WA officials condemn fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, political violence

Updated at 5:22 p.m.

Washington state officials on the right and left condemned political violence Wednesday following the fatal shooting of 31-year-old conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Orem, Utah.

Kirk, a right-wing firebrand who co-founded Turning Point USA, an organization that advocates for conservative policies on high school and college campuses across the country, was speaking at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University when he was shot in the neck.

Utah state officials said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon that a "person of interest" had been taken into custody and was being questioned, according to The New York Times. That person was later released after being interrogated, FBI Director Kash Patel said on X.

RELATED: Right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has died after shooting, Trump says

Kirk's death was first announced by President Donald Trump. Law enforcement has not publicly identified a motive for the shooting. However, on Wednesday afternoon, investigators believed it was a targeted attack against Kirk, The New York Times reported.

"There was one shot fired and one victim," Beau Mason, the commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, told The Times.

In a statement shared online, Turning Point USA called the shooting a "murder" and called for the public to respect the privacy of Kirk's family.

Both Republican and Democratic officials across the country have also spoken out against the shooting and political violence broadly.

"Violence is never the answer," Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson wrote on social media. "There is no place in our democracy for political violence, and I condemn the murder of Charlie Kirk in the strongest terms. My prayers are with his family."

Washington State Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh called the attack on Kirk a "warning to everyone."

"The genius of this nation and our state is that they recognize free speech and absolute freedom of conscience are rights granted to humans by their Creator," Walsh said in a statement. "These rights are unalienable. No autocrat can limit them, no bullet can stop them. Charlie Kirk embodied the righteous exercise of free speech and absolute freedom of conscience."

Others, like Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown, warned that such violence could continue "if we don't do more to fix the violent tension in our discourse."

"No matter your beliefs, we should live without fear of expressing ourselves," Brown said in his statement on social media. "Political violence will consume us all if we let it fester."

Republican youth organizations in Washington mourned Kirk's death.

Lenny Chacon, chair of the Washington State Young Republicans, said members were shaken and saddened by the attack.

"Violence isn't the answer," Chacon said in a statement, posted before Kirk was declared dead. "We can disagree with each other — and even challenge each other fiercely — without losing our shared humanity."

The University of Washington chapter of Turning Point USA shared news of Kirk's death on social media, but told KUOW the chapter wouldn't be issuing an official statement; instead, the UW chapter directed KUOW to a national representative.

Washington state's congressional delegation shared statements on social media sending their thoughts to Kirk's family and condemning political violence.

"This kind of political violence has no place in America," Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell said on social media.

Her fellow Democratic Senator from Washington, Sen. Patty Murray, shared a similar sentiment before Kirk was declared dead: "Political violence is never acceptable. It's really that simple. We can't have a democracy otherwise. I hope Mr. Kirk makes a full recovery. My thoughts are with his family."

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.