Christian Overton, (left), with his son Ryder at Charlie Kirk’s Utah Valley University event in Orem, Utah. Photo / Christian Overton
Seventeen-year-old Ryder Overton was 3m away from Charlie Kirk yesterday when the fatal shot rang out and pierced Kirk’s neck. He dropped to the ground with his father, fearing more bullets.
Overton considered Kirk one of the most important conservatives in the United States after President Donald Trump - a right-wing activist and skilled debater who got young people like him into politics.
Now he was sure Kirk was dead. He sprinted away with his father, in shock.
Back home, his mother cried and prayed for Kirk to somehow pull through.
Overton and his father believed that the assassination attempt against Trump at a campaign rally last year had only fortified the President, and today - still processing everything - they said Kirk’s movement would come back bigger, too.
“It doesn’t make us weaker,” said Overton’s father, Christian. “It makes us stronger.”
Conservatives of all ages - from students to families with strollers - came out to Kirk’s “Prove Me Wrong” tour at Utah Valley University for what they hoped would be a day of fierce debate, showcasing how their movement could win the argument in a polarised era.
They left with a terrifying reminder of the threat that political violence poses in America, shaken but also determined not to let that violence quiet their cause.
Many of Kirk’s admirers around the country had the same message today as the tragedy sank in.
The shooting would be a defining moment for the right, they said, outraging and emboldening their activism. Some have gone further, hardening their criticism of the left and blaming them for the violence as authorities are still trying to identify a suspect.
Authorities said they have video footage of the person of interest, describing the individual as a “college-age man” and who they said jumped off a building after the attack and fled into a neighbourhood. Law enforcement officials have not publicly identified a motive.
Kirk’s visit to Utah Valley University had been controversial. An online petition circulated by his critics asked administrators to cancel the event on the grounds that Kirk’s “divisive rhetoric” went against campus values of inclusion and diversity.
Opponents baulked at his criticism of feminism, his comments that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was a “mistake” and his role in promoting Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rife with fraud, among many other comments that made him one of the right’s leading provocateurs.
“I really, really hated Charlie Kirk,” said one student, 18-year-old Ray Ratto, today. “But obviously I don’t think he should have got shot,” she added.
Other students saw Kirk as a champion of family values and Christian faith. Noah Wardle, 21, immediately got tickets for himself and his younger brother.
“I saw it on Instagram and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to go,’” he said. “He’s always just been somebody that I think I’ve looked up to big time.”
He skipped his English class to attend the event and made his way to a spot near the stage. At first, he thought the gunshot was a firecracker. In the seconds that followed, he grabbed his brother and rushed inside a nearby building.
“I think when I realised the weight of what had just happened was when I looked at my brother, and his face was white, his eyes were really wide open,” he said.
“And his mouth was even open - just in the most shocked state I have ever seen a human being in. That’s when I was like, ‘Okay, this is real. This is really happening.’”
The shooting will only strengthen his beliefs, he said.
“Someone tried to silence a loud voice that had a lot of impact, and I think the last thing I would want to do is stay quiet and keep my beliefs hidden,” he said.
“That makes me want to speak louder. It makes me want to be better, to do more good, and not hide what I believe in. That’s what America is about.”
Debbi Rollo, a Kirk supporter who lives in the area, had an inkling that something bad might happen.
She said she told her husband she was nervous to go - aware of what could happen at high-profile events.
Her 17-year-old son made a comment at school yesterday that turned out to be prescient, according to Rollo. He knew that some people hated Kirk and remarked to his friends, “How is that guy still alive?”
Rollo went anyway.
After the shooting, the 59-year-old sat in her car for a minute and tried to process what had happened. She went to the McDonald’s drive-through, got a Coke and apple pie, and made her way home, listening to Fox News’ Sean Hannity say over the radio that Kirk was still fighting for his life.
She was watching the news later when Trump announced that Kirk had died. Tears welled up.
“It’s devastating to me that that’s the world we live in, the country we live in,” she said.
Her granddaughter, who just started college elsewhere in Utah, sobbed to her over the phone that night, Rollo said. Even on another campus in another city, she felt unsafe.
Utah Valley University was quiet and mostly deserted today, with classes cancelled. Students walked around unsettled - regardless of their political beliefs.
Heading out with her roommate, Ratto said she wasn’t worried about her own safety. But she said she would be cautious in the future.
“I don’t think I would go to an outdoor political event like this again,” she said.
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