On the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk's assassination, Law and Politics Editor Johnny Lumley examines the fallout of Kirk's death
10 September marks the first anniversary of the assassination of far-right conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, while at a college debate at Utah Valley University hosted by Kirk’s non-profit organisation, Turning Point USA. This date has come to be satirically known online as the ‘Kirkiversary’. The very public nature of the killing, as well as how Kirk himself was not an elected official, raised many questions about the future and nature of political discourse in America.
Turning Point USA was founded by Kirk in 2012, when he was just 18, in collaboration with American businessman Bill Montgomery, to provide a platform to promote conservative values among younger demographics. Kirk’s rise to fame was meteoric, being the youngest speaker at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Turning Point only seemed to grow in influence year on year, with revenues in 2024 reaching up to 84 million, and reporting that they have over 800 active chapters within American universities spreading their messaging.
This is especially important when we consider the rise of right-wing politics amongst the younger generation in America, with the election and non-consecutive reelection of Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024. Trump has credited Kirk with having a massively influential role in mobilising the younger demographic to vote for him in the 2024 election; as Kamala Harris won the youth vote overall, it was by a smaller margin than Joe Biden achieved in 2020.
Until his assassination in 2025, it seemed like nothing in the near future was going to stop his influence from spreading, which was concerning to many across the political spectrum given the nature of many of his views. Kirk was known for using his platform to spread his many positions, which varied across a multitude of topics, including controversial takes on the civil rights movement and its figure, views on abortion, harsh criticisms of the LGBTQ+ community, and false narratives surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many figures on the far right have used the assassination of Kirk as proof of the righteousness of their position, and a warning of a secret wing of leftist super soldiers hell-bent on silencing anyone who disagrees with them, turning Kirk into something of a martyr. However, Kirk’s murder is symptomatic of the larger, growing use of violence in political discourse, a trend that many academics note to be extremely concerning, not only for the threat posed to those who may be targeted, but also to the overall stability of our political system.
As Turning Point continues to restructure itself following the death of its charismatic leader, we await to see whether it will maintain the popularity and influence that it had attained prior to the events of last year. This also comes at a vital moment for the Trump administration, with young voters increasingly turning their backs on his administration due to his policy decisions; if Turning Point fails to hold its influence with the younger demographic for the upcoming November midterm elections could be a very large problem for President Trump.