'Unconscionable': PA Leaders React To Charlie Kirk Killing

HARRISBURG, PA — Leaders from across Pennsylvania are reacting to the latest political violence to rock America, as controversial right-wing conservative activist and commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at an event in Utah Wednesday afternoon.

Videos posted on social media showed Kirk, 31, in the midst of a response about mass shootings when he was hit by a single shot in the neck. Kirk slumped off his chair after the shooting and was rushed off the stage to a nearby hospital, where the Associated Press reports he has since died.

"Political violence has no place in our country," Gov. Josh Shapiro said, echoing nearly identical statements from other governors. "We must speak with moral clarity. The attack on Charlie Kirk is horrifying and this growing type of unconscionable violence cannot be allowed in our society."

The shooting comes just over a year after President Trump, then campaigning for a second term, was grazed by a bullet during an event in Pennsylvania. One person was killed and two others seriously injured in that incident.

Republican Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Dave McCormick called the recent incidents a "trend."

"Dina and I are praying for our friend Charlie Kirk, his wife, and their children," McCormick said Wednesday. "This horrifying trend of political violence in our country must come to an end.

"I condemn this in the strongest terms," U.S. Sen. John Fetterman added. "There is ZERO place in our great country for these horrendous acts of political violence. We must find a better way forward. May Charlie Kirk have a full and quick recovery."

Kirk rose to prominence as a teenager in 2012 as the co-founder of Turning Point USA, a student organization that became active in culture war issues and debates on college campuses. It rapidly grew into one of the most widespread and influential conservative media outlets and organizations in the nation. In the years since, Kirk has become a staunch Trump ally and has in turn been praised effusively by the President himself.

"We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot," Trump said Wednesday. "A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!"

Kirk's event was at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City. A university spokeswoman, Ellen Treanor, told the New York Times that Kirk was struck about 20 minutes after he began speaking on campus. She said a suspect had fired at Kirk from the Losee Center, a building about 200 yards away.

Statements from several Pennsylvania leaders echoed those made by Shapiro.

"I’m praying for Charlie Kirk," Congresswoman Madeleine Dean said in a statement. "Political violence is never the answer — and we must never tolerate such despicable action. Our nation is better than this. In such a frightening time, my thoughts are with Mr. Kirk’s family and the Utah Valley University community who are now forever changed by this horror."

"Praying for Charlie Kirk and his family. Please join me," former Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick added. "Political violence is despicable — morally wrong, fundamentally un-American, and intolerable in any and all forms. It cannot continue. We must stand together, across every divide, to reject it completely and recommit ourselves to resolving differences through dialogue, not destruction."