening speaker—and he spoke with authority, armed with facts and statistics.”

Smith described Kirk’s death in the context of a broader spiritual and cultural conflict.

“This assassination reminds us once again that we are engaged in a war—not of flesh and blood, but a spiritual battle that manifests in chaos, death, and destruction,” Smith said.  

At Wheeling High School, Kirk was involved in debate and student issues. One of his early organizing efforts was a campaign to lower the price of chocolate chip cookies in the school cafeteria. He was twice voted “Most Likely to Become President” by classmates.

After briefly attending William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, Kirk left to pursue political activism full time.

In 2012, he co-founded Turning Point USA with mentor Bill Montgomery out of a garage in Lemont, a suburb southwest of Chicago.

“I just couldn't pass up this opportunity or pass through the south suburbs to come and visit where it all started,” Kirk said in a video posted to Facebook, recorded outside TPUSA’s first headquarters. “The garage of 217 and a half, Illinois Street in Lemont, Illinois, you know, they say that all good startups start in garages—Apple and HP and others.”

“Never forget where you came from. Lemont, Illinois,” he said in the same video.

Turning Point USA grew into a national organization. By 2025, it had more than 3,500 high school and college chapters, including at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Illinois State University. The group reported a $92 million annual budget and support from national donors.

The organization became known for initiatives such as the Professor Watchlist and School Board Watchlist, which identified educators accused of promoting liberal ideologies.

Kirk remained closely connected to Illinois, frequently referencing his background in the Chicago suburbs during public appearances.

He later became a media commentator, author, and advisor to President Donald Trump. A regular at the White House after Trump’s return to office, Kirk also helped vet key appointments within the administration. Dubbed the “Trump whisperer,” he leveraged Turning Point USA to rally high school and college students behind Trump, working closely with the Trump family on campaign outreach.

Kirk launched “The American Comeback Tour,” a 15-stop campus speaking tour in nine states focused on what he described as “anti-American indoctrination” in higher education.

He was shot in the neck during the tour’s kickoff event in Utah, while speaking at a “Prove Me Wrong” table in front of a crowd of about 3,000. He was transported to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Kirk hosted The Charlie Kirk Show broadcast on Real America’s Voice and the Salem Radio Network. The show frequently ranked among the most-listened political podcasts on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. He had more than 25 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and X, and made regular appearances on conservative radio and television.

During his career, he often held events on Illinois campuses, including one at Illinois State University in March. Illinois political leaders regularly cited Kirk’s influence, particularly among younger conservatives.

Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) called Kirk's work a powerful force in shaping conservative youth engagement and condemned the violence that ended his life.

“Charlie Kirk was assassinated in a senseless act of violence,” McCombie said in a press release.   

“It is deeply disturbing that hatred has escalated to the point where lives are being stolen,” McCombie said. “That this happened while he was speaking on political violence at a university, a place that should be dedicated to free speech and the open exchange of ideas, makes it even more tragic. If ideas cannot be debated on campus without fear of violence, we have truly lost our way."

In response to his death, President Trump ordered flags across the country to be flown at half-staff through Sunday.

“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!" Trump said on Truth Social.

Kirk is survived by his wife, former Miss Arizona Erika Frantzve, and their two children, ages 3 and 1.