Who was Charlie Kirk? The pro-Israel conservative activist shot dead in Utah

Daily Wire editor Ben Shapiro, a prominent Jewish conservative, added: “It was a privilege to watch this principled man stand up for his beliefs and create the single most important conservative political organisation in America.

"But more importantly, Charlie was a good man, a man who believed in right and wrong, who stood by his Biblical values.”

Who was Charlie Kirk?

Born in Chicago in 1993, Kirk volunteered on Republican campaigns in his high school years and was actively engaged in student politics.

He dropped out of university aged 18 to create Turning Point, which became one of the most influential grassroots right-wing organisations in the US.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, now Vice President JD Vance said that the organisation’s events were even more influential than those hosted by the Trump campaign itself.

Kirk was particularly known for his adversarial “prove me wrong” debating style and evangelical Christian views.

These sometimes led to controversy, including when he told recently engaged pop star Taylor Swift to "submit to her husband”, sparking backlash from her fans.

But senior figures in the Maga movement praised him as a devout Christian and effective communicator, who attracted a large youth audience to conservative thought.

Despite being a staunch Israel supporter, Kirk was also dogged by allegations of antisemitism, due to his association with controversial figures in American right-wing politics. The ADL, in an explainer on Turning Point USA, claimed that Kirk created a “vast platform for extremists and far-right conspiracy theorists.”

He was a proponent of the “great replacement theory” and in 2023 claimed that “Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them”.

But he also repeatedly condemned antisemitism, posting earlier this year: “Jew hate has no place in civil society. It rots the brain, reject it.”

He leaves behind his wife Erika and two young children, one of whom recently celebrated their first birthday.

What were Charlie Kirk’s views on Israel?

Kirk was a staunch supporter of the Jewish state and consistently expressed his solidarity with Israel and his disapproval of antisemitism.

When Hamas carried out the October 7 massacre, Kirk called the attack “one of the bloodiest and deadliest days in all of Jewish history". “Israel is a civilised country... [it] has a right to exist and has a right to defend itself,” he added, calling Hamas “savage animals”.

Earlier this year, debating the Gaza War at the Cambridge Union, Kirk defended the Israeli government and the IDF.

Asked whether he believed that both Hamas and the Israeli government were evil, he replied: "On Shabbat, Hamas invaded Israel, deciding to go recklessly to music concerts, to homes, to kibbutzim and taking 200 plus hostages. They knew what they were doing.

"The IDF, when they do something right, they get no credit; when they do lifesaving surgery of a Gazan child, they get no credit; when they drop leaflets, they get no credit."

"The only [one] to blame is Hamas, not the Israeli government."

Kirk also visited Israel several times. During one trip in 2019, he delivered a speech at an event organised by a Zionist group at a pub in Jerusalem, saying: “I’m very pro-Israel, I’m an evangelical Christian, I’m a conservative, I’m a Trump supporter, I’m a Republican, and my whole life I have defended Israel.”

The devout Christian took to social media after another visit, posting: “Israel changed my life. Made the Bible pop into reality and gave me the most precious memories with my wife.”

Kirk was personally invited to return by Netanyahu just two weeks ago, something the Israeli prime minister said will now "sadly not take place".