Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and one of the most vocal American advocates of the Israeli occupation, was shot and killed while delivering a speech at Utah Valley University on Wednesday evening. He was 31.

The incident occurred during Kirk’s “American Return” tour, where he was speaking outside the Sorensen Center under a tent before collapsing after being struck in the neck by a bullet. Police confirmed the shooter was apprehended shortly afterward, stating that he had fired from a nearby building, though authorities withheld his identity and possible motives.

Kirk rose to prominence not only as a conservative youth organizer but also as one of the most zealous defenders of the Israeli apartheid regime in occupied Palestine. Through his organization Turning Point USA (TPUSA), he spearheaded efforts to mobilize American college students in support of “Israel,” actively working to counter the global boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement that exposes the crimes of the occupation.

TPUSA has long organized propaganda trips to the Zionist entity, designed to present participants with a sanitized image of “Israel” while ignoring the realities of Palestinian dispossession and daily oppression. Kirk’s programs equipped students with tools to undermine solidarity with Palestine and to whitewash Israeli war crimes on university campuses across the United States.

In addition, TPUSA launched what it branded an “Israel Support Package,” providing American students with curated talking points, media training, and strategies to silence pro-Palestinian voices. Kirk’s role was central in elevating pro-Zionist activists, coaching them to dominate narratives online while dismissing the Palestinian call for justice and liberation.

Following Kirk’s death, his close political ally, US President Donald Trump, issued an executive order for flags across government buildings and military bases to be flown at half-staff until Sunday evening. Trump described Kirk as a “legendary” figure who had captured “the heart of America’s youth.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, also issued a statement framing Kirk’s death in political terms. Netanyahu, who has long relied on American proxies to defend the Zionist entity abroad, hailed Kirk as a “lion-hearted friend of Israel.” He admitted he had planned to bring Kirk to deliver speeches inside the occupied Palestinian territories to bolster Zionist narratives, plans cut short by Kirk’s killing.

Democratic leaders also rushed to condemn the shooting. Former President Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and others expressed outrage, insisting that “political violence has no place in America.”

However, their statements highlighted a glaring hypocrisy: while they mourned Kirk’s assassination, they have remained largely silent on the daily political assassinations, bombings, and massacres carried out by the Zionist regime against Palestinians. For decades, the US political establishment—both Republicans and Democrats—has poured billions into sustaining apartheid policies, arming the occupation, and shielding it from accountability on the international stage.

For Palestinians and their allies, Charlie Kirk symbolized more than just a conservative youth organizer. He represented the powerful machinery of American Zionism—young, media-savvy, and dedicated to suppressing the voices of an oppressed people struggling for freedom.

While US officials scramble to sanctify his legacy, Palestinians continue to endure daily killings, siege, starvation, and displacement under an occupation Kirk worked tirelessly to defend. His death, while mourned in Washington and Tel Aviv, will be remembered in Palestine as the fall of a propagandist who sought to legitimize a brutal system of colonial domination. (ILKHA)