Boris Johnson and several other British politicians have paid tribute to conservative activist Charlie Kirk after he was shot dead at Utah Valley University.
The political commentator, 31, took a single bullet to the neck while he spoke to a crowd on Wednesday afternoon.
Former British prime minister Johnson took to X to pay tribute to Kirk, who was considered a close alley of US President Donald Trump.
‘The murder of Charlie Kirk is a tragedy, and a sign of the utter desperation and cowardice of those who could not defeat him in argument’, he wrote.
‘Charlie Kirk has been killed not for espousing extremist views – because he didn’t. He has been killed for saying things that used to be simple common sense. He has been killed because he had the courage to stand up publicly for reasonable opinions held by millions and millions of ordinary people both in the US and Britain.
Johnson added: ‘The world has a shining new martyr to free speech. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones.’
Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined Johnson in paying tribute to Kirk, commenting in a statement on X: ‘My thoughts this evening are with the loved ones of Charlie Kirk.
‘It is heartbreaking that a young family has been robbed of a father and a husband. We must all be free to debate openly and freely without fear – there can be no justification for political violence.’
Boris Johnson and several other British politicians have paid tribute to conservative activist Charlie Kirk after he was shot dead on Wednesday
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered his condolences to Kirk’s family
Prime Minister Keir Starmer paid tribute to Charlie Kirk after he was shot and killed during an event on Wednesday
Father-of-two Kirk, known for his fierce MAGA views and thrilling debates with college kids across the country, collapsed immediately after being hit by the gunfire.
Kirk was answering a question about mass shootings mere seconds before he was shot.
He was rushed to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Kirk’s killer is still on the loose, with a major manhunt by the FBI and Utah police underway.
‘The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie.
‘He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!’
Kirk’s spokesman Andrew Kolvet also confirmed the conservative’s death just before 5pm EST.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper joined Johnson and Starmer in paying her respects to Kirk, writing on X: ‘Deeply shocked by the killing of Charlie Kirk in Utah. Political violence has no place in our socieites.
‘Our thoughts and condolences are with his family’.
Yvette Cooper expressed her shock at the killing of Kirk, an said: ‘Political violence has no place in our socieites’
Charlie Kirk was shot in the neck at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem
Kirk leaves behind his wife Erika Frantzve , with whom he had a three-year-old daughter and a son, 16 months
Meanwhile, Reform leader Nigel Farage commented: ‘This is a very dark day for American democracy. I am desperately sad for Charlie, his wife and children.’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘There are no words good enough to express the horror of this. The killing of Charlie Kirk is a blow to everything Western civilization stands for: open discourse, robust debate and peaceful dissent. He lived his life by those very principles, no matter the danger it put him in.
‘This may have happened far from our shores, but the rising intolerance of opposing views affects us all. We cannot turn a blind eye to it.
‘My thoughts are with Charlie’s family, his wife Erika, and their children.’
Former PM Liz Truss hailed Kirk as a ‘hero and a patriot’.
Kirk leaves behind his wife Erika Frantzve, with whom he had a three-year-old daughter and a 16-month-old son. The couple celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary in May.
The MAGA star was sitting inside a tented gazebo when a bullet entered his neck, causing his head to violently collapse backwards.
Screams were heard across the crowd of young people as those closest to Kirk rushed to his aid.
Images from the scene showed the crowd run as someone fired a single shot
‘He was shot in the neck and just fell over and he was just a fountain of blood,’ a witness told Daily Mail of the horrific shooting
UVU officials said the shot was fired from the top of the Losee Center, about 200 feet away from where Kirk was sitting on the college campus.
They initially took an elderly man into custody who turned out not to be the shooter, police said.
Another man who was taken into custody and questioned by police was also released.
FBI agents are now working with the local police to track down the killer, as Utah Gov. Spencer Cox suggested the murderer may face the death penalty.
Cox said on X: ”I just got off the phone with President Trump. Working with the FBI and Utah law enforcement, we will bring to justice the individual responsible for this tragedy,’ Cox wrote on X.
‘Abby and I are heartbroken. We are praying for Charlie’s wife, daughter, and son,’ Cox added.
