WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump announced on Sept. 11 that he will posthumously award Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. The announcement came during a speech at the Pentagon commemorating the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Kirk, a prominent conservative and political commentator, was shot and killed on Sept. 10 at the age of 31 while speaking to a crowd of students at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
“Before we begin, let me express the horror and grief so many Americans at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk have felt,” Trump said at the start of his speech.
“Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people.
“We miss him greatly. Yet I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on. I’m pleased to announce that I will soon be awarding Charlie Kirk, posthumously, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
He added that the date of the ceremony will be announced later, but predicted a large turnout.
“I can only guarantee you one thing,” he said. “That we will have a very big crowd.”
Since co-founding Turning Point USA in 2012 alongside conservative commentator Bill Montgomery, Kirk became known as a passionate advocate for conservative values who mobilized young voters across the nation in recent elections.
A single shot was fired at Kirk while he was speaking at Utah Valley University as part of his American Comeback tour, with the bullet striking him in the neck. Hours later, Trump announced that Kirk was “no longer with us.” Kirk leaves behind his wife, Erika Kirk, and two children.
Trump said he will speak with Kirk’s family on Thursday afternoon.
“I can’t believe Charlie—what a great guy he was,” Trump told reporters after the ceremony.
“You don’t replace a Charlie Kirk. He was unique.”
Trump also said that he had been briefed on the ongoing manhunt for the shooter.
As the search for Kirk’s assassin enters its second day, Utah’s public safety commissioner, Beau Mason, said investigators had eyes on the suspect arriving on campus at 11:52 a.m. local time on Sept. 10, and they tracked his movements through campus, up stairwells, and onto the roof to the shooting location. Kirk was shot around 12:20 p.m. local time.
They were then able to track the suspect as he moved onto the other side of the building, jumped off, and fled the campus into a neighborhood.
Mason said investigators have thoroughly worked through those neighborhoods, collecting whatever information they could via doorbell cameras, witnesses, and anybody they could contact to identify any leads.
“We do have good video footage of this individual,” Mason told reporters.
“We are not going to release that at this time. We are working through some technologies and some ways to identify this individual.
“If we are unsuccessful, we will reach out to you as the media, and we will push that publicly to help us identify them.”
T.J. Muscaro contributed to this report.
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