On Sept. 10, 2025, conservative public activist and founder of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University during an outdoor “Prove Me Wrong” debate. Kirk gained national acclaim for his support of the Trump administration and for his series of debates at universities across the country, where he supported controversial ideologies like condemning rights for LGBTQ rights and abortion in the United States, his support of Christian nationalism and his endorsement of gun rights and the Second Amendment. 

At Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech), the news of Kirk’s death swept through the school to a spectrum of reactions, opinions and emotions. Student A said, “I’ve never been a fan of [Kirk] … I do have a genuine care for human life … [and it’s] sad in the sense that we’ve devolved into such beastly violence.”

Student B reflected, “I was genuinely surprised. My mom had sent me the news … and I was horrified … Unfortunately, there are those who are like, ‘You know what?
I’m happy that he died. I celebrate that he died.’ … That’s pretty disgusting that you would think that.”

Conversely, Student C stated, “Why are we focusing on the death of one person? Y’all really want to feel this compassionate about one person when families are being ripped apart … in Gaza.”

One of Kirk’s main ideologies was his support for public debate and discourse on ideas and ideologies in the United States, which he was actively engaged in at the time of the shooting. Student B said, “He gave [people] that platform to come up and disagree with him. That’s what his whole thing was based on. Come and disagree with me.” In reference to Kirk’s shooting during one of these debates, Student B added, “Just because you have an opinion and you disagree with someone doesn’t mean you should … just physically harm someone.”

Student A similarly expressed, “As much as I’m against Charlie Kirk — I really don’t like what he had to say about more or less anything — but I do think he should have just been outdebated … instead of just shot.”

To the consensus of empathy, Student D stated, “I’m glad that people who have a different opinion would view it not just as a benefit … to their party, but as just a loss and American tragedy.”

On the other hand, the fact that Kirk was engaged in a debate on gun control at the moment of the shooting prompted Student E to state the incident was “ironic [because] he was talking about gun violence, and then right after that, he got killed by gun violence.” 

Student A said, “He was very against gun restriction, so, in a sense — and I hate to be cruel — it’s sort of ‘those who live by the sword die by it.’”

Student F said public opinion on gun control should change in light of this death, but “[people] will just blame [the shooting] on Liberals, and the [Right will say] there should have been more security guards with more guns.”

Student E stated that, regardless of Kirk’s death, “It’s going to be very, very difficult to limit gun violence,” and that “the number one reason [for that difficulty] is that we are desensitized to school shootings … There’s been so many of them that, you know, it’s not interesting news anymore.”

Mixed emotions continue to stir the air surrounding Charlie Kirk, and his death has sparked renewed conversations on the ideas he stood for. The variability of individual takeaways from the assassination matches the complexity of the situation, as more developments on the shooting shape the opinions at Foothill Tech and beyond.