After Charlie Kirk’s Killing, Arizona Students Brace for Fallout

After far-right political influencer Charlie Kirk, an Arizona native and founder of the Phoenix-based conservative group Turning Point USA, was shot and killed last week at a Utah Valley University event, students at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona say they are grappling with fear and uncertainty about their safety.

Kirk founded Turning Point in 2012, growing it into a national political organization with chapters at colleges and universities across the country. Its headquarters remain in Arizona, where Kirk was a frequent presence on campuses and at political events.

Students at ASU and University of Arizona said they worry Kirk’s death could spark more violence, particularly against LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities.

“A lot of my loved ones and myself are queer in one way or another, and it feels dangerous, especially seeing how many people that I am, you know, going to school with and are around so frequently are following Charlie Kirk,” ASU student Lillian Flottmann said.

Flottmann said she struggles to reconcile her opposition to gun violence with Kirk’s statements targeting the LGBTQ+ community.

“Obviously, I don’t want anyone to get shot dead,” Flottmann said. “But I’m also like, how am I supposed to say I’m so devastated when this person, you know, wanted some of my friends and possibly myself gone?”

Flottmann said she was concerned that Kirk’s death would spur anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments.

“I have friends who have been, you know, not attacked, but, like, harassed on the street just for looking a certain way,” she said. “After this past election, it already got worse, because, I don’t know, people felt more empowered to believe that way. Now, after this, when it turns trans people almost into an enemy, I can see it getting worse.”

Heather Nguyen, another ASU student, described their reaction to Kirk’s death as complicated.

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“For a second, I recognize that it felt cathartic,” Nguyen said. “But after that momentary catharsis ended, it kind of dawned on me that we, as a country, just took one step closer to more violence.”

Political figures across Arizona have denounced political violence in the wake of Kirk’s death, but Nguyen said they saw that sentiment as hollow when considering Kirk’s statements targeting LGBTQ+ and other marginalized groups.

Turning Point USA’s “Professor Watchlist,” for example — which listed off the names of professors who either were LGBTQ+ or taught what the group considered “woke — was used by two Turning Point employees to violently assault a queer ASU professor two years ago. 

“Everyone’s condemning political violence, but political violence happens every day,” Nguyen said, referring to cuts to Medicaid and public schools, among other systemic issues. “Suddenly, one day, one dude dies, and everyone’s like, ‘Oh, political violence is bad.’ Well, what happens to the other political violence that’s happening in the country?”

There has also been considerable backlash within government and media institutions for speaking on the political violence that Kirk had advocated, such as putting medical doctors on Nuremberg-style trials for providing gender-affirming care. Instead, Kirk has been lauded as a champion of “free speech” by Republicans and Democrats, religious leaders, and online influencers.  

University of Arizona student Ruesha Paria cautioned against glorifying Kirk in death, saying the rhetoric Kirk spread through Turning Point may run counter to the empathy many seek to give him.

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“The people memorializing Kirk are also the same people who will spew, ‘Every life is valuable,’ yet continue to support a genocide and not advocate for Palestinians and other oppressed voices, not just in the United States, but around the world,” Paria said. “They only care when it’s a white man who dies.”

As law enforcement continues to investigate Kirk’s suspected killer, news about the shooter’s potential connection to a transgender partner has drawn attention on social media, furthering controversy over now-debunked claims of “trans symbols” on the shooter’s bullets.

“The Trump administration and its followers have enabled a space for hatred, and Turning Point jumped right into that space,” Paria said. “I fear for LGBTQ+ communities, Black and brown communities, and immigrants as well, as they are constantly targeted by Turning Point’s supporters.”

As America navigates the fallout of Kirk’s death, LGBTQ+ students are bracing for a tumultuous political landscape.

“I’m just scared,” Nguyen said. “Obviously, it’s OK to be scared, but, you know, I’m scared for my friends. I’m scared for my queer brothers and sisters.”