Trump announces posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom for Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and ardent Trump supporter, was shot dead while he was taking questions on gun violence during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday (local time)

United States (US) President Donald Trump on Thursday awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to conservative activist Charlie Kirk hours after he was shot dead on a Utah university campus while speaking to college students.

 

Speaking at the 9/11 memorial ceremony at the Pentagon, Trump said: "I express horror, grief on the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk. He was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty, and an inspiration to millions of people. Our prayers are with his wife and children. We miss him greatly".

 

"I have no doubt that Charlie's voice, the courage that he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on. I am pleased to announce that I will soon be awarding Charlie Kirk posthumously the 'Presidential Medal of Freedom', the date of the ceremony will be announced," he said. 

 

 

Kirk was shot dead while he was taking questions, ironically, on gun violence during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday (local time).

 

According to the Associated Press, Kirk was responding to a question — “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the past decade?” — when a single shot struck his neck. Kirk had just raised the issue of transgender shooters. On Thursday, investigating agencies said ammunition in the shooter's recovered gun had engravings of transgender and anti-fascist aka Antifa ideology, the Wall Street Journal reported.

 

Since his death, Kirk’s past remarks on gun violence have resurfaced online. In 2023, after the Nashville Covenant School shooting that killed six people, he said gun deaths were an inevitable outcome of protecting Constitutional rights. He argued that some level of violence was unavoidable in an armed society and called for stronger families as well as armed guards in schools to curb such incidents.

 

Kirk was a prominent conservative voice in America’s ideological debates, offering arguments rooted in his unapologetic 'freedom-oriented' ideology. With over 14 million followers, his social media reach exceeded 150 million people monthly, and was a key voice in taking Conservative principles across US campuses.