By Izzy Stroobandt and NBC Chicago Staff,JC Navarrete
Copyright nbcchicago
The deadly shooting of right-wing activist and Chicago-area native Charlie Kirk marks a pivotal moment amid a rising threat of political violence in America, experts say.
Kirk died at 31-years-old after he was shot while presenting at Utah Valley University Wednesday, officials said.
A suburban Chicago native and supporter of President Donald Trump, Kirk is the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, a right-wing political organization that focuses on motivating young people to be politically involved.
“This event I’m sorry to say is exactly the kind of event I was warning about. For the last several years we have seen a rise in spate of political assassination attempts,” said University of Chicago political science professor Robert Pape, who wrote a guest essay for the New York Times in June highlighting the growing threat of political violence.
The exact motive for Kirk’s murder is not known, but the shooting puts a new spotlight on the challenge of protecting political figures.
“It’s just horrific to see it happen to anyone of any political persuasion at any time,” said Northwestern University professor of American history, Kevin Boyle.
A spokesperson for Utah Valley University said Kirk was about 20 minutes into a presentation when shots were fired from a nearby building. Video footage purportedly of the moment the shooting took place showed Kirk discussing mass shootings with an audience member just as a single gunshot was fired.
Kirk is a frequent visitor of college campuses, challenging students to political discussions, including recently at Illinois State University in April.
“It’s a lot harder to secure an outdoor event than it is an indoor event,” said Chief of Police for Illinois State University, Aaron Woodruff. The event at Utah Valley University where Kirk was fatally shot was outdoor, same with his visit to ISU.
Kirks assassination was not an isolated case.
In the past 14 months, two assassination attempts have been made on President Donald Trump, two Minnesota lawmakers were shot inside their homes and the United Health Group CEO was shot and killed on a sidewalk in Manhattan.
Experts say this may be a pivotal moment.
“The future is always up to us,” Pape said. “We are not destined to escalate; however, it is not going to fade on its own.”
The “pattern” of political violence “is going to get worse unless we interject real energy to have cooler heads prevail,” Pape said.
Speaking at an unrelated event Wednesday, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said “political violence unfortunately has been ratcheting up in this country.”
“We saw the shootings, the killings in Minnesota, we’ve seen other political violence occur in other states and I would just say it’s got to stop,” Pritzker said.
After the deadly shooting, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called for “Americans of every political persuasion” to “unite in condemning this act.”
“When someone takes the life of a person because of their ideas or their ideals then that very constitutional foundation is threatened,” Cox said.
