Abbie Chatfield said she “hates” conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in an Instagram post made hours after Kirk was shot during a rally at Utah Valley University and later declared dead at a local hospital.
Kirk, 31, founder of Turning Point USA and a prominent conservative voice, was shot in the neck shortly after midday Wednesday at the event, authorities said. State officials have called the attack a political assassination, and a door-to-door search for the alleged gunman, who was filmed running across a rooftop after the shooting, was underway. Two people were arrested in the hours following the attack and later released.
In her post, Chatfield, a former reality television contestant who now podcasts, wrote that she “hated” Kirk but said his death was “bad for everyone.” She warned that the shooting could deepen political divisions and escalate violence. "The right (and possibly the left) will become more violent in replacement of actual democracy. He will be martyred," she wrote. "They won't see that this is BECAUSE of right-wing views on gun control that this could even happen. It will cause tensions to rise and drive people further apart than we already are. If this is the beginning, then what's to come?"
Chatfield also posted a clip of an April 2023 Kirk interview with Alanis Morissette's song "Ironic" playing over it. The clip included a statement attributed to Kirk in which he said, "I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights."
White House officials said President Donald Trump called Kirk a "martyr for truth and freedom," ordered flags at the White House to be flown at half-staff and described the shooting as a "dark moment for America." Trump characterized the attack as an example of what he said was "radical left political violence," and cited Kirk's previous experiences with threats and an earlier assassination attempt. He referenced the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year in his remarks.
Utah officials said the alleged shooter was captured on video moving across a rooftop after the shooting. Kirk was rushed to a local hospital and pronounced dead. Authorities detained two individuals in the immediate aftermath but subsequently released them as the investigation continued.
Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott also issued a statement mourning Kirk's death, saying Kirk "championed the pursuit of open debate and intellectual freedom in places of education" and offering prayers for Kirk's family.
Kirk, who had a national following among conservative youth activists, frequently sparred with critics over his positions on gun rights and other political issues. Chatfield's post touched on that debate, framing Kirk's rhetoric on firearm policy as part of a broader context that she said could contribute to further violence.
Investigators have not publicly identified a suspect or released additional details about a motive. Law enforcement agencies conducting the search have urged anyone with information or footage of the rally area to come forward as they continue to piece together the timeline of the shooting.
Chatfield's post, made in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, drew attention for both its timing and its content as the nation reacted to the death of a high-profile political figure. Media coverage and public responses have highlighted the polarized public climate in which the attack occurred, with officials, commentators and friends of Kirk responding in varied ways as the investigation proceeds.